Hyperscale Group – Our First Three Years

It has flown by but 3 years ago today Hyperscale Group was born.

We started out in a world of hope – in a 30 year career seldom do I remember such a period of change. We have been blessed to see some real innovative thinking and ambition from our clients. We are so lucky to work in an industry with some phenomenal talent and brainpower.

Three years ago the legal market was buoyant and legal innovation was really beginning to take off – I had just led my previous firm to be ranked by the Financial Times as the second most innovative in Europe. We had achieved a lot but were acutely conscious there was so much that could still be done in this industry, hence launching Hyperscale Group.

Law is an $850bn global undigitized market. Technology has been used to help law firms and in house teams for the last 30 years or so. “Legal IT” is a misnomer though. Most of this technology has been information management technology – i.e. there has been no law in it. It is only in the last 4-5 years that technology has began to affect the actual delivery of law. It is both hugely exciting and difficult at the same time for a range of reasons. It is also possible that we, the Legal Market, may have missed its opportunity though and may now have to march to someone else’s drum [The Death of Legal Tech?]. Hyperscale Group was formed to help with this and has got off to a great start.

We are in an era where experience really matters, which plays to our strength. Many people have come into the innovation market thinking it is ‘easy’ but you are effectively trying to fix the problems that no one has been able to sort for the last 200 years – often with only small budgets and teams. Many have failed or taken decisions which will need to be unwound. These times are not about doing things but are about doing the right things. We are lucky though. We have worked on some great projects with some superb clients (in around 17 different countries at the last count) and have been honoured to have played a role in getting them to the right place. We love the fact we have co-founded www.intuityalliance.com too and have leveraged the experience of 30 plus great brains. We have seen a lot happen too [Reflecting on Our First 1000 days] and still feel this has been a wonderful period in which to operate.

And so, what about Covid-19?  When we set out we certainly did not expect to be spending our third anniversary in a Pandemic Lockdown. We have recently shared some thoughts on this [A conversation with a carpenter]. We are clearly seeing some terrible events which are affecting many people and organisations we know and there is no one who would have wished for this but in big picture terms: 1) this has happened and could happen again. We all need to adapt and prepare – we need to raise the bar in how we all operate; 2) Every business needs to think more about its operating model and underlying technology (most people we speak to want more tech and less real estate in the future) and we are helping people with this – working out what capabilities you need will be key; 3) the needs and wishes of our people and clients will alter and again technology will play a big part. Again we need to adapt; 4) travel and global will look very different – perhaps Covid-19 will ironically help to save the environment; 5) the economy is likely to look very different but as per our article we need to look at this in a balanced objective way rather than be led by media speculation.

If there were silver linings, I suspect there are three: 1) this has been an unprecedented catalyst for change. People have seen there are now different ways of working. New technologies have been embraced and many will now build on this, which will improve both efficiency and quality of life. 2) New modernised operating models can and do work – this is fact – it is now proven; 3) We have all perhaps worked too hard and have lost sight of some of the important things in life – perhaps we need more balance and time with our families like we have witnessed during lockdown – we need to recalibrate. I suspect we will all want change in our personal lives and will have a very different view on priorities and this can only help the diversity of every industry we work in too. In big picture terms post Covid-19 there will be change. There will be opportunity. Hyperscale Group are lucky to be really well placed to help people through the next phase of their development. This crisis has affected us but we have deliberately not furloughed anyone and have kept the team intact. We have been investing in R&D and supporting our clients though this to ensure we are better and stronger and can help as we emerge out of lockdown.

On a more negative note one issue which we find worrying is the worldwide effect of the pandemic. The West and Asia have seen different positives and negatives in their ability to deal with things and time will tell what the best strategies will have been. One of our chosen charities is the Joshua Foundation in Tanzania who we have provided with computer equipment and cooking facilities [read more here]. We were due to visit them in Q3 of this year but suspect that won’t be possible now. We really worry how Tanzania and other similar countries will cope with this virus. Their problems will be very different to ours with a fraction of the medical support and equipment. We need the world not to forget other less well resourced jurisdictions in times like these – we certainly will not.

And so what about Hyperscale’s next few years. Despite sitting at my desk in these terrible times I see a bright future. We have a great team and great clients and are lucky to operate in an area where there will be increased demand. We are working on and have some really innovative projects in the pipeline. We have modelled ourselves on not being the biggest but on being the best and most efficient which also brings resilience – a decision from day one is now benefiting us. In many ways it feels we have been trained for this period we are now entering. We have been investing in R&D and having listened to our clients are already developing some new service lines [Find out more]. The economy may be challenging but we all need to make the most of whatever is presented to us. We have clear plans and strategies to help people. Like I say above in times like this experience matters and we want to help clients “make the right things happen”. We don’t know how this will affect the innovation and legal tech industry but we very much intend to be part of the future and making things better.

As a closing note I want to say thank you to all the great clients, suppliers, contacts and advisors we work with – not to mention our superb team. We are truly honoured to work with some great, talented and ethical people. You have all supported us – thankfully we have all been healthy and operational during the crisis, but we really appreciate everyone who has helped and checked in on us. We will always be grateful and will reciprocate.