Arguably, there's no greater technology challenge in a law firm than successfully implementing or upgrading a time and billing system. It is the lifeblood of the business side of the law firm. To some extent, a fully functional T&B system drives the business health of a firm.  For example, without an effective time and billing system that allows for the thoughtful analysis of the health of practice areas, individual lawyers, and the overall business, even the best lawyers in the world will likely not be successful from a business perspective. 

And, the T&B system provides an infrastructure to ensure timely, accurate billing so that cash flow requirements can be met.  The path to success, however, is fraught with peril.  A typical firm will stay on a T&B system for five to eight years, and regardless of whether it's your first time evaluating a system or if you've gone through the process before, there are a number of challenges that must be addressed if you are going to be successful.  This article will provide tips for overcoming the challenges associated with selecting and implementing a new T&B system, such as putting together software requirements, vendor selection, implementing software, training and measuring the results. 

THE SOFTWARE EVALUATION

Step 1: Getting Organized
Planning for success starts with the internal process of diagnosing your needs.  Many firms choose systems for all the wrong reasons.  To avoid such mistakes, take the time to get organized and complete a needs analysis based on your firm's requirements.
~ Identify the project team in-house; make sure all areas of the firm are represented including the attorneys. Gather existing materials such as pre-bills, bills, management reports and financial statements.  
~ Make a list of current problems, and unique client requirements.  Is there process reengineering that the firm would like to implement with the new system?  Create a wish list of management and financial reports that would help you better manage your firm.
~ Finalize your specifications and requirements in writing. Assume that the vendor analysis phase will take three months, and implementation will take five to six months thereafter.

Step 2: The Vendor Selection Process
Selecting a vendor is actually the selection of a long-term business partner. Compatibility of styles, financial stability, commitment to quality and other traits may be just as important as features and functionality of the new system. Some firms have a culture that accepts high technology; they hire staff that has skills to manage the frustration that often accompanies it. Other firms choose to employ more modest, functional oriented products. Vendors may claim to be all things to all people, but they rarely are.  A master checklist can then be used to grade various vendor offerings in a logical format.

~ Gather vendor information, check out web sites, visit trade shows, talk to other firms, and develop a profile for each vendor. Schedule a minimum 1-hour telephone conference call with your first selections of proposed vendors to discuss your specific issues. Provide them a copy of your needs analysis in advance. Afterwards, ask each vendor to provide a pricing estimate for both software and services. 
~ Invite a group of 3-5 vendors to provide the firm with a web-based demo for a preliminary view of their software. This may be substituted by a site visit to a nearby firm.
~ Reduce the list down to 2 or 3 final vendors that will meet with the firm's selection committee for a daylong extensive meeting and product demonstration.
~ Discuss the vendors’ proposed data conversion process. Will all services be performed on a direct basis or require third-party contractors?
~ Review the vendors’ on-going support programs.
~ Present a preliminary budget to the partners and secure approval before proceeding.
~ Select your vendor, and notify them that the selection is contingent upon resolving all remaining issues.
Step 3:  Fine Tuning the Service Requirements
A vendor may understate the services necessary to successfully implement the new system. Check with recent installs. A wise investor will invest an extra 4-5% more to insure he is getting full value for the purchase made. Typical services include those shown below:
~ Project Management includes the day-to-day work done by the vendor on a billable basis.  Tasks include planning and consulting with the firm on software system parameters. The majority of project management will be used balancing the test and final conversions.
~ Custom Modifications might be something as simple as custom pre/final bill formats or custom reports. Custom modifications that require actual programming to the core database demand extra attention. Beware of third-party contractors that will be providing custom programming modifications, but will not be responsible for day-to-day software support.
~ Training is critical to a successful implementation.  Again make sure you are clear on who is performing the training services.  Is your software vendor doing the training, or is it a third-party vendor? 
~ Mapping of Interfaces are done to insure that data from your new financial management system will pass to cost capture devices for validating clients and matters. Phones, copy, fax and postage are the most common devices. The financial database will send these devices ASCII files for validation and will receive "counts" of items or actual costs.
~ Software Maintenance and a hot line are typically a standard service. What is the ratio of "real" support personnel, including support programmers to customers? Check out references, and determine if the vendor can at least respond to a call in a reasonable period of time. Does the vendor have a Web support portal?  Do they have Newsgroups and List Servers?  Can you download products and upgrades yourself, or does the vendor have to be involved?
Step 4: The Agreement
Some firms believe "tough" contracts are in their best interest. Be sure you have negotiated a win-win agreement, and the supplier feels like more of a business partner than a vendor.

THE SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION

Step 1: The Launch Meeting
The initial project management meeting is usually controlled by the vendor to roll out the details of the implementation and planning for the "go live" date. At the launch meeting you should insist that the vendor's sales representative attend to insure that continuity is maintained from the sales process to the implementation process. Problem escalation procedures should be set up.

Step 2: The Formal Written Plan - The Measurement Tool
The implementation process is the management of change. This process has traditionally been the area where expectations are not met, schedules slip and early dreams turn to nightmares. A major undertaking of this sort requires a well-defined and written project plan. There is an old management saying "you can't manage what you can't measure" and so this written plan is the measurement tool by which the firm will measure progress towards success. The plan should clearly identify responsibilities for both the vendor and the firm. The written plan should cover in detail all steps and decisions necessary to get from the sales contract to a first month-end close and billing cycle. The plan should show tasks, start and completion dates, responsible parties, and approvals.  Both parties should update the plan weekly.

Step 3: Conversions
A fully detailed test and final database conversion is the preferred method.  Most problems will be dealt with during the test conversion. The final conversion should be a quick turnaround process. The vendor must use a detailed data conversion workbook to track exactly where all of the firm's old data will be found in the new system. The use of a test conversion is a substitute for the older concept of parallel processing. The test conversion must be tried-out, in detail and to the penny, before proceeding.

Step 4: Training
Make sure the vendor differentiates between trainings, which are direct end-user sessions and "train the trainer" sessions. Train the trainer sessions make sense for features such as attorney time entry and client/matter inquiry type functions. The vendor should be willing to allow you to make additional copies of training materials for train the trainer sessions.

Step 5: Go Live
By this point in the project, the firm should be very comfortable and anxious to conclude the process. The test conversion details have been approved by the firm. The firm has all hardware and software in place and all users have been adequately trained. The firm provides the vendor with the same data tapes and reports that were used for the test conversion. This time the vendor will use the middleware software that was fine-tuned during the test conversion to do the final conversion.

Conclusion
Despite the many challenges that exist in selecting and implementing a time and billing system, careful planning, patience and diligence in managing the project can bring about success. Hopefully, the issues we've identified and addressed in this article will help you along that path to success.

About our author . . .

Jim Hammond is President of RainMaker Software, Inc.  He has over 20 years of experience in implementing law firm financial management systems. He can be reached at jhammond@rainmakerlegal.com.