Synchronization the Killer Feature for Cloud-based Practice/Project Management Apps?

A recent post in the April 29th issue of Technolawyer's Answers to Questions e-mail newsletter represents the frustration that is typical of practice/project-management end-users:

TechnoLawyer member Jeff Garvin asks:

"I currently am using the old Amicus Client Server in a >small law office. I have a Palm Treo phone and would like to get a new phone, either the iPhone or another PDA from AT&T. The Client Server edition of Amicus actually works >well for me and would like to keep it. What is the best phone that I can get from AT&T and how would I make it link (without some one month torture program) to my Amicus >system? Thanks."

Kenneth G. Miller responded:

"I replaced my Palm Software-based Treo phone with an AT&T iPhone about 4 months ago. I love the iPhone, but had no idea what a hassle it would be >to keep my Amicus Attorney data synchronized with it!"

Joseph Myers then details a three-step process for keeping client-management software synchronized with an iPhone, which basically involves using Microsoft Outlook as an intermediary. Since Outlook will sync with most project/practice/client/contact/etc.-management tools on the market, it is a common ingredient in such kludges.

The predominant thought in my mind as I read this is "ick!" I'm glad I'm not in such a situation. Years ago, when I was using Time Matters, it did a good job hotsyncing with the Palm OS. I was happy with one-button sync of my contact and calendar info to my Handspring Visor and, later, Treo 300. But even that seems like a fossilized process to me now.

When I stopped practicing law in the traditional sense and focused on managing e-discovery projects, my sync options opened up greatly. Early on, I set up my Treo 600 to sync over-the-air (OTA) with Outlook on my always-on desktop. Using Outlook, SharePoint, and KeySuite for the Palm, I was able to sync and manage multiple contact lists, task lists, and calendars for multiple projects. Then I evolved to push sync, no desktop needed, with my Treo 680 and MS Exchange.

Now I'm using Google Hosted Apps pushed to an iPhone. Love it. My only gripe is that there is no way to back-up the entire phone OTA, so I still have to plug in the phone to a computer to back it up. Yes, 32 GB is a lot to back-up OTA, but with WiFi/3G and trickle backup, it is doable--so give me OTA full-backup Apple! That said, I really don't need it, all my critical data is already synchronized OTA. My calendar, e-mail, and contacts reside in Google Hosted Apps (with e-mail archived with Postini). My tasks are with Toodledo. My notes are on Evernote. Travel itineraries are on Tripit. And so it goes.

So why are legal practice/case/client/project management applications forcing busy lawyers to spend 5 or 10 minutes at their desk at the beginning and end of each day just synchronizing their devices to the computer--or before running to court or to a meeting if they want to ensure all their data is up-to-date)? Neil Squillante points out the obvious in an editor's note to Mr. Myer's post:

It seems like many people who use practice management software want automatic over-the-air syncing with their smartphones. Perhaps legal vendors should make that their number one priority in their next versions. Fortunately, the smartphone landscape has more clarity than it did a year ago. Legal vendors could safely focus on just three platforms -- Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone. Lawyers using some other smartphone OS would probably not hesitate to switch to one of these three for this functionality.

I think a more important point is that lawyers will switch from traditional legal-practice applications to new cloud-based solutions like RocketMatter, unless the old guard addresses the needs of its increasingly mobile user base. And I don't want to hear about one-button synch--get rid of the wires and the requirement to manually sync. That's what your users are increasingly used to and expect.

^[1] Joseph Meyers, Syncing and iPhone to Practice Management Software, Answers to Questions (Technolawyer Cmty.), Apr. 30, 2010, available at http://www.technolawyer.com/member/purchase1.asp?subsFrom=searchdetail.asp&mailID=755825&pos=1&resFound=27&redir=&order=DateSent&contentID=13,+20,+16,+28,+27,+33,+26,+11,+4,+7,+29,+3,+1&topicID=100,+101,+102,+103,+105,+106,+107,+108,+109,+110,+111,+125,+112,+113,+114,+115,+116,+117,+118,+119,+120,+121,+104,+122,+123,+124,+126,+127,+128,+129,+130,+131&searchInTitle=True&searchInBody=True&searchInNote=True&keywords=SYNCING+IPHONE+&x=41&y=13 (last visited May 5, 2010)

Synchronization the Killer Feature for Cloud-based Practice/Project Management Apps?

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