Case study: Knowledge management at Slaughter & May

'Flaky' Hummingbird replaced by Recommind

Law firm Slaughter & May has selected information management provider Recommind's knowledge management search solution to replace its "flaky" Hummingbird document and knowledge management platform.

The firm had been using information management vendor Hummingbird's platform for at least eight years but found that it was no longer meeting the needs of its lawyers as it was not enabling them to efficiently find the information they needed.

The company's project leader, Helen Geoghegan, told Computing that this was because the platform had become heavily customised.

"We had customised the platform so heavily that the actual application that we have in place doesn't resemble the underlying product, so any future development would have been extensive and more drawn out," she said.

Slaughter & May's (S&M) head of technology, Christopher Martin, added that the tool was not performing to the standards that the law firm expected.

"It wasn't a browser-based system. It wasn't at the level we wanted, was flaky and we weren't clear where the product was going. Depending on what you were searching for you had to search for completely different material, so different taxonomies for different sorts of items, which made it hard to use," he told Computing.

The firm went to the market to look for alternatives in early 2010 after identifying the key requirements.

Martin said that S&M consulted other law firms who had also switched to Recommind's system.

"We talked to other law firms and took references from them because it just underwrote the confidence that we've got from our experience, that Recommind was able to solve these specific problems that we had," Martin said.

Some of the other law firms using the technology include Clifford Chance, Eversheds, Macfarlanes and Stephenson Harwood.

The firm then sent out a tender and eventually selected two options before deciding on Recommind in September 2010. Martin put this down to the firm's ability to understand what S&M was trying to achieve in the given time frame.

After implementing Windows 7 with IE8, S&M then went through development and configuration work on the Recommind system followed by a pilot in early 2011.

According to Martin, the solution was launched on schedule and on budget in November 2011.

Case study: Knowledge management at Slaughter & May

'Flaky' Hummingbird replaced by Recommind

Challenges

Martin explained that there were several challenges for the firm in ensuring that the installation of Recommind's solution went smoothly.

"First, we decided that we needed to wait for the introduction of IE8. At the time we were still using IE6 and in order to get full functionality [from the solution] we were waiting for Windows 7," he said.

To migrate the data out of the Hummingbird platform, S&M built a new database using Autonomy software.

A third challenge was implementing changes to the solution by taking on board user comments; this included a lot of fine-tuning to the appearance of the user interface.

Benefits

Martin claimed that the system is easier and quicker to use than Humminbird's platform, resulting in lawyers finding the items they want more frequently and quickly. This has also resulted in people adding more content to the system.

"The system has been received well, lawyers find it easier to work with, less hassle to get the information they want. The platform technically is solid and it does what it's meant to do," Martin said.

One of system's main strengths is that it does not require a lot of training to use, said Martin.

"We wanted it to be intuitive so people can use the system with minimal guidance, and we saw that as a result of releasing the software that it was exactly what we wanted; 15-minute training sessions tailored depending on the employee," Martin said.

The solution is designed primarily for use by the firms 700 lawyers in London and Brussels, but all staff can access it via the organisation's intranet.

In the future, Martin said that along with being able to search the personal intranet, users will be able to search the firm's secure intranet using the tool.

"We are also going to be plugging in other data sources in addition to our database and our intranet. For example we will be plugging into our library of physical books," Martin said.