2009-09 business intelligence

Business IntelligenceWhat is it? Why you need it

Mike Gallagher, Ford & HarrisonDoug Horton, Handshake Software, Inc

Business IntelligenceRapid access to actionable informationIncludes:

Financial InformationContactsDocumentsE-MailLegal Research & More

Business IntelligenceOverlap & ConvergenceKnowledge ManagementCustomer Relationship Management

(CRM)Business Performance Management

(BPM)Context of Information is Essential

Why Business Intelligence?Better decisions with greater speed and

confidenceRecognize and maximize firm’s

strengthsShorten marketing effortsImprove customer relationshipsAlign effort with firm strategyImprove revenue and profit

Elements of Business IntelligenceData Gathering

Information captureAnalysis

Understanding the context of information

DistributionTimely delivery to the right people who can act on it

Data GatheringExisting Systems“cube” approachData warehouseIntegration technologies

AnalysisReporting Tools

ProprietaryExcelWeb-basedUser-definedPaper-based“Slice and dice”

DistributionPortals/Intranets

Microsoft SharePoint InterWoven Worksite 8.0LawPortPlumTree – LexisCustom Web-Pages/Intranets

DistributionE-Mail

Proactive“Drill down” analysis

Adobe PDFFreezes the point in time

Paper

Why Business Intelligence FailsFailure to recognize the breadth of the

problem (not just financial system)No Top Down supportLack of standardize procedures or

processesBad quality of information – Dirty DataComputer systems impede rather

than enhance BI efforts

Ford & Harrison LLP

Mike GallagherDirector of Information Systems

Ford & Harrison LLP

• National Labor & Employment Firm Representing Management

• 11 Offices• Growth through mergers

Business Intelligence

• Ford & Harrison’s approach to providing business information to lawyers and staff.

• What are the challenges in delivering “Business Intelligence”?

Background• Financial System – Aderant (CMSOpen)• Records Management• Document Management

• Hummingbird PCDOCs document library in each office location

• Contact Relationship Management• Handshake

BI Software Objectives• Contact Relationship Management• High level of Integration

• Provide access to financial information, documents, emails, contacts, stored images and legal research through a BI interface

• Native Application Security• Familiar User Interface

• Customizable Role and Matter Centric Views• Easy Deployment and Administration• Open Architecture• “Road Warrior” Accessibility• Real-time information

HandShake• Contact Relationship Management

• Native Handshake Contacts and CMSOpen Contacts• Linked to Clients and Matters• Linked to Firm Members – Known Bys• Affiliations• Activity Tracking

• Attended Firm Seminar• Social Invitation

• Mailing Activities• Change Audits• Representative Contact Types

• Arbitrators, Alumni, Help Wanted, Prospective Client, Media-Broadcast, Referring Attorney, Expert

• Mail Lists – Firm Lists & Personal Lists• Practice Group Newsletters• Legal Alerts

Contacts Screen

HandShake (continued)• Document Management System

• PCDOCs profile information data warehoused• Matter Centric Email delivered through PCDOCs

• Application Integration• Outlook contacts push/pull with Handshake database• Data exports to Excel and Word merge files• QuickImage PDF bills available through HandShake• HandShake Contacts available from within Word through Legal

MacPac Integration• Ecopy Images – Adobe PDF files available through PCDOCs

integration• Internet Content Available through saved links

HandShake - Financial System

• Static Reports• Access Produces

Custom Reports in PDF format as a scheduled task

• Reports are refreshed in PCDOCs maintaining native security

• One click access to report from web interface

PCDOCs Profile InfoStatic Reports

HandShake – Financial System

• Real Time Access to Financial Information• Point & Click• Customize Data Fields,

Filter, Sort and Save Search

• Drill Down to Low Level Details

HandShake – Financial System

• Real Time Reporting• By By Reporting• Roll Band Totals Up or Down• Summary or Low Level Detail• User Selectable Report

Fields

Handshake – Financial System

• Integration with Excel• With Formulas!

• Integration with CMSOpen Records Management Module

Delivery Challenges - Firm Commitment

• True or False – All lawyers in the firm embrace new technology.

• To encourage buy-in for the new technology we:

• Involved key lawyers in the requirements phase

• Launched HandShake with a live demo

• Required lawyers to attend a one-hour basic functionality training session

• Certified Training for CLE credits where allowed

• Supported champions of the technology in their efforts to “Spread the Gospel”

• Surveyed users to see where to focus training and how to improve usability

Delivery Challenges - Data Integrity

• Data, Data, Data• Cleansing Data• “Hidden” Financial Information – EXPOSED!• New Fields and Relationships• Maintenance of Contact Information

• Not a Project but a Way of Life

Delivery Challenges - Training• Can you have too much of a good thing?

• Integration, Sorting, Filtering, Exporting, Drilling Down, Exploring, Customization, and Learning about Financials can be Overwhelming and Intimidating

• Re-focused Training from generic navigation into granular “Areas of Interest” requested in surveys

• Teach in Small Chunks• Teach skills with a deliverable as a by product of the training

session.• “Low tech” lawyers started attending training – felt comfortable

pointing and clicking to get on-demand information• Increased demand for “related” training

• Exporting HS data to Excel created demand for Excel training

Delivery Challenges - System Performance

• Good News – Bad News• Increasing acceptance of BI system• CMS financial server performance degrades to a crawl

Delivery Challenges - Best Practices• True or False – All lawyers in the Firm endorse the

“common good” theory. What is good for the Firm is good for me. • Firm Culture – To Share or Not To Share

• Private or Public• New Business Compensation Factor

• I knew him first• Contact Responsible Attorney or Contact Clerk?• New Rules - Cross Selling

• Contact Change Auditing

Is it worth the effort?

• ROI - Administrative Improvements• Reduced redundancy in mailings – saves postage

(and embarrassment)• Reduced labor and paper costs for financial reports• On-line financial information lowers number of calls to

accounting and increases lawyer efficiency• Better practices for data entry – higher quality data• Better Collections

Is it worth the effort?• ROI - Client Development

• Target Marketing• I.E. Hospitality Contacts in the Tampa Metro Area

• “Activities” tracking – (What’s Working – What’s Not)• On Demand Access to Contact Information• It’s all about relationships - Who do we know?

Is it worth the effort?• ROI - Client Service

• Better Decision Making• Who is the best Arbitrator

• Better Case Management• Fosters Collaboration

• Who else is working on this matter?• What related documents have they created?

• Are we in budget?• Do they owe us money?

Is it worth the effort?• ROI - Client Service (continued)

• Personal Touch• You are my only client

• I know everything about you - including who else in my firm knows you

• Better Communication• Email Legal Alerts• Management Updates• Seminar Invitations

Is it worth the effort?• Ford & Harrison Thinks So!

• Business Intelligence helps meet more demanding client expectations of faster service for lower fees

• Business Intelligence helps support future firm growth

• Our Future Plans include expanding BI• Detectives Alerting System• Developing More Reports in HandShake• Portal Integration

• Full text Searching Capability• Refinements in User Interface and Content Delivery

• Information Bridge Framework

Questions?

MGALLAGHER@FORDHARRISON.COMDHORTON@HANDSHAKESOFTWARE.COM

THANK YOU!