Mobility, Flexibility, Agility and the 21st Century Workflow

By Nicole Black

November’s theme–working on the go–threw me for a bit of a loop. Mainly because there’s so much to write about. The ability to work on the go is at the heart of the mobile and cloud computing revolution that we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of. And it’s a revolution that has occurred very, very quickly. So quickly that it’s almost mind boggling.

By way of perspective, consider this timeline:

• April 2005–Gmail, Google email platform in the cloud, launched in private beta
• June 2006–Google Spreadsheets, Google’s first non-email cloud product, launched
• August 2006–Amazon EC2 cloud product released in private beta
• June 2007–iPhone released in US
• November 2007–Kindle released in US
• July 2008–Apple launches the App Store
• April 2010–iPad released in US

In just 6 short years, our paper, desk and local server-based world has been flipped on its head. No longer are we chained to our office chairs, held hostage by our desktop computers and local servers. Instead, we’ve become a mobile, agile workforce, literally holding all of the world’s information right in the palms of our hands.  No matter where we are, no matter what time of day or night, our data is instantly accessible with just the touch of a button.

It was the emergence–and convergence–of mobile and cloud computing that ushered in this rapid, massive societal transformation. The stage was set in 2005 and 2006 when Google released its first cloud products and Amazon EC2, the virtual cloud servers used by many well known Internet sites including Reddit, Foursquare and Quora, went live.

Next came the mobile devices. First the iPhone and the Kindle in 2007 and then the iPad in 2010. With the release of those devices came the ability to untether from your office and access your stored data in the cloud wherever and whenever you chose.

And now, just 1.5 years after the iPad was first released, tablets are commonplace and mobile computing is the norm–so much so that most lawyers, not just the tech-savvy ones, are finally beginning to take notice.

For example, last week I received a call from a local attorney whom I’ve never before met, but who regularly reads my Daily Record column. He informed me that he needed my advice and then explained that just the other day, when he was in Family Court, one of his colleagues had all of his files on a device that he carried around with him. All of them! He was amazed and wanted to know how he could do the same thing. He went on to explain that he’d asked his kids about it and gathered that he needed to buy an iPad or tablet computer. But, he wondered, how did he get the documents onto the device?

I quickly explained that he would need to scan the documents and upload them into the cloud or onto the device’s hard drive and that there were apps for that. I referred him to a few resources, including past articles I’d written and sent him on his way.

As I hung up the phone, I was struck by the sense of wonderment and excitement in his voice when he described how his colleague had instant access to every document in his file. Also notable was his sense of urgency–he wanted access to the same convenience and he wanted it now. It was as if the benefits of mobile computing had been purely theoretical up until the point in time–when he was unexpectedly hit over the head with an example of it in action. That which had previously been theoretical mumbo jumbo suddenly made perfect sense.

The obvious convenience and flexibility of mobile and cloud computing trumped any aversion to technology that he may have harbored. And, he’s not alone. More lawyers are following the same path, as the benefits of mobile and cloud computing become obvious.

The convergence of these technologies has resulted in a new, exciting, mobile reality where flexibility and agility are defining features of the 21st century workflow. Ignoring the mobile revolution no longer makes sense. Instead, join your colleagues and take advantage of all it has to offer.

Image by Albany Associates via Flickr

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