Digital White Papers

ILTA WHITE PAPER: JUNE 2014 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 23 SHOULD YOU RUN A PILOT TEST CASE? Finding workflow issues after a formal software rollout can cause backtracking, redos and headaches. Many law firms run a pilot test first to verify that the implementation is ready for a full rollout. A pilot run gives the firm an opportunity to discover previously unknown issues and tweak workflows before introducing the platform to the entire firm. If you elect to conduct a pilot test, consider the following to find a suitable case that will provide an opportunity to learn the process "in practice" while trying to avoid extreme time pressures or complexities: • Data Volume: Determine the ideal data volume for your pilot. If too small a document population, you might not get a true test. If too large, you could find yourself buried in time commitment and workload. • Data Types: Know which types of data you need to work with during the pilot. Are all email messages sufficient or do you also need loose files? What format of email is best for the pilot? Should you include scanned paper? • Case Deadlines: If you have tight or non-negotiable production deadlines, find another test case. However, you will likely want to test production materials as part of your pilot. • User Expectations: Identify your ideal users for the pilot. A blend of case team users, including those who are tech-savvy and those less so, will likely provide the best real-world results. Because problems could be much larger than you anticipate, a pilot affords you the opportunity to identify and resolve issues with processes or specifications that could be significantly more costly to fix with a wider rollout. A pilot also allows you to focus on a small group of users, so when changes are made, only those users are affected. You're also able to tweak training and support issues prior to a full implementation. FITTING A SOLUTION TO MEET THE NEEDS OF A WORKFLOW: IN-HOUSE accessible to all users, and update your checklist accordingly. It is useful to poll internal and external stakeholders — including key clients — at the outset of the project to identify and prioritize common objectives or to validate what you already know the system should support. Knowing this will inform your hardware acquisition and validation strategy. At the same time, be aware that security concerns might affect speed and accessibility. Be prepared to work closely with IT to troubleshoot and resolve issues as they arise. CREATE PROCESS DESIGNS AND SPECIFICATIONS Before thinking about your rollout, it is essential to develop your processes and specifications. As a first step, recognize how the new platform will affect your current processes. In some cases, you might introduce a new platform while using existing processing and production tools. However, many firms want to complete their updated processes and specifications before or while rolling out the platform. One approach is to develop and test specifications in a pilot case, whether using your own testing environment or a hosted environment in the vendor's data center. Consider workflows necessary for the litigation technology team and the end users. Decide team members' responsibilities, determine what might be missing in the current process, and decide what technical specifications can be developed for repeatability and defensibility.

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