Life in the Corporate Law Department: Mountains to Climb (aka Working with Corporate I/S)

Life in the Corporate Law Department:Mountains to Climb(aka Working with Corporate I/S) Mike Russell Liberty Mutual Group Boston, MA LawNet 2001: A Technical Odyssey

Issues to Consider • Mission of Corporate Information Systems & Technology (IS&T) • Typically works in partnership with business consumers of services to wisely and creatively apply IS&T to reach their goals. • A “balancing act” of: • the need for a stable, robust, & reliable infrastructure against the allure of leading-edge capabilities • the desire for operational excellence versus the reality of limited resources • the requirement of "ease of use," as well as the desire for "powerful and feature laden." • the desire to leverage infrastructure across the company, rather than optimize for local solutions LawNet 2001

The Needs of the Many… • Corporate Legal is the “small fish” in the large pond of corporate enterprise • Possibly viewed as a ‘necessary evil’ • Not a profit center, often a high cost center • Legal Needs Differ • Few in Corporate IS&T or Senior Management understand then unique needs of Corporate Legal • Document production and management is a whole new world in Legal versus typical Corporate use of WP LawNet 2001

Case Study • Goal: Basic Case Management • Audience: • 1,800 users, ~70 offices across 25 states & Canada • 40 offices to be completed in 6 months, between June and December 2001; Project deadline: May 2002. • Project Team: • 2 from Corporate I/S (Proj. Mgr & Tech) • About 12 from Legal, including Proj. Mgr, Tech. Mgr, trainers, development support and help desk • Vendor contacts & temp trainer LawNet 2001

Mountain #1: Communication • Corporate IS located 60 miles from Home Office • Many conference calls and e-mail exchanges • Generally not the best communication environment • Effort #1: Team-building • Day-long mixed session led by HR team guru • Overall improved team feeling • Overall communications with Corporate IS&T were moderately improved. Often encounter lack of understanding of priorities or effect on users. LawNet 2001

Mountain #2: Too Many Cooks… • Initially, too many people interacting • Difficult to get decisions made • Effort #2: Team optimization • Select primary contacts for each functional team area • Allocate resources properly • Delegate tasks appropriately LawNet 2001

Mountain #3: New Technology • Citrix was chosen delivery platform • Very little I/S experience; resistant to business recommendations • Effort #3: Get help! • Qualified outside consultant brought in • Business and consultant recommendations were in alignment and proved a good fit • Lesson Learned: sometimes Corporate IS&T is more likely to listen to outside experts LawNet 2001

Mountain #4: Training • Business goal: training environment that exactly replicated look and feel of final product • Corporate IS&T unwilling to support • Rolled back to stand-alone training labs; lower quality user experience • Significant Compromise LawNet 2001

Mountain #5: System Management • IS&T working with system while in production and training is ongoing • Keep good logs and documentation of issues • Continued excellent communication a must • Not everything provided by Vendor works “as promised” the first time, or at all LawNet 2001

Mountain #6: Support • Train HelpDesk early • Include Corporate IS&T personnel in all training • Understand corporate priorities and relate to Corporate IS&T; help them align their work with your business needs LawNet 2001

Summary • Are we “glad we did it?” • So far, so good… • Looking back… • Teambuilding • Compromise • Points of contact • Get it in writing! • Blood, Sweat, and Tears . . . LawNet 2001

LawNet 2001: A Technical OdysseyMike Russell(617) 654-3683Michael.Russell@LibertyMutual.com LawNet 2001

Life in the Corporate Law Department: Mountains to Climb (aka Working with Corporate I/S)