Corporate legal Matter Management systems are implemented through multi-million dollar projects that frequently result in unpopular, underused tools that never provide the expected return on investment. One element, common to many such situations, is the limited utility of the data being captured. The data in the matter management system is either irrelevant or inaccessible to the interested parties. Integrated Matter Management reporting is the solution to this problem.
In the best case, future reporting needs have been considered and included as critical inputs in the design phase of the larger matter management project. In the worst case, reporting was left out of the design entirely, and end users and management are already angry and dissatisfied with what they perceive as a very expensive failure. Once this type of deficiency is identified, Matter Management specialists can correct the design and integrate the key reports into the system that will make it more relevant to day-to-day business and the reporting requirements mandated by management.
The right specialists will be fluent in matter management as well as management reporting and the underlying tools. These subject area experts can upgrade and enhance a successful matter management system, or salvage and improve one that is foundering. Specialty consultants are crucial to a successful matter management implementation because of their unique combination of experience, independence from vendor influence and accountability to the client organization that engages them. The same advantages make them most desirable resources during a project remediation. Skilled resources that rely on the good will of their paying client are highly motivated to comply with customer timelines and expectations.
A good matter management reporting implementation will be flexible, responsive, logical, and user-friendly. The tools most often employed to retrieve and display data from a matter management system are Business Objects (or Crystal Reports), Microsoft Access, Cognos, and Microstrategy. Most of these are Business Intelligence platforms (MS Access is not). Using these tools, a skilled designer creates a metadata layer that interprets complex data for use by end users and report writers (metadata means 'data about data').
In Business Objects, the metadata layer is called a "Universe". Sound universe design is the heart of a successful reporting effort. Poorly designed universes will result in several significant problems, including:
Inaccurate reports
Performance problems (with Reporting, the application and/or the database server)
User dissatisfaction (with usability, results, etc.)
Proper universe design will incorporate the following practices and features:
Custom universes and objects, built to address customer reporting needs.
Consistent, logical universe layout
Clear and friendly naming conventions.
Multiple universes, built around clusters of related data.
Logical, consistent points of interface between universes.
Efficient database joins
In a Business Objects universe design, multiple universes should be created, according to the complexity of the data and business processes involved. The separation of data into multiple universes improves the usability and performance of the reporting environment. Usability is enhanced as the reporting interface presents fewer choices, with more obvious correlations and interactions between fields, so that a report writer can create more accurate reports more quickly. Performance is enhanced as database communications are simplified and streamlined. A matter management reporting environment will use a Matter (Case) universe to anchor the rest of the data. A Finance universe contains everything about invoices and budgets. The Finance universe can be linked to Matters when a more complex report requires details from both universes. A Contacts universe presents all of the details in the "rolodex", encompassing all of the people and companies that are involved in any way with a legal matter in the system. Other universes will link to it whenever additional contact details are required. A Timekeeping universe will present timesheet data and have links to the Matters and Contacts universes. Other universes may be necessary, depending upon the business processes that are part a firm's Matter Management system. These may include an Intellectual Property universe, a Discovery universe, a Risk Management universe, and others.
Once the universes are in place, reports are created through the collaborative efforts of business experts, analysts and report writers. Specialty consultants are a superior resource during this step because they can fill the latter two roles, while conversing fluently with the business experts to maximize reporting results and minimize delivery time.
Summary
A strong reporting implementation is vital to the overall success of any Matter Management system, in many cases driving the benefits that provide the ROI for the entire project. Experienced specialists can contribute dramatically to the success of the effort. The reporting design should be flexible enough to accommodate its ongoing success, as active users will constantly develop new questions for their reports to answer. Good reporting will improve the user experience and management utility of the system, raising both data quality and participation among the user population.
© 2007 Matt Gwilliam
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