ShareDo founder Ben Nichoslon gives his view on why law firms must break free from VDI

There’s a *hidden* cost center for legal firms almost no one talks about. For some firms, we’re talking up to £1M+ per year in costs. Here’s what I mean (and how your firm can save a fortune):

The culprit I’m talking about:
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (short: VDI)

Let me explain:

When I’m talking to legal firms, it’s exciting to hear about the business benefits they get from platforms like SharePoint. BUT… it’s super depressing when I realize that a huge chunk of these benefits simply come from turning off VDI.

And we’re not talking about small changes here. I was involved in a recent business case where the savings were about a million pounds per year. Just from turning off VDI.

It reveals a chronic lack of investment in legal tech and IT tech in general. It’s a waste of investment over the years. Now, I get it. Moving key operational systems like case management solutions is hard, costly, and time-consuming.

But running these on VDI in 2024 suggests a couple things:

1) These applications are basically pre-internet.

We’re talking 1999-2000 era. They’re not designed for our clients’ digital needs, let alone our AI aspirations. They can’t meet the needs of the 2020s, and they’re costing a fortune in VDI hosting.

2) Our investments are too cautious and short-sighted.

The average case management solution lasts about 10 years. So what we invest in today needs to be fit for 2035.

The thing is – we don’t know what’ll happen in 10 years. But we know things will change. VDI will disappear, but new “money drainers” will pop up. Maybe your 2024 platform’s data architecture won’t be right for AI, and you’ll need to spend big to fix it.

If I was a CIO making major strategic IT investments, I’d focus on being up-to-date not just now, but forever. We need to be “evergreen”. Your vendor should have a strategy for staying current long-term.

So, aim to avoid the VDIs of today. But more importantly, avoid the future equivalent of VDIs in your strategic IT investments.

Stay evergreen, folks!