Improve Process with an Office Migration
| November 18, 2009 |  |
In August of 2009, the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) conducted a survey of its Microsoft Peer Group and per the results; the law firms polled ranked Process Improvements as their leading technology business driver. With document production being the lifeblood of law firms, one of the ways to maximize process improvements is to upgrade the Office platform. There has never been a solution before Office 2007 that allows such document workflow configuration options and process improvements—it brings increased productivity, accelerated user acceptance and a stable, secure and agile environment. Yet, 81% of the firms polled are still working in either Office 2003, 2000 or XP.
In early 2008 it appeared many firms were planning to migrate to Office 2007 and there was considerable anticipation of the new user interface. Of course the economy has something to do with the slow adoption rate of Office 2007, but now, with the introduction of Office 2010, the uncertainty of when and which Office system to move to is rising. In a poll we (Microsystems) conducted after an Office migration-related Webinar held last month, 54% of the respondents are undecided about what Office version they will migrate to next. Ironically though, 72% of the respondents say they will migrate next year.
Key Considerations
If you are thinking about migrating next year, here are a few key considerations on moving to Office 2007 first to help you maximize process improvements and the value of your Office investment.
- Office XP support ends in July 2011; consider the length of time it will take you to migrate and plan to be fully deployed at least 4 months prior. Planning an Office 2010 move could be risky.
- Upgrading to Office 2007 empowers users to get accustomed to the new Ribbon paradigm before grappling with some of the larger changes in Outlook and document workflow introduced in Office 2010.
- Office 2007 is already tested; proven methods and best practices exist.
- By upgrading to Office 2007 before Office 2010, you will drastically lessen the learning curve and start reaping the benefits of the improved user experience and document workflows sooner rather than later.
- The technology and training invested in an Office 2007 rollout will remain viable when the firm migrates to Office 2010.
Both Office platforms introduce great process improvements around documents and the flow of information. Office 2010 extends and enhances the Office 2007 platform, but legal won’t be in a position to adopt until 2011 at the earliest. It is more likely that firms will not take an early adopter approach, but will wait for Word add-in vendors and the DMS integration to be more fully tested. This means that migrating to Office 2010 will likely take place in 2012 or 2013 at the earliest.
Clifford Chance Makes the Move
Out of the 350 law firm respondents to ILTA’s Microsoft Peer Group Survey, 13% of the firms have already made the move to Office 2007 and are already reaping the benefits of the improved experience and document workflow process, including one of the world’s leading law firms, Clifford Chance.
“Our deployment of a global desktop is a huge achievement for us,” said Robert Webb, Functional Consultant at Clifford Chance. “It has empowered our users to quickly produce documents from any office, in the preferred language, which results in greater productivity, enhanced profitability and improved client service.”
Around this time last year, Clifford Chance deployed Office 2007 firm-wide. The firm had a number of goals and drivers, but primarily wanted to improve its document production process, reduce the number of third-party vendors, and create a truly unified global desktop that would improve client service at a reduced cost. And, like other firms, Clifford Chance struggled with document corruption that reduced staff efficiencies. Clifford Chance wanted a document production environment with a global, multi-lingual system that would enable its legal advisors to work anywhere, any time and from any office.
In order to create a unified, global desktop that these goals, Clifford Chance deployed Office 2007, as well as Microsystems Legal TemplatesPlus and DocXtools software (which work from within Microsoft Word). As a result, the firm has: improved its client service and collaboration; reduced expenses in a variety of areas, including third-party application maintenance, document support and training; and empowered its legal advisors and document authors, making them more efficient.
How Did They Do It?
Essentially, Clifford Chance greatly improved its document production workflow. How?
Microsystems designed two custom tabs on the Word 2007 Ribbon to enable Clifford Chance’s legal advisors and document authors to generate documents with author, office and language preferences and to have access to document cleanup and repair tools. The configured Word 2007 Ribbon provides Clifford’s 7,300 Word users with an intuitive user interface that enforces best practices and processes for document creation.
The firm’s enhanced document production environment enabled and empowered its legal advisors and document authors across all offices to:
- Generate successful document comparisons using native Word & DocXtools
- Convert a document into a “firm document”/apply styles in ONE click with DocXtools
- Fix (automatically links) broken cross-references with DocXtools
- Create documents with firm-approved global house styles, branding, cultural-specific formatting, spelling, grammar & punctuation with Legal TemplatesPlus
- Streamline numbering solutions and apply common numbering schemes with Legal TemplatesPlus
Not only does Office 2007’s Ribbon interface make it easier for Clifford Chance’s legal advisors and document authors to find the tools they need, it continues to improve the firm’s document processes and best of all, provides an improved user experience.
Learn …
how to best prepare for your next Office migration and avoid common deployment pitfalls.
