A typical day in an IT professional’s life involves a lot of troubleshooting and maintenance. IT professionals may grow to have love/hate relationships with their on-site servers. Sure, those servers may be testy and occasionally cause issues – but the trouble they cause keeps IT professionals on their toes and in their jobs.
Or so they think.
But what if the law firm for which these IT professionals work adopted a cloud solution? What if those server-associated problems went away because cloud vendors manage day-to-day issues? Would that mean that IT professionals were no longer needed?
Certainly not.
Instead, clever IT professionals can parlay this change to develop skills, take on new responsibilities, become a more strategic force in their law firms, and even advance to more vital and profitable positions.
Move on up
There are a multitude of ways in which an IT professional’s skill set can be applied to higher-level tasks.
New opportunities within the firm
IT professionals can segue their experience into training or department-specific consultation or support. People who are capable of logical problem-solving are always in demand.
Added business value
When used properly, technology saves a law firm time and money. And no one is more intimately acquainted with a firm’s technology than IT professionals. Determining ways in which they can create business value through technology will make IT professionals champions of the firm.
Negotiation
Rather than law firms relying on an office manager to negotiate with technology vendors, IT professionals can step in. IT professionals will understand whether vendors’ services and product will add value to the business. They’ll understand the intricacies of a program or application and what the law firm needs, so they can be effective negotiators.
Data security and compliance
Is your law firm looking to make the jump to representing healthcare clients or some other sector that requires additional security and compliance? If so, IT professionals can be a terrific resource. They can parse the requirements and devise ways that your law firm can meet them.
Roadmaps and budgeting
As technology becomes increasingly important to everyday matters, it’s important for law firms to have an idea of where they’re going and the budgets needed to accomplish their goals. IT professionals can create technology roadmaps and forecast budgeting, so law firms can take advantage of available technology and get an edge over competition.
Project managers
If your law firm implements the use of new technology, IT professionals can be the right individuals to guide your firm through the project.
Customize apps
The most important unit of measurement at any law firm is the billable hour. IT professionals can help keep attorneys focused on billing hours by customizing legal apps to streamline typical bottlenecks and strip away time lost in repetitive tasks.
IT strategists
IT professionals can take on new monikers: IT strategists. Is your law firm using its technology effectively? Is it taking advantage of all of the technology available in the marketplace to increase efficiency? IT professionals can put their knowledge to work building a technology strategy for your law firm to keep it ahead of the pack.
The typical workday of an IT professional may be changing with more prevalent use of the cloud – but the change can be positive, benefiting both law firms and the IT professionals they employ.