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Interview - A View Into the Future Of Records & Information Management by: Monica Love March 2006
So I was off on my journey to find a "Law Firm Of The Future". I contacted the Director of Records & Information Management, Kurt W. Stevenson at Thacher Proffitt and Wood LLP. The chatter throughout the Records & Information Management community is that he is known for developing state-of -the-art Records & Information Management facilities nationwide, and developing some of the most prestigious Records & Information Management Specialists in the world.
As I enter his office on the 26th floor of the World Financial Center building in lower Manhattan, I find Mr. Stevenson crouched behind two large computer screens with a wireless laptop on his desk. As I enter his office he replied, "Welcome To the Future of Records and Information Management". I replied, "I have to be honest, I never really expected to see someone quite so excited about filing records". Mr. Stevenson replied, "Ah, the normal misconception that Records & Information Management is just a bunch of paper pushers located in the basement of your building. At Thacher Proffitt we are all "Records & Information Management Technology Specialists". You won't find any file clerks around here!" I smiled and replied, "Well then show me this futuristic Records Center."
I was surprised to find that they don't refer to their file room as a “file room.” They call it the Records & Information Management Center. As I enter I find a very clean and organized room with workstations and high capacity scanners on one wall and a network of "Records Technology Specialists" on the other. I find that the room is setup very much like a control center. All of the phones have the same extension and roll over if a specialist is on the phone with a client. They refer to the partners, associates, paralegals, and secretaries as their clients.
It All Starts With The People Mr. Stevenson commented, "You have to start with the culture of the people. Traditionally, file clerks are low wage earners with little or no knowledge of the general practices of the firm that they work for. Sometimes they are even outsourced employees which, in turn, will disconnect them from the firm even more. We design an atmosphere of intelligent, upbeat, tech-savvy individuals who happen to manage Records & Information. If you don't believe that you are important to the success of the firm you work for, you won't be!" I have to admit, I didn't see many frowning faces in this center. All the employees were working steadily and yet they were all smiling and having fun filing records. I thought to myself, this is something you don't see in many file rooms.
So I've seen the people, now what about the technology? Mr. Stevenson explained, " How you build the backend technology structure will make or break your environment! We spent nearly 6 months building streamlined processes, and installing software and hardware that allow us to service the firm on an immediate basis." So lets talk tech! I began asking about their systems.
The Main Database Thacher Proffitt utilizes Filesurf (MDY Advanced Technologies). The system literally allows anyone in the firm to file records electronically from all of their major software applications. They can even launch the RMS software from inside Microsoft Outlook and lookup recent folders that they filed to from Outlook. Mr. Stevenson commented, "95% of the time you will find Outlook open on any computer, in any attorney office you visit. Therefore, we made sure our RMS system integrated really well with Outlook.” He also demonstrated filing from Word, Excel, Powerpoint, the local hardrive, and even their Document Management System. He also commented that they are working on filing from their Blackberry devices as well.
They have full access to the RMS system through their wireless network and even through a broadband connection using VPN. In other words, an attorney can be traveling on a train, log in to the network via broadband, and access all records with a click. So I commented, "OK, but what if the power goes out?" Mr. Stevenson replied, "We replicate every document that is placed into this system in real time to one of our remote offices. We can equip our attorney's with battery powered laptops and VPN them into the other server. There's really a minimal chance that access will fail to be provided 24-7."
So, What About Paper Records That Need To Be Tracked and Imaged? Here's where it gets pretty impressive. On the front end, the majority of their MFP devices are Ricoh. These devices allow unique user logins, which allows any user to walk to any machine, log in and simply place the document on the feeder and hit start. The machine recognizes the user and therefore emails the document directly back to that person. They are planning on placing Biometric devices (ATM Tech Solutions) on the machines to alleviate the need for the user to even login. Mr. Stevenson replied, "By the end of the year our users will be able to walk up to any MFP device, place their finger on the biometric scanner, and scan a document to themselves without any other input." It doesn't just end here. Every scanned document can be also converted to a text searchable OCR'd .PDF file, and auto-indexed into their RMS system.
Thacher Proffitt has a "Server Farm" that takes care of the conversion and indexing. The OCR application will launch a minimum of 4 instances on each server so that the imaging is processing continually in the background. All of their remote offices are also equipped with these devices and technologies so imaging appears seamless to the end user from any office.
So, they still have 250,000+ hardcopy folders to keep track of. This is where I thought I had them, but Mr. Stevenson replied, "We are installing RFID tracking systems from ATM Tech Solutions at all of our locations, on every file folder that exists, and eventually access control systems in the RIM Center doorways. This will allow us to do a complete audit of folders at all locations in a few days, as well as to track the removal of any file folder from our Records Centers after hours.” I'll be honest, it didn't seem realistic until he showed it to me. He walked over to a filing cabinet and simply ran a small PDA device over the entire row of files. In real time, the data uploaded to the main database, scanning each and every file out to the cabinet in seconds. The doorway readers will allow any employee with an access ID card to simply walk into the records center, grab the file they need, and walk out. The system captures the user and the records they have in their hand automatically.
When they need to send records to offsite storage, they simply scan the box, place the folders in the box and run their little PDA device over the box checking all 20 folders out to the storage facility in an instant. Mr. Stevenson commented, "This saves us countless man hours, alleviates the human error of scanning each and every folder, and allows our attorneys to retrieve files after hours from the records center without thinking about it."
What about Attorney’s who work from home? Thacher Proffitt’s RMS and DMS systems are accessible via Citrix, which allows attorneys access to their entire collection of digital records from anywhere in the world. They can also log attorney’s in with VPN, which allows them to literally bring their desktop to any computer that they are working on.
How do You Manage Workflow, Employee Schedules, Events, Contacts etc.? So, I've been in quite a few file rooms and was expecting to see a calendar on the wall with scribbled days off, stacks of paper listing current events, and a rolodex of business cards. Mr. Stevenson replied, "No,no,no. We automated that process as well." You won't believe this. Each employee has access to the digital workflow site. They can enter time and days off on an electronic calendar. This way the management staff can see which employees they have available at all of their locations. They also have a listing of all their current contacts from storage facilities to shelving providers. They have a primary email box which is monitored continually throughout the day to ensure immediate response, and they have a “pick ticket” system integrated in it as well. This allows them to track pickup and delivery times throughout the interoffice.
What About Backup and Disaster Recovery? Mr. Stevenson replied, "We have that covered as well! Each document of record, when declared, is replicated to a server at another remote location in real time. So, if they place an electronic file in the RMS system, it is copied and placed on a secondary server that instant. We will never have a disaster that cripples us from performing at our normal levels.” Mr. Stevenson commented, "If disaster strikes, I can get my attorneys their files back within moments."
So, I asked Mr. Stevenson - Why are you working at a law firm, you should be some sort of consultant?
Mr. Stevenson replied, "I've already been a consultant. Thacher
Proffitt embraces new technology, and the Director of IT, Dierk
Eckart, is unbelievably supportive of all my tech ideas for the
RIM Center. Honestly, none of this is possible if you don't
have the support from the top. I also get an unreal amount of
support from the our Executive Director, Tony Cassino, and all
of the managing partners. With this kind of support and
backing, they allow me to create technology that doesn't even
exist today. The answer to your question is: Why wouldn't I
want to work for a firm like this?" In Conclusion Well there is much more I could tell you about this law firm, but in short if you want to experience a records center of the future just take a trip over to Thacher Proffitt. I've seen alot of law firm records centers, but this place blew me away!
About The Kurt W. Stevenson Kurt W. Stevenson is the Director of Records and Information Management at Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP in New York. He has spent the last 13 years developing state-of-the-art RIM technology solutions for private and government clientele. He has implemented RMS and DMS systems in more than 20 Firms nationwide. He has been a featured speaker at the local and national level, and is an Internationally published author in the areas of RIM Management. He is an active member of ARMA, AIIM, and PRISM. He holds many certifications in the areas of document imaging, computer networking, security, and records management.
Kurt W. Stevenson can be reached at 212-912-7709 or via email at Kstevenson@tpw.com
About Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP
A
firm that focuses on the capital markets and financial services
industries, Thacher Proffitt & Wood
llp advises
domestic and global clients in a wide range of areas, including
corporate and financial institutions law, securities, structured
finance, swaps and derivatives, cross-border transactions, real
estate, commercial lending, insurance, admiralty and ship
finance, litigation and dispute resolution, technology and
intellectual property, executive compensation and employee
benefits, taxation, trusts and estates, bankruptcy,
reorganizations and restructurings. The Firm has more than 225
lawyers located in New York City, NY, Washington, DC, White
Plains, NY, Summit, NJ and Mexico City, Mexico.
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