Tag Archives: Microsoft

Down Goes Frazier! Down Goes Frazier!

Tyson Microsoft.  Google.  Slugging it out over a juicy government contract for email services.  In a nutshell:

The Feds awarded the contract to Microsoft.  Google, unhappy about this, sued the Feds, claiming the fix was in (this really does sound like a boxing match).  Microsoft claims Google is lying about the claims it's making in its lawsuit.

I don't know who "Frazier" ultimately will be, I just know that in a fight between these two heavyweights, someone may be hitting the canvas very hard.

e-Discovery California: Don’t be EVIL, Los ANGELes…

MP900401409 Theory is usually easier than practice.  You project managers know exactly what I'm talking about.  Courses like the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) have value, but one item tends to be underestimated; the human element.  Projects always look great on paper but unfortunately, they're not executed by robots.  They're executed by people with varying talent, ambition, health and – dare I say it – competence levels.  Add to that the other human elements; management support or lack thereof, other duties of the team (distractions), unexpected emergencies ("Hey, I need to borrow Steve for a few hours…"), predictive miscalculations and – dare I say it, part II – the competence of the project manager.

With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Google has missed a deadline to convert the City of Los Angeles email system to the cloud due to security concerns with the L.A.P.D.'s data.  Tha-a-a-a-a-t's gonna cost 'em.  Worse, they beat out Microsoft for the contract.

Ultimately, the issue will be resolved, but it begs the question – what happens when L.A. requests to retrieve data?  Another cautionary tale about 3rd-party vendors…

Spam Available at Walmart

J0422476 Too bad it's this kind of spam, not this kind

It's 'Security Awareness Friday' here on e-Discovery Insights.  I'm not picking on Walmart; I'm simply using them to illustrate that this may happen to anyone.  Microsoft's IE 8 has security problems as well.

Here's a news flash; IT and Security departments aren't in sync about how they're dealing with these issues.

What's my mission statement for this blog?  Facilitating the relationship between legal and technology professionals.  Maybe I should add 'facilitating the relationship between technology and technology professionals'…

Cloud(y), with a Slight Chance of Microsoft

Microsoft cloud Microsoft is lobbying Congress to pass something they call the Cloud Computing Advancement Act.  It would modify three areas of internet policy related to privacy, security and international issues.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  Depending on the specified language involved, this could be a good or bad thing.

Whether it's an oil refiner, automobile manufacturer or software development company, when private entities involve themselves in public policy, there's always a danger of self-interest overwhelming public interest.  Technically, Microsoft is a public company, due to its publicly-traded status, but it begs the question; who are they really trying to protect?

If and when I see the actual language of this proposed Act, I might be able to give an opinion on that.  In the meantime, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.  After all, sometimes private and public interests dovetail.  Maybe what's good for Microsoft in this instance is also good for the rest of us.

Tips & Tricks: The Office: Lexis Partners with Microsoft

0000000540_20060919015544_paper The partnership I'm referring to was recently revealed at LegalTech in New York, but the benefits won't be available until later this year.

Nevertheless, this is exciting news for anyone with licenses to both LexisNexis and Microsoft Office 2007.  Lexis will be integrated into the Office 2007 suite of products (which includes Outlook and SharePoint) and will be available for Office 2010, when it's released.  This means no more back & forth between the Web and Office when performing legal research.

The new product is aptly named, "Lexis for Microsoft Office".  One interesting item of note; many firms use WordPerfect because of its outstanding legal tools and have been understandably reluctant to migrate to MS Office.  It'll be interesting to see how this new partnership influences the future direction of law firms.

Let me give you my position.  I'm someone who, as a Consultant, is always attempting to travel the shortest distance between two points (which, as we know, is a straight line).  With that in mind, when I've gone into companies, if they have an established suite of products, unless there's a glaring need to change, I try to keep them within the same parameters.

This has absolutely nothing to do with which products I find superior; it's purely in an attempt to limit the number of vendors, and it has a practical purpose (you IT'ers out there know exactly what I mean).  To illustrate (and I'm not pointing fingers here…), how many of you have contacted vendor support for two products, say, Lotus Notes living on a Novell server and had support from both companies deflect from addressing your issue by saying "it's their problem"?

If you have Microsoft Office living on a Microsoft Server, that problem is eliminated because all they can do is point fingers at themselves.

In that context, if a firm is already heavily-invested in LexisNexis and Microsoft products, but still holding on to WordPerfect, perhaps someone in IT thinks this is the time to make a change.

Ever since I joined the executive committee of the State Bar of California's Law Practice Management & Technology Section, my thought processes have modified somewhat to thinking more about 'law practice management' along with the 'technology' aspects.