Limitless Wireless
The Challenge
“Given the recognition of various telephony carrier-signaling challenges, we wanted to provide easy wireless access throughout all of our office buildings worldwide,” Lucas says. Client requests to connect back to their home offices and the internal advance of iOS device adoption necessitated the change.
The Solution
Lucas and the IT facilities arm chose an open, but standard, wireless solution. “We wanted all devices with wireless capability to be able to easily connect to the Internet without any outside assistance required for our customers and firm clients,” Lucas says. Starting simultaneously in Washington, DC, and London, the team standardized service delivery in forty-five offices spread across twenty-five countries over a two-year period. With a standard nomenclature for the hotspot SSIDs and seeding on various devices, the project did not necessitate training, merely a short memo.
The Results
“This was very well received and allowed easy wireless Internet access for our clients,” Lucas says. Notable improvements included seamless access to e-mail, contacts, and calendaring on any iOS device or other wireless device used by Hogan Lovells’s lawyers.
10k
Devices supported—including internal devices, smartphones, and laptops
Data Protection
The Challenge
The delivery of information security and privacy awareness education is of growing concern within the legal services vertical. Having already attained ISO 27001 accreditation, Hogan Lovells needed to develop a comprehensive awareness program compatible with multiple e-learning platforms. The program comprised training modules governing a broad set of topics, laws, and regulations coded using the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM).
The Solution
At the outset, Lucas wanted to create training that diverged from the sterility of the traditional format. “By utilizing the SCORM reference model for the training program, modules can be pieced together to form complete programs for varying audiences, or they can stand on their own,” Lucas says. His security team also devised engaging content around memorable stories to ensure lasting resonance. “We also needed a program that could be continuously delivered throughout the year, with key topics of importance being redelivered to our audience,” Lucas says. The resulting modular program offered training that could stand on its own for five-minute e-delivery or be included as part of a comprehensive program.
The Results
“The vast majority of our audience is billable in six-minute increments,” Lucas says, “and they can resist having time taken away from them for mandatory training. Despite the time constraints, every participant that has commented on our program has been highly complimentary.”
Microsoft Lync
The Challenge
The need for greater collaboration and synergy among employees demanded that Hogan Lovells implement a business tool enabling a breakdown of geographic boundaries for global collaboration. “Adoption and use of collaboration tools is part of a top-down driven business strategy,” Lucas says.
The Solution
Microsoft Lync, with its easy-to-use chat, desktop-application sharing, and videoconferencing functionality, proved the most obvious fit for the existing application architecture and operating environment. “A significant component of Lync collaboration that we were focused on was seamless desktop video conferencing,” says Lucas, “but Lync also provides desktop/document sharing and collaboration, as well as internal instant messaging.”
Because implementation and rollout proved critical, Lucas’s team, with engagement from key business stakeholders, designed a marketing campaign highlighting the value of Lync as an everyday collaboration tool. “This included a demonstration at a global partner meeting by our CEO, Steve Immelt,” Lucas says. “That proved to be a powerfully reinforcing message.”
The Results
With more than 5,000 subscribers and hundreds of daily users, employees have taken to Lync. “So far,” Lucas says, “this has been extraordinarily adopted and is proving to meet our objective: breaking down geographic barriers and enabling client teams to respond to requests with speed and confidence.”