AmLaw top 20 data strategy
An AmLaw top 20 law firm needed a data strategy and tactical recommendations to take a service-oriented culture and turn it into a unified, data-driven front working to establish a single source of truth around the firm’s metrics.
Overview
THE CHALLENGE
This top 20 law firm was looking to gain a competitive advantage with data and analytics, to modernize the firm’s technology and encourage adoption without disrupting the practice side of the business.
THE SOLUTION
Ollion created a modern data platform to centralize and standardize their data. Also, a new data and analytics department was created with Ollion's experience in guiding the people, process and technology needed to succeed.
THE OUTCOME
A single source of the truth was achieved for this firm, allowing them greater visibility and a competitive advantage through insights enabled by the new data and analytics department.
The challenge
Our client’s operational chiefs knew they could achieve a competitive advantage with data and analytics. They needed to modernize the firm’s technology and encourage adoption without disrupting the practice side of the business.
Making an impact
Ollion's team suggested and drove the following initiatives to support the change management needed for the firm to adopt a modernized technology stack, reduce the number of reports circulating and establish a reliable single source of truth:
- Stand up a new department around data and analytics, pulling existing resources from the firm who had an interest in leading this effort as well as hiring new, experienced resources to support the additional needs and development.
- Establish firm-wide metric names, definitions and calculations. If the same metric was calculated two different ways and both were necessary, we decided on a new name to differentiate.
- Create a method of communication for every report creator to reduce duplication of efforts. This also allowed operational business users to enforce the new standardized metrics for the practice side of the business in the report creation process.
- Develop a central data platform as the single source of truth, from which all data and reports can be driven.
- Re-align key resources to support initiatives (both on the business and technical side of operations) that they were passionate about and that made sense for their skill sets. This created an end-to-end support model for any report or analysis requests from equity partners or clients, as well as the technologies that enable these efforts.
The outcome
Our client gained the adoption of a single source of truth, with the operational and practice sides of the business agreeing to a set of standardized metrics. The establishment of a new department, demand management process and a supporting data platform led to:
- A reduced number of reports and duplicative efforts (= happy chiefs)
- Increased quality and speed of analysis (= happy equity partners)
- More collaborative operational efforts (= happy employees)