The planning and execution of an upgrade.

By Tom Mannall and Suzanne Gregg

Technology upgrades enable law firms to optimize business processes, improve service and gain a competitive advantage.

Successfully integrating new technology requires detailed planning, precise execution, teamwork and a significant amount of effort.

PLANNING
Vision
A strong management group provides the overall vision, which guides the firm’s technology direction and adoption. As part of this vision, a buy-in from the principals is imperative.

Business Processes
Firms often conduct business year after year without reviewing their business processes.

Just how are we doing conflicts checks again? Who is responsible? How are they carrying it out? Ignoring current business practices or assuming that they are covering areas such as conflicts checking adequately can be very costly to a firm. You never know just what may crawl out when you lift up a rock.

Reviewing existing processes and understanding goals is paramount to identifying the appropriate technology solution in which to invest.

Technology Due Diligence
Once goals are established and business processes have been reviewed, then technology due diligence begins.

A technology plan is required that identifies the applications, infrastructure and resources best suited to meet the firm’s overall requirements.

Reviewing and updating your firm’s network security policies and practices needs to be included as part of the technology plan in order to ensure data is adequately protected and secured. Increased security measures, such as strong password policies or firewall restrictions, often result in pushback; however, the benefits of a secured system far outweigh any inconveniences.

Coming up with a sound technology plan is challenging. Organizations, such as the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA), peer networking groups and system integration companies are valuable sources of information.

Once your plan has been approved, meet with different prospective IT professionals who can implement the systems in which you are interested. Their past experience on similar projects may provide invaluable information. Always check references, do so before making decisions regarding your deployment.

EXECUTION
You’ve done everything right. You have reviewed your business processes, identified weaknesses, established goals, met with internal and external resources, checked references and finalized your technology plan.

The execution phase now commences where resources are allocated, plans are communicated and the implementation phase begins.

Resources: Budget
This is when the rubber hits the road and is not the time to cut corners. Your system upgrade is at least as important as the interior design of your office. Which contributes more to the productivity of the firm?

Once a technology plan has been created based on the firm’s vision and goals, a realistic budget is required in order to successfully implement the new technology.

A well-planned budget should be comprehensive in scope and include a contingency for the unexpected. This would include product costs, maintenance charges and professional services fees. Product costs tend to be more of a commodity and relatively easy to compare, whereas professional services can be difficult to quantify and evaluate.

Brand name products may cost more to buy, but tend to cost less to own. Deploying a standard set of applications requires a higher initial investment but can result in lower support costs.

A professional services company’s track record, reputation and ability to deliver a solution in a timely and cost effective manner need to be considered. Detailed written proposals outlining deliverables and associated costs should be supplied.

The term of any lease or loan associated with the project should be carefully considered and tied to the firm’s technology life cycle.

Resources: People
The parties involved with implementing a technology plan may include:

• Project Manager
• Internal Technology and Business Resource (LAN admin/Firm admin)
• Third Party IT Companies (hardware and software installation)
• Infrastructure Resources (cabling, electrical, air conditioning, etc.)
• Programming and Data Analysis (extract/import data, custom integrations where required)
• Pilot Group
• Technical Training (users and administration)

You will need to assess where you will acquire the resources, which will usually be a combination of:

• In-house management resources
• In-house technology resources
• In-house user resources
• External authorities
• External professional services resources
• Never underestimate, nor overestimate, your internal resources.

Long-standing employees, respected by lawyers and staff members alike, can become invaluable members of the technology project team. Their knowledge of the firm’s business processes and history can be leveraged.

On the other hand, is it practical, or even fair, to expect your internal IT department to deliver new technology with no prior experience? The firm is making a significant investment in a new system. As part of the firm’s risk management strategy, contracting professionals with the expertise, experience and focus is highly recommended.

This does not mean that your IT department should not be involved, quite the opposite. They will be the ones who will be left with the keys to the system, so their participation and knowledge transfer is imperative.

Prior to a firm-wide deployment, identify any weakness or deficiencies with a pilot group, which will provide feedback. This should include people of various technical abilities, positive attitudes and good communication skills.

Most importantly, all of the resources involved in the deployment need to be team players who are committed to the overall success of the project.

Time/Timeline
Time and timing is everything. Would you rollout new cash registers on Boxing Day? The challenge is to maintain productivity and minimize stress during the transition period.

• Allow realistic amount of time for the project timeline. Expect the unexpected.
• Build in sufficient time for testing prior to rollout.
• Do as much in advance of the rollout as possible.
• A phased deployment is preferred to a firm-wide upgrade in order to minimize risk.
• A well-planned and executed deployment should minimize both down time and stress due to change.

Communications: In-house
Buy-in does not stop at the principals of the firm. Everyone using the new technology should understand the firm considers their involvement crucial to the success of the new system. Meet with users long before the rollout to set expectations and communicate the firm’s vision and goals. Where possible, demo the technology to prepare the users for what is coming. Input from the staff will assist in planning and also promote adoption.

The impact un-invested users can have on the success of a deployment should not be underestimated.

Communications: External
To deliver an integrated solution multiple parties are often involved with a project. It is important for them to understand the firm’s goals, their responsibilities, and their interdependencies as it relates to other project partners.

The individual parties must work together as a team in order to ensure successful deployment. Co-ordinating communications between the firm and all of the various parties involved with the project is another key aspect.

Communications: Knowledge Transfer
Training is a very important part of any successful new technology deployment. If users are not adequately trained, they will not use the system appropriately or to its fullest capability. Ultimately, this costs the firm in loss of productivity.

It can be especially challenging to get lawyers to take part in training sessions. The argument is a simple one: “I bill out at $400 per hour, I can’t afford to go to training. My assistant can take care of it.” Yet, more and more, lawyers are doing their own work due to the changing landscape of technology and communications. If learning new or better methods of working with the firm’s technology can make a lawyer more productive, the argument of losing billable time while training becomes moot.

Training should be recognized as an on-going function of the firm. It is not enough to train lawyers and staff in a new system when it is deployed; follow up sessions should be provided ensuring the more advanced features of the technology are leveraged. An investment in proper training for new lawyers or staff member should be considered vital to the firm’s continued efficiency and productivity.

Administrative training will allow the firm’s internal IT department to be self-sufficient in the day-to-day operation, management and maintenance of the system. Systems documentation should be provided to the firm by any professional services company involved in the installation and configuration of the new technology.

Follow Up: Adjustments
Once the solution has been fully deployed, it is important to follow up and ensure user acceptance and adoption. Analyze user feedback to fine tune and optimize the system.

Collaborative environments often empower people to create new and better ways of using technology to meet their goals.

Follow Up: Enhancements
Building on your existing platform by taking advantage of technology upgrades can help leverage your investment to realize additional efficiencies and functionality. Extending the scope of your system to external partners and clients can further improve your firm’s competitiveness and profitability.

SUMMARY
Change is a constant and, to remain competitive and seize new opportunities, firms need to review and adjust their technology plans to meet their evolving vision.

The challenges presented by change management may appear daunting, but detailed planning and precise execution can overcome obstacles, obtain acceptance and ensure success.

Tom Mannall, Prolan Network Services Inc. (tdm@prolan.com) www.prolan.com
Suzanne Gregg, AppSolute Consulting Inc. (sgregg@appsolute.ca) www.appsolute.ca

This article was published in the December 2010 issue of BarTalk. © 2010 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.