eReports - 01/04 Relocation article

Strategic Considerations when you Relocate

To properly design new office facilities, it is important to take into consideration both current and emerging trends in technology. As the practice of law becomes more dependent on technology, law firms are adapting their business strategy to accommodate client demands and to compete on a regional, national, and global basis. While many trends in technology are short-lived, there are several that we believe will greatly influence the law office of the future and may directly impact your office planning process.

IP Telephony

As an emerging technology, IP-based telephony promises to provide firms with a low cost alternative to traditional phone systems, while at the same time introducing new features and better integration with desktop PC applications. IP telephony solutions have several infrastructure requirements, both physical and bandwidth related, that impact any cabling decision. For example, a single unshielded twisted pair Category 5 cable provides voice and power to an IP-based phone as well as data for your desktop PC. Switches in your wiring closets may need to be replaced to provide this power requirement.

Electronic Conferencing

While not a new technology, today many firms look to outside vendors and ISPs to provide access to electronic meeting and conferencing applications. The concept of “webinars” as a technique to disseminate or collaborate on information with multiple individuals is gaining popularity. As system costs decline and functionality increases, the use of these tools will grow and firms will begin to install and manage these systems internally. Electronic conferencing may require higher bandwidth to both the desktop and on the firm’s internet, LAN, and WAN infrastructure.

Disaster Recovery

Disaster Recovery has long been a discussion item among IT professionals, however it has taken on extra significance due to events of the past two years. Many firms are re-examining their data storage/backup practices and are developing new strategies to implement business resumption plans, which deal with several different disaster scenarios. Many firms will choose to replicate data to multiple facilities (firm or vendor-based) to maximize data recovery and minimize downtime. These solutions can significantly increase a firm's bandwidth and storage requirements.

Mobile Data Access

People usually associate mobile data access with the ability to access information from outside the office. Most firms already provide mobile data access to attorneys in the form of laptops, PDAs, and VPNs. We see the use of these devices increasing as products and applications evolve to deliver more useful content over slower links. In addition, as wireless technologies become more affordable and secure, firms will begin to provide secure wireless access to their network and separate wireless Internet access in their conference rooms as a convenience for clients.

Multi-Function Devices

Manufacturers are introducing cost effective multi-function devices that print, copy, scan and fax. Multi-function technology provides an opportunity for firms to empower secretaries to increase their scope of activities in supporting attorneys. Having the capability to scan paper and create PDF files in the secretary work area is a key component in moving an organization toward increased usage of electronic document storage. Implementation of multi-function devices requires an understanding of their use so the secretarial clusters are designed to accommodate this emerging technology. In addition, the introduction of multi-function devices at secretarial workstations could reduce space, power and environmental requirements associated with convenience copiers on practice floors.

Data Centers and Server Rooms

Data Center design has moved from a simple calculation of floor space, power and air conditioning to a much more comprehensive view of application portfolios, business continuity, voice and data communication networks, power provisioning, backup strategy, and even location. Simple “file and print” networks of the ‘90s have been replaced by multiple mission-critical 24 x 7 applications such as e-mail and document repositories. Any data center design must take into consideration the exponential growth of data storage, multiple dedicated application servers, high bandwidth communication, and security. Larger firms are even evaluating the physical location of their data centers, opting to locate away from their primary office location to improve security, business continuity and reduce real estate costs.

Conclusions

Relocation provides a unique opportunity to re-evaluate firm needs and business processes. Applying the lessons learned and best practices from other law firms can help refine your existing plans. Better yet, looking outside your peer group of law firms at how your clients implement and use technology may provide insight into a strategic relocation plan with a positive impact on client relations and business development.

¹ Please note the services and products mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect KKL's recommendation of the products or services listed. This listing is done for informational purposes only.