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ILTA's 2012 Financial Management Poll Results Technology convergence breeds collaboration The push for technology that addresses the true business needs and management objectives of a progressive law firm is being increasingly delivered by legal technology vendors working side-by-side with their law firm colleagues. It's no longer a straight legal IT play; it now involves key firm players with a vision for what's best for the entire firm, including CFOs, CMOs, CKOs, executive directors and chief administrative officers. From a CFO perspective, firm technology purchases are commonly divided into financial-related technologies and general firm buys. While CFOs are often intimately involved with the evaluation and ultimate purchasing of financial systems, budgeting software, accounting systems and time-capture technology, the role of indirect influencer and objective evaluator is often important in general technology purchases as well. For these roles, budgeting and technology spending benchmarks and statistics are particularly helpful. We are heading into a new age of technology, especially in terms of capabilities and how they are delivered. The convergence of financial, general firm and business technology is underway, as is the evolving collaboration between firm CFOs and CIOs who are striving to deliver cohesive firmwide solutions. The need for internal collaboration when it comes to technology evaluation, selection and implementation is becoming dire as firms continue to tighten their technology budget belts. According to the 2012 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey, 63 percent of all surveyed ILTA firms (with 50+ attorneys) spend two to four percent of total revenue on technology. This is still considerably ILTA White Paper 25