publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/306297
ILTA WHITE PAPER: APRIL 2014 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 18 • Client: Windows XP has been retired. Fortunately, most upgrades have been to Windows 64-bit. For firms still running Windows 32-bit, do what you can to upgrade soon. No user will come thanking you, but they will have fewer complaints — at least about their DMS. WHAT ARE SOME OVERLOOKED PARTS OF DMS HEALTH, AND HOW COULD THESE AFFECT THE DMS? Cindy: Often overlooked is the gap between a firm's current version of the DMS and the latest version released by the vendor. There are many reasons firms hesitate to upgrade soon after a software release (resource constraints, competing projects, not wanting to take on the risk of being "bleeding edge"). Still, vendors report frustration that a noticeable percentage of support calls are for issues fixed in a subsequent software release the firm has not yet installed. Part of the health check should be an examination of that gap on all components of the DMS (including the workstation and mobile devices), an inventory of outstanding issues or unresolved feature requests, and an action plan for closing the gap. This will also help the firm engage more effectively with the vendor. Mark: Issues with SQL databases and document backups are often overlooked. We also find that support personnel do not engage frequently enough with users and other stakeholders to get feedback on the system design. In addition, firms should carefully review users with administrator capabilities to ensure appropriate rights. Peter: User-oriented functionality seems more overlooked than the technology behind the curtain. We are still seeking the ideal of sophistication and ease of use. A healthy DMS should appeal to the occasional rainmaker and the 50-document-a-day paralegal; the power user and the paint-by-numbers user. A health check should identify areas where IT can engage users and vendors to make the software as beneficial as possible. WHAT ARE SOME "RULES OF THUMB" FOR DETERMINING CAPACITY? Mark: A good rule of thumb is to understand file system growth by analyzing how many documents per month are being added to the system and their average size. Use this information to form assumptions like "we use 25 gigs of storage a month" and predict how many months of storage remain at the current growth rate. This number should be validated periodically in case it changes. Understand the same about the SQL database and memory growth based on your vendor's recommendations. For example, iManage databases typically need 2K of memory per profile record so, a 30-million document library needs about 48GB of memory (including memory for the OS and applications). Peter: A quick generalization is 500GB per one million objects, but this includes a broad assumption of 500KB average size per file. Determining size and capacity is much less important with current cloud offerings or easy-to-expand SANs. With all the issues involving capacity, troubleshooting, security, throughput and auditing, a shift to the cloud is explicable. HOW DOES SECURITY PLAY A ROLE IN DMS HEALTH? Peter: Security isn't just a statistic, it must be verified. Review security policies and procedures as part of your DMS health check. Cindy: A healthy DMS has clear security rules which Cindy Mahoney Cindy Mahoney, PMP is the Supervisor of Enterprise Systems at Ropes & Gray LLP. Her career in legal technology spans more than a decade, including positions in application development, project management, business analysis, consulting, system administration and management. She is a subject-matter expert in matter centricity and has advised several ILTA peer firms on their implementation of workspaces. As a consultant, she guided large corporations on the unique challenges of applying matter centricity in a corporate law department. Cindy is an enthusiastic ILTA volunteer and serves as a Regional Member Liaison for New York City and is a former member of the Enterprise Content Management Steering Committee.. Contact her at cynthia.mahoney@ropesgray.com.