Being an Early Tech Adopter is not always the Best Idea

Being the first to check out new technology for law firms or any industry can be exciting, but you shouldn’t jump at being an early adopter just because it’s new. Blindly adopting new tech isn’t always the smartest move. With any business, but especially for lawyers, there are risks involved with implementing new tech. Compromising your livelihood or even your license isn’t worth being the first to use a new technology. Here are three reasons for you to consider not being an early tech adopter.

1. Is it compatible?

New tech will often guarantee many things, including a great design and sleek look. That’s great aesthetically, but new products usually come with compatibility issues and bugs. It’s almost unavoidable, even with beta releases. You don’t want to be one of the first purchasers to have to suffer through a new product’s growing pains.

2. The cost may be high

A new product will most likely be priced the highest when it first hits the market. There is never a reason to pay full price for a new piece of tech. If you can be patient and wait a month or two, you’ll be able to purchase some brand new tech at a lower price.

3. How secure is this new tech?

Law firms really need to scrutinize the amount of security a new piece of tech offers. Using a piece of software in its first few days of release is risky because it hasn’t been tested enough in the real world yet and there is a possibility for security holes. If you must adopt a new piece of tech right away, try to wait at least a week to see if anyone else uncovers security flaws first.

In conclusion, if you can have a little bit of patience, it will pay off in many ways.  Your wallet will be fuller, you won’t stress about integrating something brand new and you can be satisfied knowing that your client information is secure.  If the new tech you want to use is really worth it, it will still be around if you wait a little while to start using it.