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TECH SUPPORT more cost deferral than reduction because the computers will eventually have to be replaced. The firm has also renegoti- ated or cancelled software maintenance contracts that deliver regular upgrades and priority support. It's a way almost any firm can safely reduce IT costs, says consultant Andy Woyzbun, lead analyst at Info-Tech Research Group Inc. "If you have a stable application and no urgent need to move to [a] new version, why are you paying 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the original licensing fee a year for what is essentially insurance?" Whitelaw Twining has taken simi- lar measures. Software licensing repre- sented 30 to 50 per cent of the firm's IT budget, says Giroux. He cancelled plans to upgrade to new versions of Windows and Microsoft Office. The firm did go ahead with a scheduled upgrade of its Groupwise e-mail system. "Most firms are realizing that the bulk of their law practice today is in e-mail," Giroux says. The Groupwise upgrade was also fairly inexpensive — far less costly than migrat- ing to an enterprise-grade e-mail system like Microsoft Exchange. But by imple- menting the new version of Groupwise and developing some custom plugins, Giroux was able to deliver an e-mail system that provides all the management functions the firm required, while saving tens of thousands of dollars. Deferring upgrading software also made it feasible in turn to delay buy- ing some new desktops, as Giroux notes. Whitelaw Twining had refreshed lawyers' computers within the last two years, but some five-year-old machines were due to be replaced. Instead of spending a minimum of $300 to $500 for new com- puters, Giroux spent $50 each to install new video cards in the old ones. Increased video processing and memory allows the old machines to easily run the kind of graphical applications — including video — that have become a common part of law firm computing, and typically drive demand for new hardware. The other way Whitelaw Twining is reducing IT costs is through server virtu- alization and consolidation. Most servers only run one or two applications that use a small percentage of available computing power. Virtualization creates multiple vir- tual servers on one physical machine, each one capable of running a different appli- cation. The principal benefits are reduced power consumption (because you need fewer machines to run the same applica- tions) and reduced hardware mainten- ance and management costs. Most experts say virtualization and consolidation at best produce long- term cost savings but Giroux is seeing immediate savings. When IT staff need to service hardware in a conventional server environment it means shutting down, so the application isn't available to users. For this reason maintenance and servicing are done in off hours, at considerable cost in overtime. In a virtualized server environment, IT staff can easily and fairly quickly move virtual servers from one machine to another when one needs servicing — thus with- out interrupting service. 22 APRIL 2009 www. Untitled-2 1 mag.com 2/11/09 12:24:44 PM