Kraft & Kennedy, Inc. provides technology and strategic consulting services to law firms, corporate legal departments and financial services firms. We can help you analyze, plan, implement and manage business and technology solutions to optimize your organization's functionality and processes.
| Brian Podolsky is a Senior Consultant in the New York office of Kraft & Kennedy, Inc. Brian joined Kraft Kennedy in 2004 after graduating from Stevens Institute of Technology with a B.E. degree in Computer Engineering. Brian drives Kraft Kennedy’s research on the latest ECM technologies and helps provide guidance and best practices for ECM implementations. He can be reached at podolsky@kraftkennedy.com. |
Autonomy (HP) recently released WorkSite Server 8.5 SP1 Update 6, with a new enhanced server-side email duplication detection technology. Previously, the FileSite client would evaluate duplicates based on the MSG_ID value from Exchange. This often caused problems with forwarded messages, or certain Outlook forms that share a MSG_ID. Update 6 enables server-side duplicate detection based on the message send date and message subject, in addition to the MSG_ID. So this now means that forwarded messages are NOT duplicates, and would also be filed – a little something to keep in mind when it comes to expected storage on your file servers and indexers. More emails will be filed with the new algorithm.
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So you’ve decided to add Enterprise Search to your firm’s ECM arsenal. You should all be familiar with the many benefits of Enterprise Search: search consolidation, knowledge management, and quick, global search results, resulting in improved productivity and efficiency of the work staff. You should also all be familiar with the drawbacks: cost and complexity.
Let’s leave those drawbacks out of the equation for now, and focus on what should be a benefit: the ease of finding documents across the enterprise. How could this be bad, you ask? The Enterprise Search utilities are designed to respect the security of whatever system the content lives in. That’s good, right? Well, what if the documents aren’t secured in the source repository? Some older systems make it inherently difficult to find documents with the native search interface/engine. Since it may be difficult to find documents, users start to skip the step of securing documents. Their thinking is, “Well, no one can find the document anyway, so why do I need to waste 45 seconds and add security to it?”. These unsecured documents could be financial statements, HR documents, or any other content that should be secured.
Enter Enterprise Search. Once Enterprise Search is introduced, that open level of security would now be apparent to all users of the system. This could cause headaches in the enterprise, and put a black-mark on the Enterprise Search tool — even if it’s not the Enterprise Search tool’s fault. This is just one example of the implications of adding new ECM functionalities to an environment. The security example here can be alleviated by scripting a security update to the source repository prior to the deployment of the Enterprise Search; essentially resolving the issue before it can become a security nightmare.
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While I was on vacation, there was some big news in Legal IT: HP announced their purchase of Autonomy for $10.2 Billion in cash. First of all, that’s a lot of cash, and with ATMs allowing a max of only $2,000 cash to be withdrawn per day, it will probably take a while for the deal to finalize. All kidding aside, this is just another shake-up in the long list of shake-ups along both the iManage as well as PC DOCS/DM/eDOCS lines. Like other major announcements, it will take time to see any real changes in the marketplace. I do wonder though if this will make iManage customers feel smaller, as they are now under an even larger umbrella. I’m not quite sure what to make of it yet, but look forward to finding out more about it at ILTA 2011 in Nashville, TN. Please see our ILTA post for details on where we’ll be and what we’ll be up to at the conference this week!
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Workshare just announced the release of Workshare Professional 7. A quick read through the press release notes that the installation process has been streamlined and is easier to deploy in the enterprise. This is a welcome improvement, as previous versions required a PHD in Workshare to deploy properly. Among the enhancements is a feature that is already present in the Workshare Point product for SharePoint. From the press release:
Another significant new feature in version 7 provides automatic detection and comparison of changes when attachments are sent, modified and returned through email, alerting users directly in Outlook. By identifying changed documents and launching a comparison as modified documents arrive, Workshare Professional 7 improves efficiency, making document collaboration a more seamless process.
I think attorneys will love this feature as it saves clicks and steps. Additional performance improvements have been made in the Workshare Protect meta-data removal module. What’s more valuable than an attorney’s time? Kraft Kennedy is a member of the Workshare Alliance Network.
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If you’ve worked with legal software at all, you probably know that many of the applications out there were likely started by the stereotypical “two guys in a garage”. Years go by, and their technology gets bought and sold by bigger and bigger companies. Twenty years later, and the technology is owned by the largest software companies in the world. But keep in mind that a lot of the database schemas and core code functionality are just plain old. The GUI may improve (then again, maybe not), but the wizard behind the curtain is still old and probably just as buggy as any program I could write with my buddy in my garage.
Sometimes the flashy new features and modules that plug into the old code can cause issues. Maybe they are stretching what the product can do. Who knows? Too many times have I seen new releases and service packs get caught in a seemingly long and drawn-out Beta test or QA testing. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad vendors are trying to fully test their software before a general release, but I’ve seen many estimated release dates come and go. Updates get released, then pulled back into QA. Eventually, things usually work out.
My advice to clients is usually the following:
These simple steps could save you a few migraines.
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With eDOCS DM 5.3 gaining traction among our clients, I wanted to take this opportunity to share my overall experience with the latest version and the upgrade process. I recently upgraded a client from DM 5.2.1 CU5 to DM 5.3 Patch 1. The back-end upgrade went remarkably well, as have all my recent experiences with Open Text eDOCS for the past year or two. In testing the updated client, I couldn’t be happier that Open Text embraced MSI technology for the installation and deployment of the DM client. With a simple single command line, I was able to customize a complete client install, without having to run through the DM Extensions Server Setup on the DM server itself as with previous versions. The MSI properly upgraded the previous version without any apparent issues or error messages. Adding the MSP patch to my installation script was also tested without any errors.
In testing our pilot deployment, one issue was apparent. The ODMA integration between Adobe Acrobat and DM was broken! I checked the Open Text Knowledge Center on the proper steps to integrate Adobe with DM, and verified that yes, the API file is in place, and yes the PassiveODMA registry value is in place. Upon opening a support ticket, I was informed that ODMA integration is gone with DM 5.3. In fact, starting with DM 5.2.1 CU4, Open Text was not including the ODMA integration with Adobe. That seemed strange, since it was working with our 5.2.1 CU5 client just fine. Turns out that if the API file and PassiveODMA registry key are in place from a previous installation, it will still work with CU5 and CU6. However, with 5.3, ODMA integration is no longer in the code, so if you have the API file in place, that DM menu option in Adobe is there but that does absolutely nothing.
In double-checking the release notes for DM 5.3, I found that this integration change was mentioned, but as the 4th footnote on a page — definitely not prominent. And no mention of this change with 5.2.1 CU4 in the Knowledge Base or in the Application Note titled “eDOCS DM 5.2.x – How to Successfully Integrate Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader”.
This leads to two valuable lessons for any product integrator:
Regarding the Adobe integration with DM 5.3, the DM Interceptor is needed. This is actually documented as an option in the Application Note referenced above, but is a requirement starting with DM 5.3.
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For the longest time (read: forever), we were led to believe that Outlook simply does not run in Cached Mode on Windows Terminal Servers. But that has actually changed with Outlook 2010 and Server 2008 R2. This does not mean that you should deploy Outlook 2010 in Cached Moe on your Server 2008 R2 XenApp servers, but it means that you could. From a Microsoft Technet article:
To achieve optimal results when you use Outlook with Remote Desktop Services, pay attention to how you customize your Outlook configuration. For example, in Outlook 2010 you can configure Cached Exchange Mode with Remote Desktop Services.
The article is careful to mention that you’d need to have enough disk space on the server to handle each user’s OST file. Maybe this makes sense for small environments with only one Terminal Server and tidy mailboxes. I can count on less than one hand how many firms fall into that category.
Based on our experience, we recommend disabling Cached Mode on any XenApp server we put in place. At the same time, we want to allow our users to run in Cached Mode on their Windows 7 desktops. How do we achieve this? Through the use of Loopback Policy, we can ensure that when users log in to a XenApp server, Cached Mode will be disabled. This policy will override the settings within a MAPI profile that is roamed or flexed to the XenApp server. When the user logs back into their Windows 7 desktop, they are happily working in Cached Mode again.
This is just another example of how technology can change without much fanfare. For many years, we never hard to worry about this situation. The mere fact that the user was logging in to a Terminal Server with Outlook 2003 meant that Cached Mode would be disabled no matter what. But with Outlook 2010 and Server 2008 R2/XenApp, a successful implementation relies on a successful configuration of the environment. You can download the Microsoft White Paper on the planning considerations of Outlook 2010 on Server 2008 R2 here.
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In working with iManage 8.5 SP2 Update 2 and Update 2a, we’ve identified a bug when printing page ranges with Word, Excel and PowerPoint 2010. The problem is that if a user goes to File –> Print, and chooses a Print Range (a single page, or “Pages 2-4”, for example), the ENTIRE document will print. This is REALLY annoying (and wasteful) for documents that can have 100s of pages.
This bug is fixed in the next update to FileSite and DeskSite, which is currently in field test. However, if you are plagued by this, there is a workaround for now. It involves disabling the iManage Print Logging. This means that if documents are printed, the Document History iManage will NOT be updated with a Print Activity. This can affect firms that track printing for cost-recovery purposes. But this will allow users to print an individual page of a Word 2010 document successfully. So you probably save more money on saved paper than the cost-recovery of that one page you needed to print.
The workaround is adding three registry keys. The keys below assume a 64-bit version of Windows 7:
[HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Interwoven\WorkSite\8.0\ Integration\Options]
“EnableWordPrintLogging”=dword:0
“EnableExcelPrintLogging”=dword:0
“EnablePowerPointPrintLogging”=dword:0
If enabling this workaround, remember to remove these keys after deploying and testing the next client version in order to re-enable print logging.
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Last year was a big year for Windows 7 deployments. In 2010 alone, Kraft Kennedy deployed Windows 7 to over 20 firms covering over 18,000 desktops. This was mainly caused by a combination of three factors: the Great Recession, the low adoption rate of Windows Vista, and the technical expertise of Kraft Kennedy consultants (hold for applause). Now that firms have upgraded their desktops, they are now starting to focus less on the “need to have” projects and more on the “like to have” projects.
One such topic that tends to come up is DMS consolidation. Firms are able to work in a distributed environment, and nothing is “broken” in that setup. But the experience can be enhanced. Consolidation can provide a number of advantages including:
This sounds amazing, but remember that any DMS consolidation project requires a big backbone of non-DMS equipment and technology. There’s the WAN connection bandwidth & latency, WAN acceleration devices, and redundant and highly available storage, database, and application server systems. These foundations should be in place in order for a DMS consolidation project to stand on it’s own successfully. Notice how we haven’t even started discussing the number of DMS servers, indexers, and the redundancy of those systems.
Beyond the infrastructure requirements, Firms can also be hesitant about consolidation for DMS-related reasons such as document number changes, document history preservation, long migration time-lines, and high consulting costs. All of these concerns can be mitigated through our use of technology together.
Now is the time to start thinking about how your global Firm can collaborate and manage your enterprise content in a more efficient way. The first step is ensuring your infrastructure can handle it.
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Recently, a client of ours with Exchange 2010 asked a question. “How does Autonomy iManage’s Email Management work with Exchange 2010 Archive Mailboxes?” A great question. Kraft Kennedy has implemented the WorkSite Communication Server (WCS) and Email Filing Service (EFS) at several Exchange 2010 sites over the past year, but to this point, hadn’t come across a firm looking to leverage the built-in mail archiving functionality of Exchange 2010. So we asked Autonomy how their EFS would handle it. There was no mention of this functionality in any Release Notes, Install Guide, Admin Guide, or knowledge base tech note. After being escalated to a product manager, we were informed that this functionality had not been part of any testing or QA for the 8.5 line of EFS.
Taking advantage of our Kraft Kennedy research lab, within a day I was able to connect our research iManage 8.5 system to our Exchange 2010 environment, and enabled the Archive Mailbox for my test account. And for the first time in the history of mankind (I can only assume), tested the functionality. Below you will find a brief summary of the environment and tests performed.
Continue reading…
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