MIS @ Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

Law Technology News (Volume 6, Issue 10, p. 12, col. 2)
October 1999

Migrating to iManage From SoftSolutions

A California firm plans, with a dash of gallows humor, for a roll-out.

By Eric Goldreich

SHEPPARD, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is a 290 lawyer firm with four offices, all in California. Our offices are linked via a T1 wide area network for voice and data.

Although our primary word processor is WordPerfect 8, roughly 20 percent of the word processing is performed using Word '97. The standard desktop is a Pentium II with 64MB of RAM running Windows '98. The network operating system is a hybrid of NT and Novell. Prior to making the decision to purchase iManage, the Firm was using SoftSolutions and WordPerfect 6.1.

In September 1998, we selected iManage as our document management system. As part of our evaluation process, we installed both iManage and PC DOCS in our testing lab. The lab had several dedicated servers running both products. To create a viable testing environment, we converted 250,000 documents to iManage and the same 250,000 to PC DOCS.

Over a three month period, our technical staff thoroughly evaluated both products by conducting a series of performance and reliability tests based upon carefully determined objective criteria. During this process, we worked closely with the technical support teams from both vendors to insure that our lab systems were properly configured and optimized for maximum performance.

Ultimately, we selected iManage, primarily because we found it offered superior performance, architecture and reliability.

Once the decision was made to select iManage, we began to plan the implementation process. Sheppard, Mullin believes strongly in the need to support our applications internally. We typically shy away from expensive systems integrators and consultants, because we believe it is more efficient and effective to invest in improving the knowledge of our own people. Consistent with this philosophy, we decided to adopt iManage with minimal outside assistance.

First Step

Our first step was to send the two staff members charged with installing iManage to a three day iManage training class at iManage's offices in Chicago. Including travel expenses, this three day course cost approximately $5,000. This was money very well spent. The course clearly laid the foundation for implementation of iManage and had the additional benefit of allowing our staff to meet and develop friendships with key iManage technical people.

We decided to phase-in the system, installing one office at a time over several months. We chose December 7, Pearl Harbor Day, for implementation of the new system in our first office, Orange County. The date was selected primarily because it was a Monday that fit nicely into our schedule. We did, however, enjoy the humor surrounding the selected date. We decided to install the software in Orange County first because it was our smallest office.

We identified seven primary components to the iManage installation process: hardware, server software, workstation software, document conversion, third party integration (primarily GroupWise, Full Authority, CompareRite), WordPerfect upgrade (including macro development), and training. Different people were assigned the coordination responsibility for the various tasks.

As is the Sheppard, Mullin custom, we decided to build the servers ourselves using carefully selected top of the line components. While the configuration varied a bit depending upon the requirements of the system (document server, middle tier, SQL server and indexer), in general we used dual 450 MHz Pentium II systems with 512 MB of RAM and either RAID or mirrored disk drives.

Although the iManage software installation was not difficult, the flexibility inherent to the installation process allowed us to make choices regarding the look and feel of the user interface. To ease the pain of the transition process, we decided to create a user interface similar to our old SoftSolutions system.

We performed a series of test conversions, each time improving the process, until we were comfortable that our documents would convert properly. We developed a series of automated routines to simplify the workstation installation process. We tested and refined these routines until we were comfortable that they were working properly.

The WordPerfect issue was very significant. We were upgrading from WP 6.1 to WordPerfect 8. We had written all of our WordPerfect 6.1 macros and templates in-house and now needed to rewrite them to accommodate the changes in WordPerfect's macro language, particularly those related to the replacement of the BIF with the registry.

Because we had more than 350 macros and templates, we contracted for on-site assistance from two macro experts to assist us in this process. Rewriting the macros and establishing API integration between the macros, iManage and third-party products such as GroupWise, CompareRite and FullAuthority was the most challenging element of the entire project. In fact, we were still resolving minor macro and integration problems in early December, just a few days before our December 7 go live date. At this point, the jokes in the technical group had become morbid. Comments like "we are going to bomb the install" and similar sentiments were bandied about as we worked late into the evening to resolve these problems.

Although we were under pressure, we always had the option to postpone the installation another week. Fortunately, the problems were resolved on time and implementation proceeded on schedule.

Training

The final component in the process was training. We decided to start the training process with an introductory luncheon for the staff -- in late November -- about three weeks before implementation. At this luncheon, we demonstrated the salient differences between our implementation of SoftSolutions and WordPerfect 6.1 and our pending implementation of iManage and WordPerfect 8.

In the weeks following the luncheon, we conducted mandatory 90 minute training classes for attorneys and staff. The maximum class size was seven people. We attempted to train the attorneys in the same class with their secretaries. This made desk coverage easier and allowed the attorney-secretary teams to learn together.

Beginning two weeks prior to the installation, we sent daily e-mails, reminding the users that on December 7, when they came to work, SoftSolutions and WordPerfect 6.1 would be gone and that iManage and WordPerfect would be installed in their place. We further explained that at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, December 4, SoftSolutions would no longer be available and document production over the conversion weekend would have to be performed in standalone mode.

We also noted that there would be one SoftSolutions machine available in our Word Processing department for use in accessing documents from our other three offices that would not have iManage for several months. We stressed the fact that if the users weren't trained in the new software, on Monday morning, they would not be able to produce documents. These persistent reminders helped us attain close to a 90 percent turn-out for the training classes. Those attorneys who did not attend training were helped considerably by the fact that the iManage screens are, for the most part, intuitive and easy to use.

As promised, at 6:00 p.m. on Friday the 4th, we cut off access to SoftSolutions and started the conversion process. While the conversion was running, our installation team went to each workstation, removed SoftSolutions and WordPerfect 6.1 and installed iManage, WordPerfect 8 and related third-party applications.

Following installation of the new components, each workstation was tested using a detailed checklist. The testing process consisted of logging in the workstation as the specific user and insuring that the primary functionality in iManage, WordPerfect, and the third-party applications all worked as expected. As is the case with any new complex system, not everything worked as it should on every workstation. The specific problems were identified on the appropriate workstations with notations on the check list.

On Sunday, the problems were worked one by one until all were resolved. Late Sunday night, we placed a "SoftSolutions is Dead, Long Live iManage" memo on each user's chair ­ along with a candy cane in recognition of the holiday season. The memo explained the few things that weren't working properly and when we thought they would be fixed and highlighted the fact that eight technical support people would be present to respond quickly to user requests for support during the first week.

Although the technical staff was very tired, everyone was pleased as the first day on the new system went very well, with only minimal difficulties. The majority of the questions were of the "How do I?" variety and simply reflected the fact that the new system was different from the old.

We refined all of our processes over the next few months and proceeded to implement the new software in our other three offices. The software was installed in San Diego in January, San Francisco in February over the President's Day/Valentine's Day weekend and Los Angeles in April.

Each time, we learned from our mistakes and did a better job implementing the system. As was our intention, because half the firm is in Los Angeles, by the time we installed the Los Angeles office in April, we had the process very well refined.

The testing process in Los Angeles was also helped considerably by a dedicated group of secretaries who gave up their Sunday to test workstations. In addition to speeding the installation process, the secretaries were also much better prepared to handle questions from their attorneys when we went live on Monday morning.

Although there were some glitches along the way, we are exceptionally pleased with the performance of iManage, WordPerfect 8 and the related third-party products. We are also very pleased with iManage's consistently helpful and responsive technical support staff. During our conversion weekends, iManage staff called to see how we were doing and provided pager and cellular phone access, on a 24 hour basis, to their key technical people.

This entire process demonstrated that excellent software supported by competent vendors and installed by a highly skilled team of dedicated professionals achieves extraordinary results.

Eric Goldreich is Director of Technology at Shepard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP.