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 in- house –Technical staffing out-sourced.

DuPont Legal IT Organization DuPont employees Contract employees

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 Patents MIS-Patents MIS-Trademarks MIS-Contracts MIS-Invoices Other Records Management Corporate Secretary Group databases ZixMail Web services

Segregation of Duties 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

Benefits Flexibility –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 Low High

Reliance on Corporate IT Flexibility Low High How would you rate Legal ITs level of flexibility? Example: Flexibility in system implementations, deviation from Corporate guidelines, ability to adopt new technologies.

Reliance on Corporate IT Responsiveness Low High How would you rate Legal ITs 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.

Reliance on Corporate IT Cost Low High How would you rate Legal ITs cost? Example: Cost of desktop support, network and projects.

Reliance on Corporate IT Communication Low High How would you rate Legal IT quality of communication with Corporate IT? Example: Ability to be informed of Corporate IT initiatives/communicate Legal requirements.

Reliance on Corporate IT Leveragability Low High How would you rate Legal ITs level of systems leveragability? Example: Ability to influence Corporate-wide system selection and to leverage Legal applications across the Corporation.

Reliance on Corporate IT Problem Resolution Low High How would you rate Legal ITs ability to resolve IT problems outside of Legals control? Example: Access to decision makers/problem solvers in Corporate IT.

Reliance on Corporate IT User Satisfaction Low High How would you rate the level of user satisfaction?

Questions?