The Gazette 1982

GAZETTE

JULY/AUGUS T 1982

the acceptance tests have been completed to the purchaser's satisfaction. 6. Do project five and ten year growth volumes and require that the vendor(s) provide you with calculations depicting the required memory size and disk storage capacity. These volumes should be couched in terms of accounting transactions, numbers of timekeepers, and the like. If the vendor is unable to provide such calculations, do not deal with them. 7. Do prepare a formal Request for Proposal for subsmission to all vendors. This will ensure that vendor responses are more easily compared. In addition, the RFP should state that vendor pro- posals will be incorporated by reference into the contract. This helps insure more accurate responses. 8. Do investigate law firm references of similar size and practice that have purchased systems from the vendor under consideration. If you will be the largest firm to install the system to date, be very cautious. 9. Do request some financial data (income statement, number of employees, number of installations and dates) from the software supplier. In many cases, these companies are small businesses with relatively little financial resources and assets. Their potential for bankruptcy is high. Remember that the software is the most important component of the system. 10. Do purchase a system that can be configured with a letter quality printer. Even if you do not intend to perform word processing functions, final billing capabilities are a must. Don'ts 1. Don't let the vendor (or salesperson) define your requirements. Many salespersons of the large established vendors to law firms have become fairly knowledgeable regarding law firm operations and needs. However, with the advent of newer systems and more software, one should not expect the salesperson to be very familiar with small law firm operations. 2. Don't purchase a software package that has not been installed before with other law firms. Smaller law firms should not undertake pilot projects or become test sites for vendors. The potential for the project to go sour is too great. 3. Don't purchase a computer that cannot expand its internal memory, disk capacity, and peripheral devices. If the system cannot expand commensurate with the projected requirements for disk storage and peripheral devices (video terminals, printers) for a five and ten year period, the system should not be purchased. 4. Don't purchase a system that does not have a removable medium to perform back-up. The system must be able to copy information from the primary medium to floppy disk, hard disk or magnetic tape for storage. 5. Don't buy a system without a software maintenance agreement. If the vendor is unable to guarantee support of the software, in effect, the software is useless.

Dos 1. Do make sure that local hardware maintenance is available, including an inventory of parts and trained personnel. This is especially important where the system is to perform the word processing function, which cannot be down for hours, much less days. Do not be caught having to send your equipment back to the factory to be serviced. 2. Do attend a practical demonstration of all the functional requirements that you have determin- ed are necessary. Hold this demonstration in the vendor's place of business and not in another law firm. You should not be prejudiced by another law firm that may or may not have made an appropriate decision. 3. Do buy hardware only from a company that has a solid background. With the myriad computer companies, especially microcomputer vendors, now providing equipment, it is a certainty that failures will occur. The market is changing too rapidly for firms to consider equipment from companies still in the early stages of growth. 4. Do require that the hardware and software vendors provide efficient, well written documentation with the system. This docu- mentation should be written so that a nontechnical individual in the office can operate the equipment and perform the desired functions by reading the documentation. 5. Do hold acceptance tests (these criteria should be documented in the contract). Acceptance tests are tests performed, using the equipment to be purchased, to prove that the equipment and software work to the satisfaction of the purchaser. Monies should not change hands until

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