Is Legal Ready for SharePoint?

By Mike Ferrara (@mikecferrara) Jan 26, 2012

Last year I wrote an article entitled “Is the Legal Industry Ready for SharePoint?”, as I had just gotten back from ILTA with fresh questions in my mind from inquiring customers about using the platform as a Document Management System (DMS), in lieu of Autonomy Worksite or OpenText DOCS Open. The article was a simple walk through on the viability of moving to SharePoint as a DMS in a law firm.

I’d like to expand on that topic now and share with you some of my experiences with respect to recent client engagements of this type.

Editor's Note: This article serves as part 2 of the article mentioned above.

Let me preface this by saying that I won’t be suggesting specific tools or methods to accomplish a project like this. I simply want to shed some light on what is becoming a larger trend in legal technology in regards to document and content management system platforms. In other words, we’ll be talking about firms who have or are in the process of migrating to SharePoint completely for their document management needs.

Why Now?

If you’re a legal CIO, then you probably already know the answer to this question. If you’re not, then the answer is quite simple. I personally feel that there are two primary motivating factors as to why firms are shopping SharePoint as a replacement to what they have now.

First and foremost, last year’s HP acquisition of Autonomy has no doubt caused many firms to question the long term success of the WorkSite product line. With HP having a recent streak of erratic business decisions regarding their software families, there’s plenty of worry to go around that the product could simply get axed at a moment’s notice. Will this happen? Probably not, but fear spreads like wildfire.

Second, many firms already own all the necessary licensing from Microsoft to fully implement SharePoint, thanks to their enterprise agreements. And even if they don’t, the cost to true-up on the necessary licensing for SharePoint is very competitive in comparison to the costs required to maintain the existing DMS maintenance agreement.

There’s no need to go further than this, to be honest. When a product grosses over a billion dollars in annual sales, I don’t need to sell it to you as something worth checking out. Legal has always been relatively slow when adopting new technology in comparison to the corporate world. It was only a matter of time.

Migration Considerations

The million dollar question is always the “how”. Migrating from one DMS or CMS to another is no small task. In fact, it’s not uncommon to be wrapped up in a project like this for one to two years depending on the size of the migration. Before you consider taking on a project like this, ask yourself some of the following questions as a measurement of your firm’s ability to see this through:

Are we focused?

Don’t make the mistake of trying to combine an Exchange upgrade and an SCCM implementation with a DMS migration. You will make more mistakes when spread this thin. Focus on just the migration itself.

Are we committed?

Is SharePoint really the answer for your firm? Will your firm lose functionality or gain it? Even I will admit to a client when SharePoint is not the right choice. Assess your business needs above all else, and then select the technology. SharePoint does adapt well for complicated requirements, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best choice every time.

Have we engaged a technology partner?

Unless your firm has an experienced team of professionals who have successfully done this before, don’t do this alone. Investing in a capable partner is critical in being able to deliver proper results on time.

Can our IT support SharePoint?

Maintaining a SharePoint environment from a technical perspective will no doubt require extensive training for your team or even additional employees. SharePoint is a complex platform requiring experienced admins and support staff. You need to assess your teams’ skills in order to properly roll out a SharePoint DMS.