Transcript Coporate vs Legal IT

Corporate vs Legal IT
Pamela Cottier
Tracey Schreiner
Lawnet 2001
DuPont Legal IT
History
• Corporate IT group was unable to
effectively support the legal niche.
• Applications could not be leveraged
– Matter management, litigation support apps,
patent systems.
• Staffing flexibility could not be managed.
– Limited short-term resources
History (cont.)
• Aggressive rollout schedules were
unachievable
– WAN to 35 converged law firms time est. at
11.5 to 17 years.
• Corporate IT challenged Legal to achieve
better results and Legal jumped!!
• Corporate IT proceeded to outsource
network management, help desk, and IT
consulting. Legal decided to retain separate
IT organization
Organizational Development
• First yr, entered into an insource/outsource
arrangement for the provision of IT services
with outside consulting firm.
– Temporary solution to define structure and
determine best practice for future.
• Full management converted to dedicated
Legal IT staff in 1996.
Organizational Structure
• Determined IT required three components:
– Network/Architecture
– PC Desktop/Help Desk
– Applications/Projects
• Developed Strategic Staffing Structure:
– Management/Technical/Project Leadership inhouse
– Technical staffing out-sourced.
DuPont Legal IT Organization
Manager Legal IT
Tracey Schreiner
Legal IT Support
Barbara Stone
Desktop Support Leader
Michael Evans
Desktop Support Analyst
Candace Checchi
Desktop Support Analyst
TBD*
Desktop Analyst BMP
Tim Searle
Desktop Support Analyst
George Schramm
Workstation Technician BMP
Steve MacDowell
Workstation Technician Wilm
Jim Gustafason
IT Initiatives Leader
Pamela Cottier
IP
Systems Liaison
Cheryl Stewart
Oracle DBA
Hong Guo
VB Prog
Theresa Ocampo
Network and Operations Leader
Jason Romeo
Collaborative Tech
Systems Liaison
Sabrina Williams*
Lotus Notes
Admin Level 2
Steve Ignasz
NT Admin
Level 2
Keith Wilson
LN Developer
Bob DePasquale
Lotus Notes
Admin Level 1
Jahhann Stewart
NT Admin
Level 1
Dondi Williams
Litigation Support
Systems Liaison
Mary Ann Kim
Matter Management
Systems Liaison
Sandy Astifan
Electronic Discovery
Specialist
Mark Miller
App Developer
Kari Liberman
Legal Librarian
Jane DiCecco
Library Assistant
Elizabeth Garrity
DuPont employees
Contract employees
Training Specialist
Angela Creegan
Internal Process
• Budget managed by IT Manager
• Technical decisions made internally by IT
• New system implementations usually
brought to IT via Six Sigma or strategic
leadership decision.
• Smaller projects brought to IT by Legal
users
• Project team manages all aspects of
implementation.
The Application Universe
Litigation
SmartCounsel
Tymetrix
KnowledgeBase
Accounts Payable
interfaces
Litigation Support
Virtual Partner
Team Calendars
Case Databases
Other
Records Management
Corporate Secretary
Group databases
ZixMail
Web services
Patents
MIS-Patents
MIS-Trademarks
MIS-Contracts
MIS-Invoices
Segregation of Duties
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•
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•
Corporate IT
Telecom Services (incl
Internet connectivity)
Corporate Infrastructure
Off the shelf software
guidelines/license
negotiations.
PC Specifications
Mainframe
Sourcing/Purchasing
Lotus Notes Management
Legal IT
•
•
•
•
•
Help Desk
Desktop implementation/support
Network administration
VPN implementation and support
Project/application management
and implementation
• Training
• Lotus Notes administration
• Proprietary systems development
• Flexibility
Benefits
– Accelerated implementation schedules
– Freedom to deviate from Corporately
guidelined software.
– Able to rapidly adopt new technologies (VPN,
Web-based services)
• Responsiveness
– Team of on-site desktop support personnel.
– Develop solutions for small and large user
groups.
– Rapid adjustments to network design to meet
changing requirements. (USPTO, VPN, ASP
solutions).
Benefits (cont.)
• Responsiveness (cont.)
– “SWAT” teams can organize quickly around
problems or litigation-driven requirements
(EDD, System failures/anomalies).
• Cost
– Desktop support = 60% of those in similar
functions within DuPont while providing
increase services.
– Management of network backups saves
approximately $600,000 per year.
Benefits (cont.)
• Cost (cont.)
– Project/implementations are 60% dedicated to
Six Sigma solutions resulting in hard cost
savings to the Legal function.
Challenges
• Communication
– Difficulty staying “tapped in” to Corporate
initiatives.
• Leveragability
– Corporate IT does not consider Legal in
development of leveraged applications.
• External Problem Resolution
– Problems/issues at the interface have increased
complexity
Challenges (cont.)
• User Perception
– Perceived as “only” IT organization
accountable.
– Difficult to communicate when problem
resolution is outside our control.
– “Raised the bar”- Users expectations increase
beyond Corporate standards and budgetary
limitations.
– High level of user dependence.
Benchmarking Learnings
• Surveyed Corporate Listserv.
• Received 10 valid responses.
• Correlated Level of Reliance on Corporate
IT with benefits and challenges.
Findings
• Unexpected Results:
Benefits and Challenges are similar regardless
of structure!
Reliance on Corporate IT
High
Low
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
How would you rate Legal IT’s level of flexibility?
Example: Flexibility in system implementations, deviation from
Corporate guidelines, ability to adopt new technologies.
High
Reliance on
Corporate IT
High
Low
Flexibility
How would you rate Legal IT’s level of responsiveness?
Example: Ability to quickly perform onsite desktop support, to respond/develop
solutions for small and large groups of users, to adapt networks to changing Legal
requirements/systems.
High
Reliance on
Corporate IT
High
Low
Responsiveness
How would you rate Legal IT’s cost?
Example: Cost of desktop support, network and projects.
High
Reliance on
Corporate IT
High
Low
Cost
How would you rate Legal IT quality of communication with Corporate IT?
Example: Ability to be informed of Corporate IT initiatives/communicate Legal requirements.
High
Reliance on
Corporate IT
High
Low
Communication
How would you rate Legal IT’s level of systems leveragability?
Example: Ability to influence Corporate-wide system selection and to leverage
Legal applications across the Corporation.
High
Reliance on
Corporate IT
High
Low
Leveragability
How would you rate Legal IT’s ability to resolve IT problems outside of Legal’s
control?
Example: Access to decision makers/problem solvers in Corporate IT.
High
Reliance on
Corporate IT
High
Low
Problem Resolution
How would you rate the level of user satisfaction?
High
Reliance on
Corporate IT
High
Low
User Satisfaction
Questions?