This year we’re going to add something extra – private presentations from some of our experts on topics of interest to CIOs. These free, 30 minute presentation + Q/A sessions will be held in Kraft Kennedy’s private meeting room Ryman Studio I. You’ll have the opportunity to discuss Exchange with Microsoft Certified Master Joe Hoegler, talk about Application Virtualization with Kraft Kennedy Practice Leader Chris Owens, and more!

We’ve also made it easy to register to attend one of these presentations – simply click on one of the custom links next to each session date/time and it will create a pre-populated email to send to us. All you need to do is click Send!

We’re virtually there: How Application Virtualization Aids Deployments

We’re virtually there! Law firms have a number of options for managing application delivery to the end user. What’s the best way to manage application deployment in both the remote access and office environments? Is there a way IT can use one application package for both environments despite the many inherent differences? Join Kraft Kennedy as we explore current application streaming and virtualization options, also limitations and compatibility with current operating system deployments. We’ll discuss the advantages of moving to an application virtualization technology while comparing the major vendors in this area: Citrix Application Streaming, VMware ThinApp and Microsoft App-V.

Session Times:

• Wednesday at 10:30AM-11:30AM
• Thursday at 2:00PM-3:00PM

Microsoft Exchange 2010 for Law Firms

The current version of Microsoft’s enterprise messaging platform offers many benefits specific to law firms. A native e-mail archiving platform, discovery and compliance features, improved and simplified high availability and disaster recovery capabilities, and an additional reduction in the I/O requirements make Exchange 2010 an attractive, better-performing messaging platform. These exciting changes make Exchange 2010 a robust and flexible option for firms of all sizes but will require very careful planning to ensure a successful deployment and seamless transition. We will help you understand the specifics of these new features and maximize your investment in Microsoft Exchange

Session Times:

• Tuesday at 2:30PM-3:30PM
• Thursday at 9:15AM-10:30AM

SharePoint as a Legal Marketing Platform

Kraft Kennedy (in partnership with Lexis and Microsoft) will be introducing at ILTA the new SharePoint Legal Marketing Suite, to help firms improve their ability to build new clients through effective marketing programs. Kraft Kennedy’s new release helps Law Firm Marketing Departments manage key marketing content, proposal generation, and internet site content management.

Session Times:

• Tuesday at 10:30AM-11:30AM
• Thursday at 8:00AM-9:00AM

Cloud Computing and Why CIOs Should Pay Attention

Join us to discuss Cloud Computing as we try to unravel what it is and what it is not. We will discuss the following topics:

• Is it just marketing hype?
• Is it ready for prime-time?
• Will it save my firm money?
• What should we be doing to get ready for the cloud?
• When the managing partner says “Let’s go to the cloud”, how do I respond?
• Will Office 365, BPOS work at my firm?

Session Times:

• Wednesday at 8:00AM-9:00AM

Selling Your Vision — Strategic Budgeting and Planning

Join us to discuss how you should develop a strategic technology plan for your firm.

• How do you understand the direction the firm is going?
• Are we making the lawyers more productive?
• Are we improving client service and the bottom line?
• How do you sell your plan to management?
• What do you need to include in your plan?
• How do you market the plan to the rest of the firm?

Session Times:

• Tuesday at 4:30PM-5:30PM

What are the top technology issues confronting law firm CIOs in 2011?

Join us to discuss some of the top technology issues that law firm CIOs are looking to address in 2011, including:

• Adoption: delivering technology that is actually used to increase lawyer productivity and client service.
• Consumerization of Technology: responding to the ever-increasing demands generated by home use and the extensive technology experiences and biases of lawyers
• Data management: managing the exponential increases in data storage requirements, largely due to explosions in emails and attached files, and e-discovery requirements
• Mobility: achieving true device/platform independence (any computer) with ubiquitous access (anywhere, any time);
• Security: implementing and managing increasing security requirements being imposed by statute, regulation, and clients; maintaining all systems at current levels (patched) including centralized and end-user devices, all without downtime
• User Interface: simplifying the environment, or at least that portion directly supported by firm staff, in terms of numbers of applications and complexity of infrastructure.

Session Times:

• Tuesday at 8:00AM-9:00AM

Windows 7/Office 2010/SCCM 2012 – What’s New

Join us for real world, proven approaches to Windows 7 and Office 2010 Deployment with a special focus on what’s next with the impending releases of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 and the highly anticipated Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012. The following topics will be discussed:

• Modular Deployment Methodology
• Single Image (Hardware-Agnostic)
• PXE-based Image Deployment
• Local Users vs. Local Admins
• Packaging of Applications
• Group Policy Preferences (GPP)
• Profile Management
• Consideration of Remote Access
• Application Vault

Session Times:

• Wednesday at 2:30-3:30
• Thursday at 11:00-12:00

Finding Success with Exchange 2010, by David Carlson, was published by the International Legal Technology Assosication (ILTA) as part of the March 2011 white paper series.  If you are thinking about an Exchange 2010 project, give it a read.

The article contains guidance and discussion on the following topics:

• Planning Exchange 2010 deployment for law firms
• Features for law firms: Exchange 2010 Archiving, Litigation Holds and Search
• Large Mailboxes
• Database Availability Groups
• Load Balancing Exchange 2010 CAS Arrays
• Co-existence with Cloud Computing
• Regional Consolidation of Exchange
• Virtualization

I am thrilled to have been part of numerous successful Exchange 2010 deployments for law firms.  It is hard to believe that we have already migrated tens of thousands of Exchange mailboxes and I have enjoyed sharing this experience with many ILTA members.

I hope you enjoy reading the article and welcome hearing about your experience deploying Exchange 2010.  Please leave us a comment below!

David Carlson ILTA Kraft Kennedy KKL

Here are some photos from this year’s event.

Additional photos can be found here. Special thanks to Cindy Mahoney for these great shots!

We would love to hear what you thought of the event. Thanks for playing and we’ll see you again next August.

Dave Carlson David Carlson ILTA Kraft Kennedy KKL

Over 60 people came out and we would like to congratulate the following teams who received trophies this year:

1st Place
Fernando Monteleone, Robinson & Cole LLP
Brandon Monteleone, Robinson & Cole LLP
John Sroka, Younts
Vito Squarciafico, Pullman & Comley

2nd Place
Chris Owens, Kraft Kennedy
John Sawyer, Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP
Dana Rotter, Holme Roberts & Owen
Frank Nelson, Linquist & Vennum PLLP

3rd Place
Joey Perez, American LegalNet, Inc.
Ken Levonaitis, McCarter & English
Mike Walls, US Army
Ted Glutz, Kraft Kennedy

Thanks to everyone who came out and we look forward to seeing you again next year!

Exhibit Hall – Booth 310/312

Come by and see us at our booth. Just look for the Porsche Cabriolet. We will be right next to the car…..if someone didn’t win it in the golf tournament. Are you interested in the latest technology, like Office 2010, Windows 7, and VDI?  Come see us in Booth 310/212 where we’ll have desktops, tablets, and even iPads accessing our VDI environment utilizing all of these technologies and more.  How about SharePoint 2010 as a functional DMS?  Or a raffle for your chance to win Bose Noise Reducing Headphones. Our consultants will be in the booth ready to talk about whatever is on your mind.

Briefing Room – Bluethorn 3

Many of our clients are taking advantage of the opportunity to meet with our team of experts to discuss topics that are relevant to them. Our team has experience planning, designing and implementing the latest technologies for law firms and we welcome you to have that same opportunity.  Send Rob Brindell an email: Brindell@kraftkennedy.com to schedule a convenient time for you to meet with us.

12th Annual Golf Tournament

Kraft Kennedy will be sponsoring the 12th Annual Golf Tournament with co-sponsors, Cypress Communications, Workshare software and Dell/EqualLogic. The tournament will be held at Bali Hai golf club and you can register at www.kraftkennedy.eventbrite.com to play Sunday, August 22nd. There will be an 8:00am shotgun start. Breakfast, lunch and refreshments will be served as well as contest prizes and trophies to the winners. Hopefully this year, someone will win a Porsche Cabriolet if they hit a hole in one on the contest hole.

Look who’s Speaking

Kraft Kennedy’s technical and management consultants will be presenting at the following sessions during the conference:

Session Name: Successful Strategies for Deploying Desktop Change
Date and Time: Monday, 8/23/2010 10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Session Name: Tweaking the Windows 7 Desktop with Advanced Configuration Settings
Date and Time: Tuesday, 8/24/2010 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Session Name: Co-Managing Projects with Vendors
Date and Time: Thursday, 8/26/2010 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Session Name: Law Department Roundtable
Date and Time: Thursday, 8/26/2010 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Session Name: How KM Supports Alternative Fee Arrangements
Date and Time: Thursday, 08/26/2010 10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

Session Name: The Evolution of Project Management in Law Firms
Date and Time: Tuesday, 09/21/2010 12:00pm-2:00pm

The morning saw a number of really good sessions, such as the session entitled “G100 Recap: Weathering the Storm and Cloud Computing.”  A number of key points were raised, such as the acknowledgment that technology spending was sacrificed during the economic downturn during the past couple of years.  The panelists believe that IT will actually help lead firms out of the recession and allow them to complete projects to help overall productivity.  On the subject of cloud computing, it was said that most law firms will likely begin to get exposure through telephony systems where there is less of the privacy concerns of other cloud based applications.

If you’re interested in exploring cloud computing in greater detail, Kraft Kennedy’s John Tsiofas and Dave Carlson will be speaking on data center relocation and cloud computing at 11:00AM on Wednesday in the Maryland C ballroom.

Also in the morning was a great session called “From the Trenches: Office 2007 Deployment Lessons.”  Here three different firms talked about their experiences, both good and bad, in upgrading to Office 2007.  The general consensus from the panelists was that the ribbon bar, the biggest visual change in the Office 2007 suite, actually turned out to be an insignificant issue overall.  The larger concerns were around application integration with document management systems and add-ins to Office applications that cause instability and performance issues.  In fact, one panelist described the project as “The document management system project featuring Office 2007,” highlighting the importance of the integration between Office 2007 and the DMS.

Office 2010 may have some of the same challenges.  Feel free to stop by Kraft Kennedy’s booth (721/723) to get a first hand look at Office 2010 running in our VDI environment.  The VDI desktops also feature Windows 7 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, so stop by and check them out!

VDI, or virtual desktop infrastructure, seems to be a hot topic at the conference this year.  Firms are starting to recognize that there are many benefits that can come with implementing a VDI solution, both in terms of financial savings as well as ease of administration and management.  We’ve spoken with many firms at the conference already this year that are starting to look at VDI as an alternative to traditional desktop deployment strategies.  We think the release of Windows 7 is also helping to drive VDI interest and adoption, as is the acceptance of virtualization technology in general.

With cost savings in mind, firms are also talking about how to contain costs or continue to reduce them.  Technologies like virtualization are helping to reduce costs as firms work to extend their hardware investments.  Developing a sound technology strategy has also been a reoccurring topic throughout the day as firms are preparing for what is coming next and want to ensure their strategy makes good business sense.

Finally, the day ended with the “Tut After Dark” party and casino night and everyone had a great time.  Even the party is a great place to learn new things, such as this blogger learning just how quickly you can lose $25,000 at the high rollers craps table.  But hey, it sure was a fun four minutes of my life!