Peer to Peer: ILTA's Quarterly Magazine
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/1463380
15 I L T A N E T . O R G • Fields – What fields are used in your existing software and what exist in the new software? It would be prudent to run a script to pull out ALL fields used in your existing platform and then go through these and consider whether the information they hold is necessary. You will likely be faced with hundreds of fields. There may even be variations of the same field which will require further investigation to determine whether you can merge the contents into a standard field in the new platform. Consider the field types/ purpose of each platform to ensure the information matches and is not lost due to field formatting issues. Fields will need to be mapped and/or new fields will need to be created in the new platform to meet your needs. • Redactions – How are these handled in each platform? Will you be able to carry over redactions from one platform to the other? You may need to burn in the redactions to the images you are importing into the new platform. • Notes on Images – Could users make notes on images? If so, is this data stored in a field within the old platform? You may not be able to replicate it on the image in the new software platform, but you can import it if it is in a field. • Highlighting – Did users highlight portions of records for a particular purpose? It is unlikely that this information will be able to be transported to the new platform. Is there a field in the old platform which will indicate whether highlighting exists and if so, which records were highlighted? Consult with the lawyers to determine if the highlights are required in the new platform. • Tags/Issues – Determine what fields are used to store tags/issue codes and how to replicate same in the new platform. • Saved Searches – You will not be able to easily replate these in the new platform. Determine if the information is contained within a field so that you can replicate the searches if needed. • Productions – Does the old platform hold productions and/or information pertaining to productions? If so, you will not be able to replicate this information, but you should be able to export the fielded data. The productions themselves should be exported to a common folder structure on your network. • Hyperlinking – Could you hyperlink to files or folders in the old platform? E.g., 3D drawing software and associated files to view the images on a construction matter. The new platform may not allow for hyperlinking. However, could you input the path information in a field that users can copy and use to access the hyperlinked data? Keep in mind that the data will remain in place in this scenario, but you can update the path if you need to move it. • Native files, Images, and Text files – Can you create a load file to export this information from the old platform for importing into the new one? Can you point to the existing location without moving the data to shorten the time involved? Create export and import profiles for a faster export and import process. • Security – How is security configured in the old platform vs the new one? Who has access to what databases? You will need to compile this information