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The Insider’s Guide to ILTACON: Part 2 of 3

Marcus Bluestein

6 min read

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This is Part 2 of our Insider’s Guide to ILTACON 2017. In Part 1, I provided some general navigation tips and highlighted events to look out for. 

Below I’ll list some of the educational sessions that, as Kraft Kennedy’s CTO, I’m most looking forward to. 

Links to Help You Schedule

Check out these links to get ready for the educational sessions:

ILTA Online Agenda – A listing of sessions and events with links to more information.

Conference Grid – This is a less detailed schedule helpfully organized by time slot.

Detailed Session Agenda – This is the most detailed listing of sessions, including speakers and room. ( I noticed that there are a few sessions listed here that don’t appear on the conference grid, so double-check before going. I undertsand that a conference of this size is a huge planning endeavor.)

Session Search Tool – If there’s something in particular you want to learn about, try searching for it here.

 

Monday 

11:00AM- 12:00PM- DMS Upgrades & Migrations: Before You Leap

South Seas Ballroom D, #ILTAG1

Presented by our very own DMS guru Brian Podolsky. What to know before you make the leap to another version or system altogether. Click the link above for more details and to put it on your calendar.

 

11:00AM-12:00PM: The Myths, Realities and Future of Artificial Intelligence and Automation in the Law (part 1),

South Seas Ballroom A, #ILTAG2

This is going to be fascinating. AI is going to be hugely important for Legal IT, and I think this sounds like a can’t-miss session. It’s going to be three hours over three days, so you can jump in and out.

 

1:00PM-2:ooPM: The Cloud vs No Cloud Debate

South Seas Ballroom A, #ILTAG12

This is an interesting discussion. Most law firms are not yet invest in the cloud. It’s still a barrier for many, and this session will give you some good talking points to further the conversation back at the office.

 

2:30PM-3:30PM: Making Friends and Influencing Attorneys

South Seas Ballroom A, #ILTAG23

Attorneys are our customers, whether you work on an internal IT team or as a consultant. Relationship building is paramount and should not be underestimated.

 

4:00PM-5:00PM: What Should Law Firms Measure

Jasmine Ballroom CD, #ILTAG36

The answer has always been “billable hours.” But what are the other key metrics? How can attorneys measure success? This session will probably address business intelligence and other areas that are slightly outside IT but crucial for us to be familiar with. 

 

Tuesday

8:00AM – 9:00AM: Patching Changes: How to Manage the New Windows 10 and Office Updates

For the early risers. Chris Owens of Kraft Kennedy will be addressing the crucial issue of managing the unprecedented model of Windows 10 and Office updates recently introduced by Microsoft. Come back to the office prepared to deal with this change, which will be affecting every legal IT department. Click above for more information and to add it to your calendar.

 

10:00AM-11:00AM: Azure 101: A Guide for Law Firms

Surf Room D

Azure represents Microsoft’s biggest ever investment in a product. So is it safe for law firms? The legal industry has long been wary of the cloud. That’s beginning to change, and Microsoft’s Azure is a powerful example of why.  In this session, we’ll address security, compliance, administration, and other implications of moving off-premises. Let’s block out the noise and concentrate on what a law firm needs to know before taking its first steps into the cloud.

11:00AM-12:00PM: The Myths, Realities and Future of Artificial Intelligence and Automation in the Law

South Seas Ballroom A, #ILTAG2

Part 2 of the series (see notes above).

 

1:30PM-2:30PM: Disaster Recovery: How to Build Your Run Book

 Jasmine GH, #ILTAG63

Many law firms have invested in costly disaster recovery but have not tested their plans. A run book will help you put together a process for testing. Hopefully you’ll never have to take your DR plan into production, but you’ll know it will work if you do. Don’t find out on the day that you’ve got stale data, or your systems won’t load and you’ve ot performance issues.

 

3:30PM-5:00PM: Innovative Applications of Blockchain in Legal Infrastructure and Beyond

 South Seas A,  #ILTAG75

This will be interesting both if you’ve been following the blockchain conversation or if you haven’t heard much about it. I’m looking forward to this discussion of how it will affect legal IT infrastructure and processes.

 

4:30 – 7:30PM: Kraft Kennedy Genius Bar, in Surf D

Genius Bar 2017 features Dynamic Roundtables for maximum fun and learning. Drinks and conversations will flow at this cocktail hour hosted by world-class IT experts. Guests will have the option to join flexible discussions at several roundtables focused on fascinating topics (or just mingle and enjoy some hors d’oeuvres!). Come away inspired and informed for the year ahead. Click on the link above to add it to your calendar.

 

Wednesday

8:00AM- 9:00AM-Next-Gen Application & Desktop Delivery with Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop

Surf D

Citrix continues to innovate with fast-paced releases to XenApp and XenDesktop. Join Kraft Kennedy consultant Jeff Silverman for a review of new features including Adaptive Transport, Adaptive Display, and Citrix Layering (formerly Unidesk).  Click on the link above to add it to your calendar.

 

8:00AM – 9:00AM- Microsystems 2017 Customer Briefing

Microsystems will also be holding a session for the early birds. 

 

9:00AM – 10:00AM: Getting to the Root: How Advanced Analytics Can Uncover Cost Drivers for Legal Matters

South Seas A, #ILTAG87

Essentially, this is about taking project management and expanding outside of IT, to the practice of law. This is still in its infancy and will constitute a big change for lawyers. This session will address how you can get the process started. Get the data that will allow your firm to offer fixed-fee arrangements to your clients.

 

11:00AM- 12:30PM: The Myths, Realities and Future of Artificial Intelligence and Automation in the Law (part 3)

South Seas A, #ILTAG

Part 3 of the talk on AI. (See above for my notes).

 

1:30PM-2:30PM Capensys: How Can You Easily Build and Maintain an Engaging Security Awareness Program

Oceanside C

Let me tell you a quick story. I know an attorney who got Cryptolocker on a Friday afternoon. Exasperated he closed his laptop and went home. By the time IT was alerted on Monday, the virus had run rampant for 60 hours. This is an example of why security awareness is one of the most important factors of your security program.

 

1:30PM – 2:30PM: Securing the Modern Workstation

Oceanside B

How can you protect your desktop from the bad guys? Windows 7 and 10 include effective security tools but you have to know where to find them. Join Kraft Kennedy to find out what you might be missing. Click the link above to add it to your calendar.

 

3:30PM- 4:30PM: The CRM Identity Crisis

Jasmine AB, #ILTAG107

Many firms recognize the need for Customer Relationship Manage but struggle to find an effective way to deal with the deluge of data.

 

4:30PM – 7:30PM: Kraft Kennedy Genius Bar, in Surf D

Genius Bar 2.0 2017 features more Dynamic Roundtables for maximum fun and learning. Drinks and conversations will flow at this cocktail hour hosted by world-class IT experts. Guests will have the option to join flexible discussions at several roundtables focused on fascinating topics (or just mingle and enjoy some hors d’oeuvres!). Come away inspired and informed for the year ahead.

 

Thursday

8:00AM – 9:00AM: Project Delivery with PMaaS

Surf D

This session is a must for anyone struggling with an ever-growing project portfolio that’s crying out for structure, processes, and predictability. Many law firms have been forced to dissolve their PMOs due to budget cuts. As a result, they rely on their already busy staff to assume the additional responsibilities of project manager and encounter recurring issues and failures on projects. In this session, we will discuss how a firm with or without an internal PMO can deliver successful projects, on time and on budget. Join experienced project managers Pat Mansuy and Mike Walls to learn how leading firms with proactive goals for a modern legal practice are turning to PMaaS—outsourced project management. Click above for details and to add the session to your calendar.

 

9:00AM – 10:00AM: ILTA Showcase: Fast and Furious Peer Award Presentations

Location TBD, #ILTAG126

 Ted Talk style presentations by people who’ve implemented cutting edge projects this past year.

 

11:15AM – 12:15PM: Exchange 2016 Upgrade Scenarios

Jasmine G,H

Exchange Master Joe Hoelger will take you through the newest Exchange platform. If you’re on Exchange 2010, you really need to get to 2016 ASAP. Otherwise, a painful double-hop migration awaits you as Exchange only allows you to skip one version. Come learn about new features in Exchange 2016 and Exchange Online that provide benefits for law firms. Then we’ll explore upgrade scenarios for Exchange 2016 on-premises deployments, full migrations to Exchange Online and hybrids in between. A panel of ILTA member law firms will close things out by discussing how they upgraded, the reasons for their decisions and lessons learned along the way. Click above for details and to add it to your calendar.

 

2:00PM– 3:00PM: Sustainable KM

 Jasmine EF, #ILTAG137

 and

3:30PM-4:30PM: Responsible Innovation

South Seas D, #ILTAG14

Both of the above sessions fall outside of the realm of pure technology but should be informative and interesting. A good cross-section of firms will be represented.

  

Tomorrow morning, I’ll  highlight some vendors to visit and recommend programs for those of you who are interested in a particular topic.

See what Kraft Kennedy will be up to here.