To have been working as an IT professional over the past five years is to understand how changing market dynamics can rapidly transform an industry - even one as entrenched in tradition as the legal sector.  Increased competition, decreased client loyalty, consolidation and the Internet have radically altered the way law firms do business and compete to retain their leadership positions.

Legal IT professionals have been the primary beneficiaries of this industry transformation.  In years past, viewed as back office technicians whose primary role was to keep things running smoothly, IT staff was seen as successful if their work remained invisible and they successfully faded into the background.  Today, IT is increasingly seen as strategic to the organization, and IT professionals are critical change agents to facilitate the firm's continued growth and competitiveness.

Nowhere is this shift more evident than in the area of client relationship management (CRM) technology.  When first introduced to the legal marketplace back in 1996, CRM was widely viewed as a centralized Rolodex to facilitate firmwide mailings.  Today, it is considered a foundational technology and implemented in over 70 percent of the AmLaw 100 and hundreds of other large and midsize firms.

CRM's Rise in Stature
CRM's upgraded stature can be attributed to one thing:  money.  As law firms struggle to figure out the new business model for growing market share and profitability in today's environment, relationships have emerged as the common thread.  "A few years ago, our lawyers' access to client history and relationship information was deeply fragmented, and what there was wasn't easily shared," said Stirling Thomas, Director of IT at Boston-based Gesmer Updegrove.  "Today, they're actually approaching the IT staff and asking us how they can get more information from the system."

The emergence of CRM as a mission critical system is evolutionary and iterative.  As firms address the needs that initially led to their purchase of the application, they get a taste of the efficiencies and cost savings CRM delivers.  Then, as IT, marketing staff and professionals gain more familiarity with the system's vast capabilities, they become more creative about leveraging it for more aggressive strategies.  "Now lawyers feel it's an application they need to use," commented Thomas.  "They want client history, running accounts of past interactions, reports on who knows whom, etc."

Anu Alex, a Knowledge Management analyst at Atlanta-based King & Spalding LLP, believes that in today's competitive climate, firms must have CRM if they are to deliver the type of personalized service and attention that clients demand today.  "Law firms are much more sophisticated in their use of technology, and they must be much more proactive today to remain competitive," said Alex.  "With so many firms competing for the same clients and matters, CRM applications make it much easier to effectively target business development efforts and execute on growth strategies."

The degree to which law firms benefit from CRM depends largely upon the sophistication of the implementation and the alignment of firm culture and processes with the system.  Early tactical wins, such as centralized contact and list management, can be achieved relatively easily.  And more sophisticated applications of the technology, such as relationship intelligence, opportunity management, experience and expertise management, and the like, can be accomplished with more focused effort.

Career-Enhancing Expertise
As CRM applications become inextricably bound to the business of the firm, expert knowledge of how these systems work and integrate with other enterprise applications is essential.  "Mastering our CRM application has heightened my awareness of different systems and how information is really compartmentalized within our firm," said John Veldkamp, business development systems manager at Latham & Watkins.  "By building a centralized snapshot of clients and prospects within the application, we have been able to streamline the different systems, introduce consistent processes and maintain data quality standards."

Stephanie Larson, application manager at Gesmer Updegrove, believes that CRM mastery provides a huge advantage for any IT professional looking to advance on the career ladder.  "It's a huge advantage to have this background because CRM is such an integral part of a law firm - it's the hub of our business," said Larson.

Moving and Shaking
Indeed, one of the most compelling reasons IT professionals prefer working on CRM implementations is the broad exposure they receive by interacting with users at every level within the firm.  "Too often, IT people can be isolated from the practice offices, but that's not the case when you work on CRM," said Veldkamp. "I'm in contact with movers and shakers all the time.  And having that visibility is important."

Exposure to users at these levels has the added benefit of raising the respect that lawyers and management have for the IT professionals they work with.  "We're often thought of as drones who install software or who force technology on unwilling users," said Larson.  "Working directly with users on CRM has created a greater sense of mutual respect."

Professional Synergy
At the same time, working on a strategic CRM deployment also exposes IT staff to the core business of the firm, giving them first-hand knowledge of strategy and how their efforts fit into the larger mosaic.  Armed with this business knowledge, IT workers are better equipped to offer advice and solutions based on a sound understanding of the business goals and the role technology can play.

Veldkamp experienced this first hand recently during a CRM application rollout in one of Latham & Watkins' offices.  CRM is positioned, in part, as a tool to enable client teams to target their pitches and focus on clients and industries important to that office.  Identifying synergies between different offices targeting the same industry is critical.

"We had a skeptical partner who at first did not see the full value in sharing his relationships with the central repository," said Veldkamp.  To help illustrate the true and powerful value of the system, the team simply entered the client's name into their CRM application and did a "Who Knows Whom" search, which revealed other firm members as having a relationship with the selected contact.  "It turned out two partners in one of our German offices were working with the same individual, of which the skeptical partner was unaware.  This presented a compelling intersection point for cross-selling."

Leverage the Technology
Indeed, when IT staff can leverage CRM technology in this way to demonstrate the value of the system being promoted, their stock - as well as that of the system - rises.  For instance, last year Latham's non-US attorneys met for a conference.  Lawyers in Singapore mentioned they were trying to do more business with a company in that region.  "Through a Who Knows Whom search, we identified an individual in our London office who knew one of the general counsel at the target company and were able to secure an introduction," explained Veldkamp.  "Being more visible takes IT staff outside of our small world and puts the team in a more central role to help the enterprise achieve its strategic business priorities."

With this inside knowledge of the firm's business comes a broadening of horizons that also leads to greater job satisfaction.  "My background is application development - I enjoy learning about what users do and trying to make their jobs easier," explained Larson.  CRM provides the context in which Larson can gain this knowledge because it requires conversations with marketers and attorneys to understand what they need from the application.  "You not only gain a better understanding of the business, you also gain more respect for those functions."

Building Teams
Moreover, the teamwork required for successful CRM implementation often creates closer working relationships between IT and marketing teams - important alliances that facilitate and streamline projects jointly undertaken by these two groups.  Philadelphia-based Duane Morris' CRM project was jointly sponsored by the CIO and CMO, and through strong top-down leadership the two groups worked together seamlessly.  "My sense is that often there's not this close alliance between departments, although this is changing," said Duane Morris CIO, John Sroka.  "We forged a very strong relationship with marketing that has remained so well after the CRM implementation."

With an ever-growing community of CRM professionals also comes professional networking opportunities, leading to career advancement that simply didn't exist ten years ago.  "My involvement in CRM user groups has allowed me to meet people and gain introductions that have led to promotions and positions with greater responsibility," said Veldkamp.  "This has been a nice benefit."

With so much riding on CRM's success, it is no wonder that IT professionals expert in this technology are bullish about their futures.  Alex, formerly the CRM analyst at Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, has parlayed her in-depth knowledge of their CRM application into a new position as knowledge management analyst at King & Spalding.  "Firms need to hire IT professionals that really understand CRM systems and can implement them," said Alex.  "I know that I'm valued because I understand how the firm benefits from this tool and I can communicate those benefits to the users."

About our author . . .

Barry Solomon, as Executive Vice President of LexisNexis Interface Software, focuses on corporate strategy, product development and emerging markets.  A recognized industry expert in the areas of technology in the professional services sector, Barry is a frequent speaker on these topics at industry conferences as well as prolific writer for business, technology and trade publications.  He can be reached at bsolomon@interfacesoftware.com.