Nathan Hayes, Director of IT, Three Crowns
Nathan Hayes is Director of IT, Three Crowns, a law firm where he is returning to IT after a sabbatical. Strangely he started off in architecture and theatre, completing studies as a stage designer. As he sought a career path, he was taken by developments in the artificial environment space which later evolved into an interest in technology allowing him to use his science background and draw on his personal interest in IT.
His first tech job involved application translations for a global distribution company with a ¬£100 million turnover, hundreds of staff and around thirty offices. He had to manipulate the screen interface to accommodate different languages which he says was a simple process using a standard forms interface. This coincided with Microsoft NT Beta being unleashed onto the world so Nathan eventually took on responsibility for implementing the final release of this and Exchange. “It morphed into a wider role and I also took on responsibility for the company’s BBS (Bulletin Board System), a forerunner to the internet.” He helped develop the BBS (dial up access) for software distribution so customers dialled in and accessed software on line. Nathan says of this point in time. “They had a mini which ran the financial and distribution side of the business but no email and limited office tools, it was back in 1995.” He built an IP network with NT4 and Exchange to give users access to the internet and email which was rolled out internationally.
Eventually the excitement of jet setting around the world paled and Nathan looked for a role that would allow him to invest more time in his personal life. He found this previous position at Osborne Clarke where he remained for 11 years in 1997 and joined expecting his work life to simmer down but says: “I was wrong. It was on the cusp of law firms really taking IT to heart.” He started as network manager with a single employee then moved into the role of head of IT then also Head of infrastructure which means taking care of the buildings the firm occupies. Nathan comments “The synergies between the two were growing so we simply integrated the teams. I don’t think a good working environment can be achieved in isolation, the two work in harmony.” He says it brought benefits in terms of internal co-ordination, for instance if there were queries about placing air con or MFP (multi function peripherals) within the building it meant his combined team had the answers. “Everything is relatively complicated in terms of procurement and contract management and drafting so we train our people on procedures and used both an internal Procurement Manager and a third party company called Amethyst to co-ordinate the tender process. They provided benchmarking on costs.”
Osborne Clarke had offices in the UK, Germany and the US: Bristol, Reading, London, Munich, Cologne and Palo Alto and the firm has a strong technology law capability. “The US is a conduit to bring work into our European offices.” Said Nathan.
Of the fifty staff he ended up managing he said twenty two were pure technology and Nathan spent most of his time on delivery and developing strategy. “We had globally centralised IT which we continually evolved, although we also had significant points and goals to aim for. We ran IT in line with the firm strategy and ambitions. Osborne Clarke were just featured in Legal Week who reported that their profits per equity partner surged by a fifth. Nathan said managing finances had its problems. “I had to be on the ball and make decisions to purchase ahead particularly in growth phases but the balance is not to overdo it or it affects the bottom line. It would be easy to haemorrhage money.”
As we are on talking about financial issues I ask about budget. Nathan said the firm assessed IT proposals in the first quarter of the year otherwise outside of this they had an “Expenditure Request” process every quarter where meetings are held with the COO and Managing Partner but this was for emergencies only or where a real opportunity arises. Decisions are made by Nathan and a steering group made up of stakeholders that include the Managing Partner and COO. Vendors are asked to tender for work and the first stage will be down to Nathan to compile a vendor short list which he does via industry peers and using knowledge internally. They then sent out a request for information with a proposal and go through a 3 to 4 week tender process but this could stretch to six months on large projects. “We followed a well documented trail so that we didn’t drop the ball.” Budget was just over 3% which is on the low side in the industry but Nathan said it will rise towards 4% to reflect an increased investment phase. “One of the key performance indicators is to keep spend below 4%. I aimed for above average service for below average cost delivered to the business.”
Of the best product Nathan has seen Blackberry won the day (back in the day). “It was the best thing out there at delivering pertinent information on the move.
