Business of Law

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Technology audits can pay off big-time

Posted Jul 1, 2009 7:30 PM CST
By Dennis Kennedy

Illustration by Jim Frazier

While the term audit often draws the same reaction as root canal, a technology audit can do much for lawyers. Especially in tough times, even a simple technology audit can pay big dividends.

The premise of an audit is a simple one: How can you know where you are going if you don’t know where you are? Today, cost savings have become a huge concern. And you cannot make good budget, spending and cost-cutting decisions without knowing the facts.

How well do you or the decision-makers at your firm know what technology you already have and use or don’t use?

There are many kinds of audits with varying levels of detail. You can use internal resources to conduct the audit or hire a consultant. You can use an audit to get a quick overview or to get an in-depth snapshot of your current technology or particular aspects. There are also voluntary audits and not-so-voluntary audits, such as when a vendor or the Business Software Alli­ance comes to you for verification that you have licenses for all of your software. An audit might also serve a specific purpose, such as to identify duplication, investigate possible theft, enforce compliance with usage policies or determine ways people are using the Internet or collaboration tools.

And any of these can affect your firm’s bottom line.

A great first step is to determine exactly what you want to learn from your audit; begin with the end in mind. If your concern is software compliance, your focus will be different than if your concern is managing your backup media. I also like to ask what kind of report is expected at the end of the audit, who will see it and what will be done with it.

LOW-COST/NO-COST HELP AVAILABLE

Performing a technology audit is not rocket science, but it is hard, painstaking and often frustrating work when done right. It’s a matter of finding, counting and tracking. There are tools that can help.

I recommend the Belarc Advisor (free at belarc.com) for anyone who wants to do an audit on their own computer and software. It runs on your machine and gives you a handy printout of the hardware configuration and all software installed.

In a network setting, there are several diagnostic tools, one or more of which is probably installed as part of your network, such as Microsoft System Center Essentials. Running one or more of these tools is a good first step.

Some firms leave it to the information technology director or an IT consultant to run an audit. If your firm is large enough to have a technology committee, it makes sense to have committee members involved.

At the end of the audit, you will want a written report that helps you understand what your system is composed of in a reasonable degree of detail.

The next step is to turn the report into action. If you do a technology audit and it doesn’t get read by your technology committee, management committee and the ultimate technology decision maker, you are wasting your time.

Technology audits can serve as a basis to:
• Standardize hardware and software configurations and versions.
• Avoid duplication and identify unused or obsolete programs.
• Show opportunities to save money from using volume licensing or other discounts.
• Get your firm into compliance on software licenses.
• Replace aging computers and reveal potential theft or misuse of assets.
• Create a factual, rather than anecdotal, basis for future technology decisions.

Technology audits are essential for making good technology decisions. In these times, and even in good times, regular technology audits should be near the top of your technology to-do list.

Dennis Kennedy is a St. Louis-based computer lawyer and legal technology writer. His website, DennisKennedy.com, is the home of his blog. Contact him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Comments

1.

Fool For A Client
Jun 24, 2009 5:56 AM CST

Why is it that an attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client, but this article suggests that attorneys may perform their own IT audits?

I am a recent law school graduate, and worked my way through night school largely doing enterprise architecture work for the federal government.  Unless your entire firm consists of a single desktop computer, I would recommend not doing this yourself.  Of course, those hourlies come close to what a biglaw associate might charge, but you wouldn’t advise them to be their own lawyers, would you?

It’s not rocket science, not by any means, but it takes time to be thorough, and you’re only going to realize cost savings if you’re thorough unless the place is in really bad shape.

If you’re a really big firm with multiple offices, consider getting a reputable consulting firm in the door to work on your enterprise architecture as well.  You can save a lot by rationalizing technology across all offices with volume licensing, uniform hardware for maintenance, etc.  The right hand just has to know what the left hand is doing.

Of course, I went to law school to escape doing this sort of thing!

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2.

Tom D
Jun 24, 2009 6:42 PM CST

So, it is obvious that the author demonstrates an apparant bias and/or ignorance of another profession.  Perhaps I could make the same about providing a personal opinion about a liability issue?  I mean I am not a lawyer (yet), however have been involved in Information Security, Privacy, Compliance, and LIability mitigation for more than 20 years, and the only thing standing in my way of providing true legal advice is the lack of a state bar license. I mean how hard is it to read up about the legality of something and then offer personal opinion on how to mitigate any potential technical liability risk….in fact I could use LegalZoom.com for one of my tools.  I mean how hard can it be…....it is somewhat akin to an attorney that decides to conduct on risk assessments without having a well-developed career in IT with generally accepted credentials other than his law degree, state bar, and of course legal technical writing, since its not rocket science.

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3.

Lamar Wilson
Jun 25, 2009 9:07 AM CST

Great article and good comments, both!  I would like to add, however that there is a freeway that all of your networks may ride on that is provided by Telecommunication Carriers (at&t, Verizon, Sprint, Paetec, etc.)  The biggest cost savings I find are not necessarily in the infrastructure (though I do recommend technology audits) but in the expense of the actual Carriers.  There are several firms in the market that specialize in telecommunication expense management (mine being one of many) that will perform a no risk audit of Carrier services to see if there is money being wasted.  “We do that ourselves…” - that’s what I hear from law firm IT departments on a regular basis, and it boggles my mind to think that IT has the arrogance to not welcome free and no risk help.  I only say this because unless one has worked in telecom regulatory it is near impossible to take the time to understand all of the proper tariffs, state, local, and federal tax rates, regulatory charges, and market rate of every individual Carrier offering in the market place.  You would not go to a cardiologist for foot pain, so why think that you could decipher every line item on any given telecommunications bill?

Telecommunication costs are one of the top four expenses large firms have - along with employee costs, facility costs, and taxes.  The Aberdeen Group states that “On average 7%-12% of telecom service invoices are in error - usually to the benefit to the vendor.”  They go on to say that “up to 85% of mid-market enterprise telecom bills are paid in full without being reviewed by the enterprise.”

On average telecommunication expense management companies will find 20% savings for their clients.  I’ve seen as much as 60% savings for my clients.  I encourage all mid-size to large, multi location firms to consider having an independent and unbiased consultant come in and assist their IT departments in telecommunication audits and optimization recommendations.  Be very picky though - make sure the companies work on a flat fee or contingency basis, and that they do not take any money either by reselling or recommending services from Telecom Carriers.  The Society of Telecommunications Consultants (www.stcconsultants.org) has a very strict ethics policy that its members are bound to.  That is a good resource to find a reputable firm in your area.

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4.

Violet March
Jul 14, 2009 3:59 PM CST

Doing your own IT work can be incredibly risky and dangerous.  At my old company, some of the attorneys were versed enough in IT to be able to open ports as an admin so they could get access to off limits sites.  All that social networking cost a couple of attorneys their jobs.

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