LAWTECH GURU BLOG by Jeff Beard

Collaboration Thoughts: Google "Presently", Parallel Processing, Simplification and Savvy Execution

Google is rounding out their web office apps with a PowerPoint clone. Mike Arrington at TechCrunch blogged on the announcement yesterday at the Web 2.0 expo. As a word play on Writely, Google's collaborative word processor, Google fans are now eager awaiting "Presently".

Although it's still early, I tend to agree with Google CEO Eric Schmidt's comment that it isn't a threat to Microsoft -- yet. With Office 2007's release and obvious refinements (particularly the ribbon bar), enterprise and legal markets are already sitting up, taking notice, and planning their upgrades. However, in this Web 2.0 era of business at the speed of broadband, waiting for revisions to roundtrip through multiple people is becoming more and more burdensome and costly. Think serial processing vs. parallel processing. Core Single vs. Core Duo.

Would I trust Google's web tools with confidential or sensitive data? [Update: No. A major concern I do not see going away any time soon is how easily a third party will give up records under subpoena, or threat thereof, when there may be defenses or other protections available to the data owner. There may also be security concerns]. But there have been times when I've been collaborating with one or more CLE presenters when it would have been incredibly helpful to work on the same presentation file concurrently.

I also like Workshare's Professional Suite's "Manage Changes" feature, particularly for Word documents. It goes Track Changes a few times better as it allows you to import and manage revisions from multiple reviewers within the same document, enabling a more flexible review and revision process.

Collaborative technology can definitely help, but it's not a panacea by itself. It doesn't eliminate the need of those involved in the process to understand and identify more efficient ways of conducting business.

I recently re-read the Corporate Counsel article, "Seven Sigma: GE lawyers take a low-tech road to come up with a high-tech way to draft contracts quickly" (I believe it was the Jan. 2007 issue, no web link available). It describes how GE's law department -- using only sticky notes -- tore apart and simplified the process for drafting contracts, cutting their document length, complexity, and execution time dramatically. Then they implemented the technology to facilitate it. If they would have tried to automate their existing voluminous contract forms around the old process, I seriously doubt the gains would have been anywhere near as rewarding.

Web 2.0 has been getting a lot of hype, along with criticism for over-hype. Some of it is probably deserved, but businesses and their lawyers would do well to give it a spin. Before the ride is over, it'll likely get people thinking and moving in a new direction.

On the Ball with Vista

Thanks to Dennis Kennedy commenting on my last post, I came across the link to Craig Ball's Vista overview. As usual, Craig does a great job of walking the uninitiated through Vista's enhancements and their impact on EDD. Of course, Craig left me feeling like I just took a trip though Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory with a rockin' Stones soundtrack. (Did you really want to know what the Vista Oompa Loompas are doing with your data?)

I also mention it since it supplements my comment about considering encryption pros and cons. He introduces the new BitLocker encryption in Vista's Enterprise and Ultimate editions and the challenges it presents.

Vista Shadow Copies -- Helpful to Users, Even More to EDD Recovery?

Microsoft has billed Vista as their most secure operating system to date. However, there's a little-known feature that could cause some data security concerns. Amidst the flurry over EDD and the new rules, Microsoft included a feature to certain versions of Windows Vista that may aid in recovering prior versions of files.

From Microsoft's Vista site:

Have you ever accidentally saved over a file you were working on? Accidental file deletion or modification is a common cause of data loss. Windows Vista includes a useful innovation to help you protect your data: Shadow Copy. Available in the Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise editions of Windows Vista, this feature automatically creates point-in-time copies of files as you work, so you can quickly and easily retrieve versions of a document you may have accidentally deleted. Shadow copy is automatically turned on in Windows Vista and creates copies on a scheduled basis of files that have changed [...] It works on single files as well as whole folders.

However, now consider the difficulty in trying to rid a system of shadow copies for legitimate security and confidentiality concerns. A laptop user may need to work on a confidential file while traveling. Since laptops are easily stolen, accidentally left behind, etc., it may be desirable to wipe the file later to maintain security and confidentiality. Consider some of the recent news stories covering thefts of laptops containing considerable amounts of personal data. It's a good bet that most file wiping utilities can't handle wiping the Vista shadow copies, at least not yet anyway.

Note that Shadow Copy is enabled by default in Vista Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise editions. So if data security and confidentiality is paramount to file recovery, organizations should consider disabling this feature in their Vista rollouts. On-the-fly encryption is another consideration, recognizing it has pros and cons as well.

[P.S. Seeing as I'm posting this on April 1st, I thought I'd emphasize this information was gathered directly from Microsoft's site. Also, Ars Technica has a post on this from as far back as last summer. Now if you're looking for an April Fools gag, Google got their hands dirty this year with Google's TiSP Beta. More on the gag at USA Today.]