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TECH SUPPORT For all the benefits it brings, SharePoint is a long way from a panacea. Nor is it a build-it-and-they- will-come proposition. There are two parts to any SharePoint project, says Ellis. The first is building the content, features, and functionality — it's a highly customizable platform. Torys enlisted the help of a U.S.-based systems integration firm, XMLaw Inc., a SharePoint-for-law-firms specialist. The system, as a result, was up and running astonishingly quickly. Work began in October 2007, full rollout started in February or March 2008. The second part is change management — getting people to use it, and using it to its fullest. "Who knows which is the most important," says Ellis. "I change my mind on that every day. I often look back and wonder, 'Did I spend the right amount of time on each?' Certainly the change manage- ment piece is huge." Reading between the lines, one senses that many Torys lawyers have yet to embrace SharePoint wholeheartedly. But it's also clear Ellis is impatient to see the project succeed and inclined to be hypercritical. "I just know there is so much more potential than we are prob- ably experiencing from it at this point, and that's what I'm focusing on," she says. "But it's still early days." She knows it's too much to expect lawyers and practice areas to figure out on their own how to fully exploit SharePoint. For one thing, it will require some customization of the platform for each practice and what she calls "fine tuning." "That's my challenge for 2009; to make sure every lawyer is aware of the potential of what's on his desktop, and to make sure I hear from everyone about the changes they'd like to see. "The framework is there, it's work- ing. We've taken the core resources and put them in place. So we're well posi- tioned to see a lot of buy-in over the next number of months. It's just a matter of going to each practice area to do that fine tuning." Gerry Blackwell is a London, Ont.-based freelance writer. He can be reached at gerryblackwell@rogers.com C P FOL LOW THE BOUNCING HARD DRIVE ortable USB hard drives — great for toting entire libraries of documents in a jacket pocket or purse — are not all created equal. Some are smaller and lighter, some faster. And some, like the 250-GB Iomega eGo BlackBelt (about $150), are tougher. BlackBelt includes Iomega's Drop Guard Xtreme technology for protecting hard drives against physical shock. Drop Guard includes internal protection, plus a black rubber shock-absorbing halter around the outside of the unit. The company claims BlackBelt can withstand falls from more than two metres, which it also says is double the industry aver- age for shock protection. Iomega uses the same technology in its 320-GB eGo Encrypt (about $180), which adds data encryption for logical as well as physical security. Both products are bundled with EMC Retrospect backup software — a serviceable but DD CL A 3rdA-02 OP Phlps ad 2/9/09 9:12 AM Page 1 was still going strong. Fishing for a great Digital Pocket Memo? Setting new standards in advanced functionality and style for dictation not terribly user-friendly package — plus 2 GB of free MozyHome online backup capacity from Mozy. (Note, anyone can get the same deal at the Mozy web site.) At 19 x 89 x 133 mm and 218 g, BlackBelt is not the smallest, lightest portable drive. The Seagate FreeAgent Go, for example, is signifi cantly sleeker — small enough to fi t in a shirt pocket. BlackBelt is also not the fastest drive. It's rated at 420 megabits per second for the transfer rate (compared to 720 Mbps for full-size, built-in drives). In a speed test, it took six minutes and 17 seconds to transfer a 7.57-GB block of fi les. How tough is BlackBelt? We started with short drops and worked up to 1.8 metres on to a hard fl oor — it bounced a couple of times — before losing our nerve. BlackBelt — GB Help is here with Philips LFH9600 Voice commands, on-board file encryption and password protection are but a few of the powerful features. To order please quote code #40075-00 your LAW OFFICE PRODUCTIVITY source 1-888-393-3874 Fax: 1-800-263-2772 dyedurham.ca E &DUR H PREFERRED SUPPLIER S A I NCE 19 9 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com M ARCH 2009 25 M Gadget Watch D Y 8 W e ' r e a y C n a n a p d i m a n o a