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The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) and InsideLegal.com, an insider’s guide to doing business in legal technology, recently released the findings of the 9th Annual ILTA Member Technology Purchasing Survey. The 2009 Survey, spanning feedback from 115 ILTA member law firms with 50 or more attorneys, covers IT budgeting; technology purchasing patterns; selection criteria and purchase influencers; technology trends & IT challenges; and state-of-the-economy questions. Of this year’s survey participants, roughly 10% included Canadian law firms, with 55% of those stemming from firms with 50-99 attorneys.
As a bonus for CBA PracticeLink readers, InsideLegal has compiled some data specifics based on the Canadian firm response:
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80+% of all Canadian firms surveyed reported IT budget decreases compared to 2008, and a majority (55%) spend between $8,000-$17,000 on technology per firm attorney.
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Legal IT Departments reported high satisfaction rates with implemented technologies. Of the 11 Canadian firm responses, 7 IT Departments reported being ‘highly satisfied’ with recent technology projects. In comparison, when asked about user satisfaction with new technology, only 2 indicated ‘highly satisfied’.
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0% of the Canadian respondents currently have cloud computing on their firms’ technology roadmap compared to 39% of all respondents who are either implementing cloud computing or actively researching it.
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When asked about the biggest issue or challenge facing IT overall, Canadian respondents most often mentioned ‘keeping up with firm growth/change’ and ‘e-mail management’ followed by ‘staffing’ and ‘lack of budget’.
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Over 50% of Canadian survey participants anticipate they will be ‘back to normal financially’ within the next two years.
2009 Survey highlights (all respondents) include:
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Budget cuts in 2009 are severe: Only 15% of survey participants spend more than 4% of total firm revenue on technology vs. 28% in 2008. However, economic recovery is closer than many might believe with 14% of respondents claiming their firms are already on the way to recovery and 47% stating firm financials will be on the upswing within the next 12 months.
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2008 saw major hardware projects rolled out with at least a 40% implementation rate (based on all survey responses) for server upgrades, desktop hardware, virtualization, laptops and printers/multi-function devices (MFDs).
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75% of all 2009/10 planned purchases are for technologies that were put on hold or deferred from last year.
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ILTA’s Peer to Peer magazine is 2009’s publication favorite with a 95% read rate among respondents.
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Technology blog readership is still below 50% but LinkedIn, as a social media tool for firms, is well entrenched.
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Majority of IT decision-makers say getting discounts/price cuts is the best way their technology vendors can work with them in the downturn. 62% indicated they have received specific vendor ‘economic stimulus’.
Download the full 2009 InsideLegal/ILTA Member Technology Purchasing Survey
About the author
Jobst Elster, Vice President of InsideLegal.com, an online community and advisory resource for the legal marketplace, has spent the last decade in the legal industry, working with vendors, consultants, the media, and law firms on various marketing consulting, public relations, and market survey initiatives. Insidelegal.com has collaborated with ILTA since 2004 on producing the annual ILTA Member Technology Purchasing Survey. Contact him at elster@InsideLegal.com.