IT project acceleration for law firms – pipe dream or reality?

We’re all familiar with the scary statistics that get thrown around in the media on the underperformance of change initiatives. Geneca predict that 75% of business and IT leaders anticipate their software projects to fail and yet technology is set to have the greatest impact on law firms in the next five years.

Working with legal IT and Operations leaders every day gives me a unique and privileged insight into their challenges. I see firms whose growth is hampered by legacy IT infrastructure and many say their existing systems are neither agile or scalable enough to support future expansion. Their teams are typically managing a complex portfolio comprising hundreds of programmes and projects, often alongside a larger firm-wide transformation.

It’s hardly surprising that, with so much on the agenda, many programmes stall or over-run due to the sheer pressure on resources and the lack of prioritisation. I’m often asked for advice at the point where timelines are expanding, costs are mounting and confidence has started to go south.

The holy grail is injecting stalled projects with focus, pace and a determination to deliver. But is project acceleration really something that can be achieved?

At Nine Feet Tall, we encourage our clients to look at what they can do differently to increase the momentum of their projects by going through these six steps:

1. Prioritise your portfolio
2. Phase to deliver early benefits
3. Take a hard look at your team and suppliers
4. Build a business case around flexible resourcing
5. Apply ‘just the right amount of governance’
6. Ready the firm for swift adoption

Re-igniting projects and accelerating delivery enables IT and Operations leaders in law firms to demonstrate value, realise the benefits faster and move on.  It is almost certainly a reality and not a pipe dream.

For more information on accelerating project delivery for law firms, see our new white papers

Rebecca Brown
Head of Marketing
rebeccab@ninefeettall.com

I’m Becky and I am the Marketing Manager here. Starting at Nine Feet Tall was an important life milestone for me, as it was my first role after an 8-year career break to have my children. I have previously worked in consumer and sports marketing and have always enjoyed building, developing, and executing brand strategies. Having taken the time out to raise my three boys, I wanted to return to marketing and the opportunity at Nine Feet Tall was perfect. For me, working for a strong brand that punches well above its weight (or should that be height?!) in a values led organisation, with a team of fantastic people, and the flexibility of part time hours ticked all the boxes and I feel privileged to have this opportunity. I have been here a little over two years and have enjoyed all the challenges and opportunities along the way. My professional highlights are always when a piece of marketing activity leads to new business and personal highlights are the proper belly laughs with the team at our company days.