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Technology Exec Says it’s Time to Get Over the Dot-com Crisis and Move On
LexisNexis CTO McLaughlin stresses innovation in keynote to New York audience
DAYTON, OH, February 16, 2004 - It’s been several years since the dot.com explosion that fizzled in the late 1990s left some information technology experts feeling battered and bruised, and one of the nation’s most respected Chief Technology Officers says it’s time to move on and to capture the benefits of recent advances.
"It hasn’t been much fun to be a CTO or CIO through these experiences," said Allan McLaughlin, senior vice president and chief technology officer of LexisNexis, a global leader in legal, news and business information services. "But, now is the time to take our heads out of the sand and raise them high to gingerly pick from the technology tree some of the necessary crop of innovations that our firms need."
McLaughlin delivered his comments earlier this month as keynote speaker at LegalTech New York, a four-day gathering in New York City of the U.S.'s largest and most influential law firms, technology companies and vendors.
McLaughlin, who was named in 2002 as one of the world’s 25 most influential CTOs by InfoWorld magazine, discussed how several factors over the past decade have squeezed technology budgets. He mentioned the dot-com explosion of the late '90s and how it resulted in a lot of firms suffering by making questionable technology investments; an economic slowdown that persisted for months and even lingers slightly today; and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks followed by the war in Iraq.
"Well, a new day has dawned on the business of technology and the sun is coming out," he said. "Now, it’s time to do the right thing for the business and manage the business of technology."
He cited a survey conducted in summer 2003 by LexisNexis and the International Bar Association in which 702 lawyers offered their views on technology within the practice of law.
"Nearly 70 percent of those surveyed said their organizations expect to boost tech spending in 2004 by as much as 20 percent," he said. "And, the overall forecast for IT spending in general looks to be about a 4 percent increase for the coming year."
Despite the projected increases, McLaughlin said some firms would see a decrease in spending. He offered a word of caution to those who might have to make those cuts.
"Don’t cut training," he said. "And I mean training for your IT people. Give your staffers challenging projects, thank them for their contribution and let them know you are investing in their career."
He suggested investing in some technology productivity advances for them, provide training in the management of the business of technology and explore the possibility of hiring private coaches for the rising stars in the organization.
"If you take care of your people, they will take care of the business."
McLaughlin concluded the keynote to the 400-plus in attendance by outlining the principles that guide him at LexisNexis: Integrate, Consolidate, Secure. He said to evaluate document-storage applications to be sure they meet the needs of the business. Meanwhile, examine how to integrate data across processes and look at technology to help achieve that.
The consolidation phase requires streamlining operations to obtain all reasonable efficiencies possible. Some functions could include vendor hosting of licensed Web applications. Finally, he said security is of the utmost importance.
"The more complex your environment becomes, the more potential for weak links," he said. "So don’t tread lightly in this space."
McLaughlin reminded the audience that focusing on return on investment does not justify CEOs "taking a meat cleaver" to technology investments. Instead, he said, in a slowly recovering economy, it’s time to make smart choices, take calculated risks and carefully diversify the roster of tech initiatives.
About LexisNexis
LexisNexis Group (www.lexisnexis.com) is a global leader in comprehensive and authoritative legal, news and business information and tailored applications. A member of Reed Elsevier Group plc [NYSE: ENL; NYSE: RUK] (www.reedelsevier.com), the company does business in 100 countries with 13,000 employees worldwide. In addition to its flagship Web-based research service, LexisNexis, the company includes some of the world’s most respected legal publishers such as Martindale-Hubbell, Matthew Bender, Butterworths, Les Editions du Juris-Classeur, Abeledo-Perrot and Orac.
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