In most Indian households, Diwali is a time for ‘spring cleaning’. The few weeks leading up to the festival of lights are typically filled with a cleaning frenzy. From cupboards and shelves to kitchen cabinets and showcases – nothing is safe from a broom, mop, cleaning liquid or an over-enthusiastic lord or lady of the house!
But how many of us spring clean our technology, particularly in our workplace?
If you work for or own a legal firm, cleaning out your technological systems at regular intervals is an absolute must.
This includes everything from your tasks and tools to subscription services and software licenses.
Have you stopped using something?
Or are you still using outdated solutions?
Are you automatically renewing subscriptions even though everyone who used it in the past has moved on to other solutions (or simply moved on)?
Identify and eliminate these obsolete tools. Not only will you save money, you will also discover newer, better technologies that can make your firm more competitive!
Now you know why spring cleaning your legal technology is essential. Keep reading for useful tips on the how!
How to spring clean your technology
Step 1: Create a full accounting of your critical work tasks
Ask questions like:
- How are these tasks accomplished?
- Are they done by people, software or a combination of both?
Also determine if some of these tasks are still needed. If not, get rid of them!
Step 2: Find out what tools you use for each type of task
Once you have this information, you can figure out if you can combine or consolidate solutions or expand an existing solution to handle more work. See if you need to discontinue outdated tools or upgrade to more advanced versions. You can also review if you need to migrate to a completely new solution.
Step 3: Reach out to existing vendors
Contact vendors whose services or solutions are fairly cost-effective to see whether you can renegotiate your rates or licenses.
Step 4: Check how different tools work together (and if they work well together)
As you determine what technology you need and what you need to discard, review how multiple tools work together and if there are simpler solutions to consolidate or integrate them. So if you’re currently using five different document management tools, ask yourself if there’s a single integrated solution that can replace all five.
Step 5: Keep an eye on upgrades
Once you determine which tools and solutions are required, update them to the latest versions. If you fail to do this, you risk introducing errors and security weaknesses into your system.
Your spring cleaning doesn’t end there!
In addition to technology, also spring clean your:
Files
Review your record-retention policies. Do they need to be updated? Make sure expired/outdated data is securely deleted in compliance with these policies. Eliminate all redundant, obsolete and trivial files that may be cluttering up your repositories and wasting valuable bandwidth.
Do the same with email accounts, servers and file storage systems.
Physical assets
(Literally) clean your keyboards, mobile devices, mice, monitors and all other equipment. If there are broken monitors, homeless cables or outdated hard drives or storage devices lying around, get rid of them.
Vendors and suppliers
Assess your vendors. Are you satisfied with their service? Is the price still right? If not, it may be time to re-consider your relationship with them.
Your workplace must be full of energy and even joy. If clutter is robbing you of this energy and joy, it may be time to spring clean!
