Who knows what tomorrow brings? Even Albert Einstein said "I never think of the future - it comes soon enough".
For most in-house lawyers, thinking about the future is a luxury they can only dream of. Burgeoning demand, ever changing regulation and a drive to cut external expenditure all contrive to make the present far too pressing to even remember there is a future.
It is not really a luxury though, it is a necessity. Fail to plan and plan to fail. The challenges are only going to be greater tomorrow than they are today and without investment in thinking about what tomorrow may hold- most in-house teams current model won't be able to cope.
There exists today technology that can add control, minimise risk, manage documents and capture knowledge - the choice can be bewildering. Many in-house teams have made such an investment but have not also made the most precious investment - time to ensure that it does today and will do tomorrow what they need it to.
Ultimately planning for the future is time well spent. Technology will get faster, smarter and more powerful. It is important to ensure that beyond all the bells and whistles it does the job you want it to, what you need it to and what you will need it to.
Let's remember that your phone has more computing power today than the whole of NASA had with the Apollo programme. In 1969, they managed to launch a man to the moon. In 2011 many use the superior technology to launch birds at pigs!
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