Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/37773
“How your firm uses extranets today will be different from how they’re used one year from now (or sooner).” groups without a lot of IT resources. If you select an extranet solution that is geared toward litigators, you will find that your corporate attorneys will not use it and vice versa. Because there is no perfect solution, the general rule is that your extranet solution should accommodate at least 90 percent of your extranet needs across the firm, out-of-the-box. • Administrative Scalability. One of the biggest failure points for extranets in law firms is the inability to create extranets on demand, which means that extranet creation requires a significant amount of IT resources for each request. Unfortunately, this is not a “feature” that most firms initially consider when evaluating extranet options. If an IT person has to be available to build extranets for users as they are requested, you will experience bottlenecks that are 8 Portal Platforms ILTA White Paper frustrating for both end users and IT personnel. The same is true for user account creation. Any extranet solution must offer the firm the ability to create extranets and user accounts on demand with little or no IT time involved. The best extranet solutions permit the IT department to distribute the day-to-day administration to designated power users throughout the firm. Clearly, this is the trend for extranets today — the IT department is removed from the day-to-day administration of extranets by providing end users with a self-service model in which the IT resources are not significantly impacted as usage grows. In fact, a successful model should encourage extranet creation because the more extranets that are created and used, the more value the firm obtains from the extranet solution. Firms that are aggressive with extranets commonly have hundreds or even