Microsoft’s Office System 2003 is here, along with the company’s promise of delivering new levels of integration and productivity for information workers.  No longer just a suite of desktop applications, Office is now a comprehensive set of “programs, servers, services and solutions” that includes server technologies such as SharePoint Portal Server and Exchange Server and online services such as LiveMeeting (formerly PlaceWare) and Office Online. 

Additionally, some interesting new desktop applications have been added – InfoPath and OneNote.  Microsoft is actively promoting its new suite of products and services as a complete solution, the means of connecting people, processes and data and enabling users to collaborate and share information in new and innovative ways.

I’ve heard mixed reviews from different types of customers, but having worked with the Office System products since the beta release last year, I feel generally positive.  Many of the new features and enhancements really do make day-to-day work easier.  I’m impressed with the enhancements made to the collaboration and information sharing tools, particularly the level of integration between desktop and server applications. 

But considering that many firms just upgraded to Office 2000 or Office XP, is it worth the effort (and pain!) of upgrading again?  Following is a general overview of the Office System 2003 in which I point out specific features that may tempt you to upgrade.

Same Applications, New Features
At the core of Office System 2003 are the same applications with which we’re all familiar – Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.  Except Outlook, which received a complete makeover, the applications retain the same functionality and user interface to which we’re accustomed.  The biggest changes are at the core of these applications, with native support for XML, document security features and new built-in research tools. 

Outlook
Most of us are intimately familiar with Outlook, having spent most of each day using it for the past few years.  For the most part it does its job well; and, as long as too many add-ins haven’t been installed, it performs without problems.  In Office 2003 Outlook gets a complete makeover, and many new and much needed features to help organize your inbox, read e-mail and block spam are added.  Of all the new and changed desktop applications, I think Outlook alone is almost worth the upgrade.  The most notable changes include:

• A new Preview Pane, which appears vertically on the right side of the screen. This makes it much easier to read and browse e-mails.  The UI can be adjusted to show or hide each pane to make it look more like previous versions, if desired.  There is also a side-by-side calendar feature that is extremely useful to users who manage multiple calendars, such as secretaries and/or legal assistants.
• Creatable Search Folders, which in conjunction with the new e-mail flagging features enable you to organize e-mail by follow-up, by size, read/unread, etc.  The ability to add folders to a convenient Favorites list is also very useful for those of us who use folders extensively.
• New spam and attachment filtering features, which are very useful, considering the growing volume of spam and viruses to which we’re exposed.  E-mail identified as spam is moved to a Junk Mail folder, and it does a very good job doing so.  Users can also manage their own safe/blocked sender lists and can also control when e-mail attachments and embedded images/objects can be downloaded.
• Improved offline and remote connectivity features when used with Exchange Server 2003 (formerly Titanium).  Outlook 2003 will dynamically detect a connection and, based on bandwidth, fetch new messages and data as needed transparently to the user.  Outlook/Exchange can also be configured to use a new feature called RPC over HTTP, which allows users to connect to their Exchange mailbox as if they were in the office with only a connection to the Internet.

Word and Excel
The changes to Word and Excel certainly aren’t as significant as those to Outlook, but there are a few new features that make working with both applications easier.  The most important changes aren’t immediately obvious, but may have a significant impact on how law firms use these applications.

• Both applications now fully support saving and reading in XML format and can also produce documents based on customized XML schemas.  This allows documents to be saved in a universal, strictly defined format that can be used and processed by business systems, search engines or other applications that support the XML format.  Using the Smart Document features and XML support, organizations can build solutions that enable documents to interact with other business systems.
• The new Research Task Pane looks like it could have some potential.  Without leaving the document you’re working on, it allows you to search the Web or use online research tools.  Out of the box you can access several different online services, such as MSN search, dictionaries, encyclopedias and Gale-Thompson company information.
• Word now has a new Reading Layout view, which makes reading a document much like flipping pages in a book.
• Excel is fully integrated with SharePoint Lists, allowing you to import/export list data or attach to lists to display or edit information.
• Documents can now be secured using new Information Rights Management features, which controls who can access a document inside your organization and also controls access even after the document has left the firm.  So an attorney can e-mail a client a document and ensure that only the client can open or print the document or can prevent access to the document after a certain expiration date.

PowerPoint, Access, Publisher and FrontPage
With the exception of FrontPage, available only as a standalone and not included in any of the Office 2003 Editions (described later), the remaining products are mainly unchanged, although all integrated to some extent with SharePoint to support the collaboration and information sharing goals of the Office System.  FrontPage, however, has changed quite a bit from its previous version.  With tight integration with SharePoint and new features to support XML/XSL editing, it’s a great tool for basic Web content editing and creation.  It is also the primary tool for customizing SharePoint sites and pages.

New Additions to the Office Family
The Office System includes some interesting newcomers to the Microsoft Office family, as well as new versions of existing products that previously did not fall under the Office umbrella.

InfoPath – Creating, managing and submitting forms-based information is a common task in any firm.  InfoPath is a new Office product that lets you design your own data collection forms that, when submitted, turn the user-entered data into XML for any XML-supporting process to use.  InfoPath can be used in conjunction with SharePoint or Microsoft BizTalk server to build complete forms submittal and workflow/approval processes, or can connect to Web services that allow you to create interactive forms that can look up and validate data from different systems.

OneNote – This is an interesting application that allows you to easily capture and organize notes electronically.  OneNote can capture text, audio recordings, pictures, links or anything you can copy, paste, drag or drop into it.  OneNote is at its best with a Tablet PC – it captures handwritten text and drawings, which is great when you need to jot down a thought or two or take notes during a meeting.

SharePoint Portal Server
Of all the Office System applications, I think SharePoint Portal Server 2003 holds the most potential and may also provide the most incentive to consider upgrading desktops to take advantage of the collaboration and integration capabilities it provides. 

Built on Windows SharePoint Services (bundled for free with Windows Server 2003), Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 is far superior to its V1 predecessor, released over two years ago.  Rearchitected on .NET technologies, it has finally become a serious contender in the highly competitive portal space and should be especially attractive to a Microsoft-centric firm, especially those with enterprise licensing agreements which may already cover the CAL (client access license) cost for their user base. 

Although beyond the scope of this article, I should mention that much like its 2001 version, its document management features are basic at best and at this point may not, out of the box, provide the robust DM functionality that most large firms require.  However, SharePoint’s scalable portal/search architecture, collaboration and customization/personalization features and tight integration with other Office System products make it an enterprise portal to be reckoned with.

Services and Solutions
Microsoft has also included several online services in the Office System, including Microsoft Office LiveMeeting (formerly Placeware), a WebEx-type service used for online presentations, application sharing and live demonstrations.  I’ve used LiveMeeting extensively over the past several weeks, and, while admittedly I’ve always been a WebEx fan, I’ve grown to like the simple user interface and features that LiveMeeting provides.

Also included is Microsoft Office Online, a collection of articles, templates, training, tips and tricks, downloads and other information that has proven extremely useful.  The quality of content is very good, and the site is updated frequently with new and useful content.  Office Online is nicely integrated into each product through the Task Pane and online help, so finding and accessing Office Online content is very simple and intuitive.

Building upon the concept of leveraging the Office System as a solution rather than simply a suite of products, Microsoft is also offering a collection of Office Solution Accelerators – prepackaged solutions to various business problems.  Currently there are only a few solution accelerators available  – Solution Accelerator for Proposals, for Recruiting and even a solution for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.  Microsoft is actively working with partners to develop additional solution accelerators, and I’m hoping we’ll see offerings specifically designed for the legal industry in the near future.

Office Editions
Microsoft packages the applications included in the Office System 2003 in several different editions, each with different components, pricing and purchase/upgrade requirements.  It’s important to note that although the Office System comprises multiple products and services, many of the different components must be purchased or licensed separately. 

Third-Party Solutions
The Office System provides a great deal of potential to third-party developers and systems integrators, and Microsoft is actively pushing partners to develop products and solutions that work with or are built on the Office platform.  As such, expect to see many vendors jump on the bandwagon and the number of third-party offerings to increase.  In the legal industry, I see many opportunities for third-party products that may provide additional value to customers, and incentives to upgrade.

The Research Pane, available in most Office products, may prove useful to attorneys and legal assistants.  From within the application you’re working in you can research legal topics, search for forms or precedents or research clients or counterparties.  LexisNexis is already providing a service that integrates into the Research Pane, and you can also access SharePoint search capabilities to search across internal repositories and knowledge bases. 

I also see great potential in SharePoint Portal Server and Windows SharePoint Services and, in my humble opinion, I believe SharePoint will be emerging as the leader in the legal intranet/portal space.  The 2003 SharePoint version is far advanced beyond its 2001 predecessor, and its level of customization, personalization, scalability and overall flexibility really stands out beyond competing portal products. 

But to reach its full potential, Microsoft and its partners will need to focus on providing additional value to the legal community through integration products and services and other tools that solve the specific business problems that law firms are facing today, such as client/matter management, e-mail management and complex knowledge management challenges.  Third-party solutions are already available that integrate SharePoint with other law firm systems, such as time and billing, document management and CRM applications; and I expect more to become available as SharePoint gains traction.

Worth the Upgrade?
If you haven’t yet upgraded to Office XP – yes, absolutely.  The enhancements to Outlook and new features in Word and Excel alone make the switch worth it.  But the real value is in the potential integration points and collaborative features you gain when running Office 2003 on the desktop in addition to Office System server components such as SharePoint and Exchange 2003.  You will need to consider compatibility with other applications, such as document comparison tools and document management system integration, but most vendors have – or shortly will have, I hope – compatible versions.

If you’re already running Office XP, I would certainly consider planning an upgrade this year, but overall, the changes between Office XP and Office 2003 may not be enough to justify an immediate upgrade.  And if you can’t tolterate another desktop upgrade just yet, you can still take advantage of Office System components such as SharePoint Portal Server or Exchange 2003.  But to get the “full experience” you’ll want to consider looking at the whole suite – servers, services, solutions and all.

About our author …

Rob Saccone is President/CEO of xmLaw Incorporated, providing innovative software and services to the legal and professional services industries.  He has over 10 years of software development, architecture and management experience and has designed and developed solutions for the energy, real estate, financial services and legal industries.  He can be contacted at rsaccone@xmlaw.net.