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TECH SUPPORT "Being well managed means instructions are clearer, information back from firms is clearer, and billing is absolutely clear." — ALEX TEIJEIRA, KRUGER PRODUCTS LTD. for each matter and track progress against it is another way products like Serengeti help law departments manage more effi- ciently. "It changes the way you approach things," says Thomas. "You're monitoring the budget all the time now, rather than waiting until the end and finding out you spent twice as much as you thought. If there's an issue, you deal with it early." If all this sets off alarm bells among outside counsel — enforced reporting, WINDOWS 7 B ig fi rms with internal IT departments have probably long since decided what to do about Microsoft Windows 7, the new desktop operating system launched in October 2009. Smaller fi rms may still be in a quandary. Windows 7 replaces Microsoft's much reviled Windows Vista (and the older, more respected Windows XP). The new operating system has been well received because it's more stable than Vista and requires less processing power and memory to perform well. It also sports a more sophisticated, easier-to-use (once you've learned it) interface than XP, and adds some new data security features. Our take after running Win7 for a few months? It's the best Windows yet, not perfect, but a big improvement, especially on Vista, but also on XP. We installed the new operating system on one older laptop with a 1.5GHz processor and only 1 GB of memory — the minimum require- ments to run Win7, according to Microsoft. Vista would never have run properly on such a machine. Win7 runs fi ne, as fast as XP did. The question then is not whether to upgrade to Windows 7 but when. Cautious advisers suggest waiting at least until Microsoft has issued its fi rst "service pack" to fi x the bugs that inevitably crop up in a new software product. This will likely come out towards the end of Q1 2010. Many fi rms may want to wait longer. There is a signifi cant cost to upgrade from an earlier version of Windows — from $130 to $280 per computer, depending on which edition of Win7 you use. Plus, if you're using XP, you'll have to learn a substantially new user interface. There is also the if-it-ain't-broke argument. If you're using XP or Vista and it's per- forming well, why change? (No reason, except that Microsoft will not provide ongoing support for XP past April 2011.) Other fi rms may want to move more quickly — mainly those that upgraded to Vista and regretted it. Based on our experience, they needn't worry about struggling with a buggy new product. Win7 works fi ne out of the box. — GB rigid budgets, imposition of new tech- nology — it need not, insist Thomas and Teijeira. There was some resistance early on, says Thomas, but now a signifi- cant chunk of the company's new busi- ness comes through referrals from law firms. Many, if not most, mid-size and large firms are already using Serengeti, in some cases with multiple clients. The company has 20,000 customers — 100,000 users — in 108 countries. Teijeira suggests being Serengeti- savvy might actually give firms a com- petitive edge. "Clients will be so happy with the service you're providing, it will only be a matter of time before your business grows," he says. Thomas and Teijeira also insist the benefits of using the service are shared with outside counsel. Even e-billing, not- withstanding its ultimate goal of reduc- ing legal spending, pays dividends for firms. Teijeira notes his company now pays its bills in as little as 30 days, down from months, improving cash flow for firms. Faster payment also reduces administrative costs of following up with reminder notices. And it costs no more to bill electronically — possibly less. "It's just a win-win," says Teijeira. Better matter management also cuts both ways. "From the get-go, we treated this as a shared environment for proj- ect management," Thomas says of the Serengeti system. Teijeira says his out- side counsel tell him they benefit from being able to check status and find docu- ments related to Kruger in one place at the company's portal. But let's not get carried away here. Outside counsel clearly do not ben- efit from a product such as Serengeti to the same extent their clients do. For one thing, many, probably most, already have internal matter- and document- management systems in place so don't need some aspects of the software. On the other hand, building extranets for clients did cost firms. Using this new platform does not, and it provides simi- lar benefits. Besides, once such products became available it was a foregone con- clusion in-house law departments would prefer them to firm extranets. Why wouldn't they want to be in control? So you might as well embrace the inevitable. Gerry Blackwell is a freelance technology writer based in London, Ont. Read his blog at http://afterbyte.blogspot.com. www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com JANU AR Y 2010 25 Gadget Watch