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Businesses to brace for 'second generation of technology'
Australian in-house teams may soon find themselves being impacted by a "second generation of technology", with businesses operating in certain sectors leveraging digital disruption to nab more clientele.
Emma Musgrave
Speaking at PEXA's PropertyX conference, Andrew McLeod, director, head of technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) research at Morgan Stanley, said pressure is being felt by businesses, particularly listed companies and those operating in the real estate industry, to adopt the kind of capabilities that the "new wave of technology" presents.
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"Being publicly listed and stock market listed, there’s always pressure to do more," Mr McLeod told attendees.
"Over the last 3-5 years I’ve seen companies like REA Group and Domain start to develop a new suite of products."
These products essentially piggy-back off those already implemented by a particular business, but expand and broaden their scope through data capture in a bid to capture more of the client's needs.
"Local and international companies have started to launch new kinds of adjacent products to leverage the data they get from people," Mr McLeod explained.
"REA Group has now started selling home loans to people, because they see this as an opportunity to grow their revenue. They know if you’re looking on their site you’re likely to be looking to buy a house so they’re collecting data on you as a user and that provides them with an opportunity to present you with a home loan.
"Domain have similar products in terms of insurance. Once you’re looking at their site they’ll give you an opportunity to get an insurance product from them. Essentially I call these second generation technology."
The Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) has spoken previously about the need for businesses to leverage data to maximise results for clients, noting general counsel and members of legal departments can help a client secure a competitive advantage, such openings demand hard work.
“Legal departments today are expected to run like a business. They need to be efficient, deliver quality services at the right price, develop the talent on their teams, leverage data and analytics to make the best decisions possible and secure the best outcomes possible,” the Consortium says.
Just being good or even a great lawyer is table-stakes, it proclaims. In-house teams must deliver more with the precious resources afforded to them to support their clients.
“Until today, operational competence was barely the standard. Today, as companies are expected to deliver at the highest levels, legal departments must do their share to deliver service optimally and be run like a business, develop strategic plans, thoughtful budgets, implement efficiency enhancing tools, develop talent, leverage knowledge management, manage vendors, and do so much more.”
