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Linklaters

Digital Transformation

be the facilitator of change
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The world is transforming faster than ever before. Traditional business models across many sectors have either already been disrupted by new and agile players, or are staring down the barrel of imminent disruption. No matter which industry organisations belong to, they all share a common focus: the need to contemplate and implement profound strategies of digital transformation.

At its heart, digital transformation is about using technology to enable a business to be more agile and efficient, and to provide better service to its customers.

So, what does this all mean for

lawyers?

In our new report, co-authored by Microsoft and Linklaters, “Lawyers – agents of change in a world of digital transformation”, we demonstrate how digital transformation presents an opportunity for lawyers to influence, to collaborate and to partner with a range of stakeholders to enable the delivery of secure and compliant digital transformation solutions.

Lawyers must develop a reputation within their organisations or with their clients for being enablers of change and a collaborative force, rather than being inhibitors of innovation.

The report also includes a checklist on how to complete successful digital transformation.

To read the full report, please click here.

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Who is most influential in bringing Digital Transformation to an organisation?

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A recent survey carried out by IDC, commissioned by Microsoft and Linklaters, found that:

  • 85% of organisations surveyed planned to deploy cloud-based solutions - the technology which underpins most digital transformation strategies - in the next two years
  • in-house lawyers were believed to be more influential than in-house technology staff and outside tech-consultants in relation to a business’ cloud deployment decisions
  • legal, risk and compliance professionals wield considerable influence on technology decisions, with in-house lawyers ranked as the top influencers when it comes to giving the greenlight to cloud deployments 

The three Digital Transformation Practice Principles lawyers need to know

1

Create Clarity

  • Lawyers can expect to be presented with a digital transformation solution and be asked by their business stakeholders or clients, “Can we do this?”
  • To be able to answer this question confidently, the lawyer will first have to upskill and have a deeper understanding of the technology in question.
  • Therefore, the lawyer must also be flexible in applying to that technology legal principles that were likely not developed for the digital age.
  • This will help them guide organisations to build a stronger digital solution that it is compliant and secure by design.
2

Build Partnerships

  • Digital transformation is often led by senior management. However, lawyers have an opportunity to get a seat at the table from the outset of any digital transformation deal.
  • Often the lawyer is the person who bridges a number of the most important gaps in the digital transformation process – the gap between the business and operations teams and the business and the compliance function; the gap between the company and its regulator; and the gap that often appears in negotiations between a customer and a supplier.
  • Through early engagement, collaboration and partnership with key decision makers in the business, lawyers will move up the value chain in the business and can embed themselves as part of the creative process in any digital transformation project.
3

Deliver success

  • Digital transformation deals will look different depending on what they involve - many moving pieces and new technologies which may not be similar to anything a lawyer has worked on before.
  • A lawyer who is able to cut through the noise and the buzzwords and clearly identify the key legal and commercial risks for their company or client will ensure they are helping deliver successful innovation.

Andrew Cooke, Regional Director of Legal Affairs for Microsoft Asia Pacific & Japan:

Microsoft and Linklaters understand that it will take a collaboration of legal knowledge and technological expertise to untangle multifaceted issues that come with digital transformation.
Image of Andrew Cooke
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Adrian Fisher, Counsel in the TMT practice at Linklaters Singapore:

It used to be a risk to do something new, now standing still risks the very future of many businesses.
adrian fisher
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