Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/37773
geographical office spread, hardware allocation, requests from the technology or executive committee and budget constraints), be sure to consider the following: If your firm already has what could be described as an intranet or central practice portal: • Gather information about the current platform, including what it is — Plumtree, Lotus Notes, custom ASP or .NET, WSS 2.0-4.0, SPS 2003, MOSS 2007 — and why that platform was chosen. • Outline its perceived strengths and weaknesses and determine if it is underused, used but underappreciated, or used and appreciated but insufficient for current user demands. • Ask who was behind its development. If it was KM- driven, these are often ambitious projects, seeking broad-based attorney-relevant functionality to improve daily practice. IT-driven projects are often more administrative and product-focused in nature. If it was library-driven, the development focus may have been on research and access to data. • Decide whether you are looking to simply improve current systems, add specific functionality or rethink the model altogether. If your firm has no such system in place: • Find out the specific reasons. Beyond mere apathy or other financial priorities, was there a reason the firm held off on creating a portal? • Clarify what has changed to warrant new interest in an intranet. • Identify if there are systems (e.g. a specific DMS) the attorneys are particularly attached to and the reasons they like it. Recommendation: Often, despite a Herculean effort to gather input and design accordingly, IT and KM professionals are simply unable to get enough valuable guidance to ensure successful adoption of the end product. One approach (particularly for firms with antiquated or non-existent intranets) is to start with a proof of concept. Deploy a foundational SharePoint 2010 intranet — with connectors to key data sources, basic relationships among the data and basic collaboration — and expose it to a pilot group, department, or full office. Once the basics are in place, it may be easier to collect more meaningful feedback from users on interface and advanced functionality. While no deployment is as simple as plug-n-play, a “single-source” SharePoint acceleration platform can help make a proof of concept substantially easier to implement. 2. DETERMINE WHAT RESOURCES YOU HAVE TO WORK WITH. Some of your choices will depend on what version of SharePoint you choose. Sometimes IT professionals start out assuming they will build on the SharePoint Enterprise Server, only to realize later that their Microsoft Enterprise Agreement doesn’t cover it, and they haven’t factored in enough for the licensing www.iltanet.org Portal Platforms 15