Hummingbird Enterprise's Unexpected Gem: BI

[Editor's Note: This article nicely complements last month's A&FP special edition on "Putting Business Intelligence to Work." Not only does Warren Knowles introduce another interesting software product, but he also explains clearly how the firm's BI software has come to have multiple points of contact with the firm's other application software systems.]

Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel, Mason & Gette LLP is a national litigation law firm with extensive experience in complex, high-stakes cases. The firm represents plaintiffs and defendants in antitrust, business, class action, securities, insurance coverage and intellectual property litigation, among numerous other areas.

These cases may require the combining of talent and data from the firm's six offices, as well as extensive sharing of documents among co-counsel and clients. Therefore, a primary technical challenge for us was to provide secure extranet and collaboration workspaces. These requirements, along with our previous experience with our existing Hummingbird-powered document-management system, were the primary drivers for selecting Hummingbird Enterprise as our document management, collaboration and portal software.

More Than Just Snapshots

During our installation of the Hummingbird Enterprise suite, we discovered Hummingbird BI, the suite's business intelligence component. We originally purchased BI in hopes of providing clients with simple financial snapshots of case-related expenses and fees via the extranet. However, we quickly realized our expectations were inadequate and found that BI was the unexpected gem of Hummingbird Enterprise.

The primary goal for the BI project was to regain control over our financial reports and reduce the time required to process data when needed. The main problem with our old reporting method was that our report templates were static and in most cases required the assistance of outside consultants and software developers to make changes. We also found that most of our reports were not giving us data in formats we wanted, so we consistently were reformatting the reports in Word or Excel.

Converting hundreds of Elite reports into Hummingbird BI is an ongoing process. Throughout this process many procedures and workflows have been optimized using BI's many tools. One tool in particular is BI Scheduler, a component of the BI server. BI Scheduler allows BI reports and processes to be initiated via a predetermined schedule or based on defined criteria (much like a trigger). Using BI Scheduler, we've been able to streamline and automate many monotonous accounting and administrative tasks such as the updating of daily accounts receivable reports.

Applying BI to Other Data Sources

After Hummingbird BI's success with our Elite system, we found many other data sources that could benefit from BI's technology. Currently, Hummingbird BI enables the firm to easily collect, analyze and report on our multiple legal applications and data sources, offering the firm a more timely and accurate view of our business. In addition to saving us time and money, this has improved our strategic planning and overall decision making.

The main legal applications and data sources currently accessed by BI are the Elite financial system; Interaction, where we store all the firm's contact information; DTE, which feeds billing data into Elite; Genifax, our electronic fax system; Hummingbird Enterprise DM, where we store all documents and work product; West km, our link to internal documents stored in DM via Westlaw searches; and Novell eDirectory, which holds all our network login and object information.

Simplifying Report Creation and Distribution

One of the first widely used reports developed from Humming-bird BI was a Working Timekeeper Report. The report displays how each attorney spends his or her time. The BI report is more comprehensive and easier to read and analyze than its predecessor, while the time needed to compile the report has been reduced from hours to seconds. Now, after one click and 30 seconds, Accounting has what they want in a format that can be distributed instantly.

Our CFO considers BI's greatest asset to be that we are not restricted in what we can report on. For example, the firm uses the BI tool to track usage of West km. In the past, it was difficult showing the firm's partners our return on investment for West km. With Hummingbird BI, it is easy to track how often West km is being used and what it is being used for. These reports demonstrate that our attorneys use West km to save clients thousands of dollars in potentially redundant research.

Similarly, Hummingbird has provided an easier way for us to report on usage of our Genifax electronic fax system for billing purposes.

We also use Hummingbird BI to access and report on data in the firm's contact management database. For example, CLE information for the majority of our attorneys is kept in the database, but there isn't a good Interaction report to analyze and organize this data. Using Humming-bird BI, we created a custom report on each attorney's CLE activity.

Since not all employees have access to Interaction, the firm's personnel directory is also now updated via Hummingbird BI. Via BI Scheduler, BI queries the contact database hourly and publishes updated employee data to the firm's intranet.

Implementing the Portal

Sharing documents via e-mail is often a frustrating task. For example, in cases where many different attorneys are working on the same documents, exhibit lists and client lists, e-mailing back and forth can lead to trouble due to old versions, lost documents, and missed revisions. In these instances, we use the Webtop (portal) and collaboration components of Hummingbird Enterprise to provide an enhanced service to clients and co-counsel. Using the Webtop and collaboration components, everyone works in the same secure workspace, thus avoiding all these problems.

On to the Future

Several new projects involve using Hummingbird BI to report on multiple databases at once. A merged DM/West km database model is planned that will allow the firm to simultaneously report on document activity in both systems. A merged DTE/Elite data model will enable Accounting to identify and report on missing or erroneous time entries.

In another project the firm will use Hummingbird BI to tap into the extensive and complex Elite Conflicts index, to easily and quickly provide client conflict and relationship information to attorneys.

Regardless of the application, Hummingbird Enterprise will continue to give our data value by improving its accessibility to our attorneys, co-counsel and clients.

[Editor's Note: This article nicely complements last month's A&FP special edition on "Putting Business Intelligence to Work." Not only does Warren Knowles introduce another interesting software product, but he also explains clearly how the firm's BI software has come to have multiple points of contact with the firm's other application software systems.]

Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel, Mason & Gette LLP is a national litigation law firm with extensive experience in complex, high-stakes cases. The firm represents plaintiffs and defendants in antitrust, business, class action, securities, insurance coverage and intellectual property litigation, among numerous other areas.

These cases may require the combining of talent and data from the firm's six offices, as well as extensive sharing of documents among co-counsel and clients. Therefore, a primary technical challenge for us was to provide secure extranet and collaboration workspaces. These requirements, along with our previous experience with our existing Hummingbird-powered document-management system, were the primary drivers for selecting Hummingbird Enterprise as our document management, collaboration and portal software.

More Than Just Snapshots

During our installation of the Hummingbird Enterprise suite, we discovered Hummingbird BI, the suite's business intelligence component. We originally purchased BI in hopes of providing clients with simple financial snapshots of case-related expenses and fees via the extranet. However, we quickly realized our expectations were inadequate and found that BI was the unexpected gem of Hummingbird Enterprise.

The primary goal for the BI project was to regain control over our financial reports and reduce the time required to process data when needed. The main problem with our old reporting method was that our report templates were static and in most cases required the assistance of outside consultants and software developers to make changes. We also found that most of our reports were not giving us data in formats we wanted, so we consistently were reformatting the reports in Word or Excel.

Converting hundreds of Elite reports into Hummingbird BI is an ongoing process. Throughout this process many procedures and workflows have been optimized using BI's many tools. One tool in particular is BI Scheduler, a component of the BI server. BI Scheduler allows BI reports and processes to be initiated via a predetermined schedule or based on defined criteria (much like a trigger). Using BI Scheduler, we've been able to streamline and automate many monotonous accounting and administrative tasks such as the updating of daily accounts receivable reports.

Applying BI to Other Data Sources

After Hummingbird BI's success with our Elite system, we found many other data sources that could benefit from BI's technology. Currently, Hummingbird BI enables the firm to easily collect, analyze and report on our multiple legal applications and data sources, offering the firm a more timely and accurate view of our business. In addition to saving us time and money, this has improved our strategic planning and overall decision making.

The main legal applications and data sources currently accessed by BI are the Elite financial system; Interaction, where we store all the firm's contact information; DTE, which feeds billing data into Elite; Genifax, our electronic fax system; Hummingbird Enterprise DM, where we store all documents and work product; West km, our link to internal documents stored in DM via Westlaw searches; and Novell eDirectory, which holds all our network login and object information.

Simplifying Report Creation and Distribution

One of the first widely used reports developed from Humming-bird BI was a Working Timekeeper Report. The report displays how each attorney spends his or her time. The BI report is more comprehensive and easier to read and analyze than its predecessor, while the time needed to compile the report has been reduced from hours to seconds. Now, after one click and 30 seconds, Accounting has what they want in a format that can be distributed instantly.

Our CFO considers BI's greatest asset to be that we are not restricted in what we can report on. For example, the firm uses the BI tool to track usage of West km. In the past, it was difficult showing the firm's partners our return on investment for West km. With Hummingbird BI, it is easy to track how often West km is being used and what it is being used for. These reports demonstrate that our attorneys use West km to save clients thousands of dollars in potentially redundant research.

Similarly, Hummingbird has provided an easier way for us to report on usage of our Genifax electronic fax system for billing purposes.

We also use Hummingbird BI to access and report on data in the firm's contact management database. For example, CLE information for the majority of our attorneys is kept in the database, but there isn't a good Interaction report to analyze and organize this data. Using Humming-bird BI, we created a custom report on each attorney's CLE activity.

Since not all employees have access to Interaction, the firm's personnel directory is also now updated via Hummingbird BI. Via BI Scheduler, BI queries the contact database hourly and publishes updated employee data to the firm's intranet.

Implementing the Portal

Sharing documents via e-mail is often a frustrating task. For example, in cases where many different attorneys are working on the same documents, exhibit lists and client lists, e-mailing back and forth can lead to trouble due to old versions, lost documents, and missed revisions. In these instances, we use the Webtop (portal) and collaboration components of Hummingbird Enterprise to provide an enhanced service to clients and co-counsel. Using the Webtop and collaboration components, everyone works in the same secure workspace, thus avoiding all these problems.

On to the Future

Several new projects involve using Hummingbird BI to report on multiple databases at once. A merged DM/West km database model is planned that will allow the firm to simultaneously report on document activity in both systems. A merged DTE/Elite data model will enable Accounting to identify and report on missing or erroneous time entries.

In another project the firm will use Hummingbird BI to tap into the extensive and complex Elite Conflicts index, to easily and quickly provide client conflict and relationship information to attorneys.

Regardless of the application, Hummingbird Enterprise will continue to give our data value by improving its accessibility to our attorneys, co-counsel and clients.