March 2003

"#% ! ? *Technology"

by Jan Michels
WSBA Executive Director
janm@wsba.org

I used to say that the hardest part of management was managing people. No longer! I think the hardest part of management is managing technology. It can be singularly disastrous, infuriatingly complex and convoluted, and a "sucking vortex" for resources. A manager's work in this area is never "done" and it's usually three years behind! A manager cannot step in or personally resolve a nasty technology problem. Overall, managing technology is a "deadly embrace" (in technology terms — a situation with no way out). And if that isn't enough, picture catching a virus or suffering damaging security or data breaches from a disgruntled employee or hacker. Remember the scandalous headlines about an executive who spent millions of dollars bringing an application online only to see it vaporize halfway through the funding and timeline. No, I'll take people and their idiosyncrasies over technology enigmas anytime.

    What led to this diatribe? I was frustrated in my efforts to "organize" the WSBA's technology — with staff and an advisory committee — trying to assure that every need or demand has a home and is prioritized. I remember when technology was "a clever person who liked computers and wrote little "auto-magic" programs to help store and sort data. Recently the WSBA technology staff has had a series of  "brainstorms" to avert later "blame-storms." To be sure we're pushing the most "futurist" horizons, we have added WSBA Governor Paul Lehto to our team. We have had the insight that "technology management" is composed of six or more business-management areas.

    It should not be a surprise that for all the "auto-magic" solutions that technology offers, there is also a downside. So, partly to educate members about the technology that WSBA staff uses to support Bar business, and to offer a frame of reference about why technology is so difficult to manage, we offer our thoughts on the business-management areas of the technology challenge.  

Prologue: No longer is "anything you plug in" technology; and no longer is the data that technology "stores, presents or transmits" technology. It is a complex business tool — not an end in itself.  

• Internal Business-Application Management

At the WSBA, internal business applications include CLE registrations and MCLE tracking, accounting and general ledger, licensing and renewals, and discipline. Challenges come when upgrades and replacements are needed. These applications and the technology platform they run on can be expensive and confounding.  

• Desktops

An average ratio for centralized desktop support is one technology expert to 50 WSBA employees, but as desktop proficiency becomes a job requirement, the management challenge is to decide when and how to decentralize this support and how much proficiency at the desktop level to demand for various job positions.  

• Web Presence

A firm or organization Web site should be strategically designed to meet a business goal. But some sites evolve with information added randomly, like holiday decorations. Managing a Web site requires focusing on the goal, careful organization, constant upgrading and content management. The WSBA's evolutionary style Web site is in the process of reinvention, to present content in an organized and user-friendly manner.  

• Communications Support

(List serves, bulletin boards, regular and broadcast e-mail, forums and panels)

This is a high-demand and high-growth area. The idea of the WSBA becoming a "bounce point" for many forms of intermember communication is exciting, but decisions about whether to host these services in-house or through outside vendors requires management decisions about security, availability for use, infrastructure, firewalls, and hotline support for problems.  

• Meetings and Training Support

(Distance learning, videoconferencing, interactive training programs, downloadable materials with hyperlinks)

While telecast learning, videoconferencing and Internet materials exist, no single technology can carry voice, video and files to a group simultaneously, except at elaborately equipped studios. Whether and when to leap into this immature area of technology is a difficult decision.  

• Interorganizational Hub

This area concerns organizing the available electronic tools and assisting members in receiving the interlinking and access they need to practice law — somewhat analygous to the card file of an electronic library of resources.  

    How does a small or even a medium-sized law firm manage similar technology issues in-house? Can employers offer technology analysts, managers, programmers or network specialists the growth opportunities and excitement that will hold their interest?

    Vendors may take umbrage with my saying so, but I feel I am at their mercy. A contract starts with a significant investment of hours (read money) while trying to reach a common language about what the client wants and what the vendor can commit to doing. Without thoroughly understanding the various areas that comprise technology management, any new tool, fix, enhancement or system migration in any one area may affect performance in others.

    We plan to develop tools to help members analyze their business needs for internal applications and sort through the resources available to meet these needs. We want to assist members in evaluating in-house system applications, using application service providers, or purchasing "shrink-wrapped" software. The advertising market is full of hype engineered to cause adrenalin to flow and anxiety to rise, while steering us toward certain products (see Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America by Kalle Lasn). Our technology team's best advice is to resist the first impulse to buy, and carefully consider the available choices; to concentrate energy on defining business needs; and to build enough expertise to make comprehensive, wise choices about managing technology.

    Note: My spellchecker had many problems with the words I chose for this discussion — seems even our language about technology needs a new dictionary!