1) Project Kickoff
2) Initial Technology Review and Planning
3) Knowledge Management Assessment and Planning
4) Pre-Installation Planning
5) Working Intranet Model
6) Installation
7) Training
8) Customization
9) Pilot and Second Phase View Planning
10) Firmwide Rollout
11) Upgrades, Maintenance and Support
1) Project Kickoff
SydneyPLUS | LawPort will assign a Project Manager to be your primary point of contact during the engagement. The Project Manager's primary responsibility will be to adapt the standard LawPort project plan and methodology to the unique requirements of your firm. This project plan will serve as the roadmap for roles, responsibilities, deliverables and timeframes.
Once members of your project team have been determined (e.g. content managers, project manager, database lead, web team, firm management and pilot practice group members), there will be a project kickoff meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to encourage interest, provide an overview of LawPort, provide an overview of the implementation process, and to surface any unique requirements. We deliver standard Process and Best Practice documents to guide the client team in the areas of: Data Collection, View Mapping and Taxonomy customization.
Planning for the pilot will begin immediately. This involves selecting two to three pilot practice groups, plus a couple of administrative departments and offices. This represents a typical implementation, but we expect to work with you to establish your desires in this regard. The process of selecting appropriate pilot groups is affected by a number of variables, which we will identify and assist you in evaluating.
We will facilitate taxonomy customization or creation reflecting best practices, and engage the practitioners in dialogues about how the taxonomy should be modified to meet the pilot group's needs. The same process will be done for the office and administrative department views. While our LawPort knowledge management consultants will continue to be available in later stages of the project, the goal is for the firm to quickly become self-sufficient.
2) Initial Technology Review and Planning
During the kickoff, we will schedule the onsite visit for the Initial Technology Review (ITR). The ITR is designed to ensure that all technical components (hardware and software) supporting and feeding your LawPort implementation are in place or are ordered. We will identify and document the relevant components of your LAN infrastructure, Web server design and security model, core authority systems, data repositories such as your document and financial management systems, and desktop and browser configuration. At this stage we will also begin mapping the data connectivity strategy. We will provide Data Collection documentation for you to complete.
- LAN Infrastructure. Because LawPort can pull user information and preferences from a variety of network and messaging sources (or store preferences in its own database) we will review your network Domain Name Services (DNS) and messaging infrastructures to determine the optimal strategy.
- Web Server Design and Security. We will review and possibly suggest revisions to any approach to Web security that you may have already designed. For the Extranet Module, planning will begin to assure appropriate security for your Extranets. We will also ensure that required servers are identified, available and ready or specifications for new servers are determined and the servers ordered.
- Core Authority Systems and Data Integration. We will perform diligence on and begin to lay out the strategy for integration to your core authority systems. These will typically include the accounting system, human resources system, document management system, contact management system, and litigation support systems. We will determine which database(s) will act as the source database for people and client and matter information, and ask that an individual be identified as the primary database contact in your firm for this project.
- Desktop and Browser Configuration. The firm's desktop and browser configuration will be reviewed to determine the appropriate browser configuration, the functioning of "mailto" web links and the availability of standard plug-ins such as Adobe Acrobat, Real Audio, Windows Media Player and so forth.
- Existing Intranet Review. This review will be necessary to map out what applications can be moved over, what might be modified, or those that may be superseded by LawPort.
3) Knowledge Management Assessment and Planning
The Knowledge Management Assessment activities begin simultaneously with the commencement of diligence regarding the technical infrastructure. Our Data Normalization Assessment maps out a process for getting uniform data from key authority systems (i.e., Accounting and Document Management) which is essential for the success of any portal, including LawPort. We have both technical and strategic expertise in adjusting the way data is tracked in, and extracted from, existing authority systems to enable the meaningful juxtaposition of data in LawPort. This is particularly important for full utilization of the LawPort Categories taxonomy. We will also guide you in planning the KM content management approaches for your LawPort implementation.
4) Pre-Installation Planning
At this point we are ready to finalize the Extranet security model; work with your technical team to build and install the Intranet and Extranet servers; verify security in conformance with plans; confirm the availability of our remote access to your LawPort servers for remote diagnostics and troubleshooting; develop the nightly scripts; and train your IT staff who will be responsible for LawPort administration. We will also be continuing our work on data connectivity. We will confirm connectivity with sources for the firm directory; confirm the quality of data being extracted from the firm directory, and identify corrective actions for any missing data or needs for field customizations. We will ask for a static data snapshot of firm data and will review this with your team in an iterative process designed to finalize data normalization for the pilot rollout.
5) Working Intranet Model
At this stage we will build a working model of your LawPort Intranet on a SydneyPLUS|LawPort hosted server, using extracts from your data sources previously provided. We will provide Internet-based, secure access to this site for review, testing and feedback purposes. The hosted working model also allows us to identify any performance, style, content, and remaining system integration issues. We can then finalize the date and scope of the pilot rollout. After review, we determine a mutually agreeable on-site installation date and confirm the procurement of proper server hardware and software.
6) Installation
Once any issues with the working model have been worked through, we will schedule installation of LawPort at your premises. If desired, we can install LawPort in both a production and development server environment. The data importation issues will be addressed in this phase, as we move from the static "snapshot" data of the working model to the live data of the installed system. This system will be the one on which the pilot will be hosted.
7) Training
This is the phase for training of the pilot group content managers. This will help them to finalize the design of the content for each home page and begin the process of working with the links, documents, news, events, guides and other data they have already gathered for inclusion. We will also provide training for your internal developers in extending LawPort with custom applications in a manner that minimizes the impact on future upgrade options.
8) Customization
If the project plan calls for the development by SydneyPLUS|LawPort of custom extensions to LawPort to meet your needs, the development work on those extensions will be scheduled as part of the project plan and will be underway from early in the project. Typically those extensions and modifications will be delivered after the initial system implementation, in order to prevent the custom development efforts from becoming project bottlenecks.
9) Pilot and Second Phase View Planning
You will typically conduct your pilot for a period of two to four weeks. At the conclusion of the pilot, the team will review the results to identify and correct issues relating to style, content and system integration. At pilot commencement, the system will have rich content for only the pilot practice groups, administrative departments and offices. During the pilot, however, you will be working (with our support) to build content for the other practice groups and constituents of the firm. SydneyPLUS|LawPort will provide model view maps for practice areas and administrative departments, and will assist in the customization process as desired. When sufficient content has been added, you will roll the Intranet out to your entire firm.
10) Firmwide Rollout
Rollout of the Intranet to the firm should ideally be orchestrated with internal publicity to achieve maximum “buzz” about the new system. If you are rolling out an Extranet, we recommend that it follow the rollout of the Intranet Module by a month or two. The early rollout can be a busy time, and it is best to let the Intranet normalize before tackling your pilot client Extranets. Depending on the variables described, a firmwide rollout will typically be complete between four and six months from project start.
11) Upgrades, Maintenance and Support
All bug fixes and upgrades to existing modules are included as part of the subscription price. Also included is our SydneyPLUS|LawPort Services Extranet, moderated by our Support Department. This is a place where you can track issues, report and track bugs and their resolution, monitor enhancement requests, and check on the status of your issues. While not a substitute for telephonic support (also included), our clients appreciate the Client Services Extranet because it enhances accessibility to our overall client support effort.