Office Sans the Add-Ins

Transcription

1 Office Sans the Add-Ins Can Legal use Office without Add-ins? DASPG2- Monday, August 27 th 1:00PM

2 Agenda Our Speakers, their firms and environments Add-in Basics Why do we use Add-ins and why eliminate them? Stories from the field our experiences trying to remove add-ins Lessons Learned Questions

3 Question for the audience.

4 Our Speakers Michelle Spencer Training Manager Bracewell & Giuliani LLP Justin McLaughlin Director of Information Technology Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. Brian Donato CIO Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

5 Bracewell & Giuliani LLP 400 attorneys in 10 offices Windows 7 (32 bit) / Office 2010 OpenText edocs DM 5.3 InterAction / PS Ship / Workshare Protect Innova / DocXtools Approx. 20 add-ins in Outlook Approx. 10 add-ins in Word

6 Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. 225 Attorneys 7 offices Windows 7 64-bit Office 2010 FileSite 8.5.3, iscrub, Payne, Fast Filer/Fast Folders, HotDocs 11 add-ins in Word, 10 add-ins in Outlook

7 Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP 360 Attorneys 6 offices Windows 7 / 64 bit Office 2007 (some 2010) imanage 8.2/8.5 Nuance PDF Pro, Workshare, Fast Filer/Fast Folder, Payne, icreate 48 add-ins across the Office suite

8 Types of Add-ins Interoperability Functionality

9 How does an Add- In Function? Register and load, if enabled, upon program startup Can be enabled or disabled Interact programmatically with host app Vary greatly Simple - enhancements or extra menu buttons/bars Complex - separate programs with their own memory/cpu slices

10 Why use Add-Ins? Create better user experience Improve application integration Easier to bundle in the image than distribute on demand Vendors prefer it competing for real estate Filling Office functionality gaps

11 Why remove Add-Ins? Improve responsiveness Improve stability Reduce support/development needs Reduce user calls / frustration Reduce software costs

12 Bracewell & Giuliani LLP STORIES FROM THE FIELD

13 Approach to freeing Office Keep UI close to out-of-the box Use native functionality where possible Consider users workflows and functional needs Look at EVERYTHING!

14 Process Find the right team members Review functions in old environment Consider new tools Evalulate new tools Determine what earns inclusion Test, test, test!!!

15 Obstacles Vendors approach Missing/flawed functionality in Office Need for niche tools IT staff changes Lack of familiarity with new features Time

16 What Worked Teams working on add-ins were in constant communication Use of a few key consultants with more indepth knowledge of Office 2010 Microsoft SCCM for application deployment AppSense for profile management Vendor responsiveness to issues

17 What Didn t Work Vendor responsiveness to issues Not enough time for adequate testing of image with all add-ins Vendor delays in 2010-compatible application versions Assuming SCCM and AppSense would do everything Native Word Compare

18 Bottom line

19 Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. STORIES FROM THE FIELD

20

21 Approach to freeing Office Adopted a "bouncer" philosophy, minimalist approach Streamlined interface, simplified workflow Agile software deployment "App Store" system key Increased automation in software deployment, evolved software packaging Rigorous, methodical testing

22 Process Critical look at all software what could be replicated with new, built-in functionality? User feedback and analysis what did our various practice groups REALLY use, and what did they consider to be unnecessary? Extensive pilot testing, working closely with full range of users Full firm buy-in on approach and results

23 Process (cont d.) Applications Matrix with Three-Tier Classifications: Tier 1 = Applications used by everyone Tier 2 = Applications critical to one or more practice areas Tier 3 = Everything else Tier 1 apps bundled directly into Core Image Tier 2 & 3 apps are "on demand"

24 Obstacles Vendor support for "new" Office was challenging Lack of expertise with Office 2010 initially needed development Needed a superior software deployment system Needed deeper packaging expertise Participation and buy-in from practice groups and firm management radically different approach Political pressure

25 What Worked Microsoft SCCM and advanced application packaging made "app store" concept possible Incorporation of "Six Sigma" into test cycles ensured accuracy with complex add-in integrations Close work with practice groups throughout the process Overall, add-ins were reduced by roughly half Streamlined image has reduced Helpdesk calls by 38%

26 What Didn t Work Vendors in general really want you to use add-ins did not prove helpful in technical talks regarding streamlining Poor existing documentation in most cases regarding add-ins

27 Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease llp STORIES FROM THE FIELD

28 Approach to freeing Office Minimize add-ins on image Gold image with all user apps. Most Add-in were in after image packages. Treat Office, especially Outlook, as scarce real estate Office 2010 Allow users to disable add-ins on their own Still in pilot

29 Obstacles Some Add-ins are necessary for folks to do their work Others require completely different approach Example using server-based metadata scrubbing instead of client-based Vendors continue to focus development on add-ins InterAction

30 What Worked Creating a process that made it hard for an add-in to reach the gold image Accepting that a goal of fewer add-ins made sense Disabling add ins even for gold image apps Example Nuance and WorkShare in Outlook

31 What Didn t Work The No Add-in Image Too many must have items

32 Putting it all together It takes a village Who is responsible for the components of the desktop? For add-in decisions? What is the impact on user support and training? Enterprise App store - demise of the one size fits all desktop?

33 Questions