TCS Computer Services Limited Logo bringing management and technology together for 40 years Call +44(0)1322 559840 or email via our "Contact Us" page Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Logo
Home »  Capabilities
Microsoft
Sectors
Software
About Us
 Software  »  Catalogue
iCube.NET
Visible Practice
 Visible Practice

Up
iCube.NET
Visible Practice
BMS
CETS
CMS
HBRS
PBS
SMS
VODB
WR
Other Templates

Corporate
Government
Health
Professional


 

Visible Practice, BI, KPIs and PM for Law Firm Practice Management Software

  Introduction Why? Features Modules Benefits Cubes Who? Support Demo Pricing Next?

Introduction

Visible Practice Product Box Image

Visible Practice is a Business Intelligence (BI) solution which incorporates the functionality of our OLAP Cube Viewer (iCube.NET) together with a multi-level Key Performance Indicator (KPI) dashboard to aid Performance Management (PM) in legal practices.

The standard version of Visible Practice is designed to extend the LexisNexis Axxia Practice Management software.

Also, because Visible Practice is built using Microsoft Intranet and SQL Server technology it can be configured to extend the reporting functionality of many other Practice Management Systems.

Visible Practice is a comprehensive reporting system that is tailored to your specific reporting needs.  Yet it can be installed, configured and ready to use live within 30 days1 of your order.

To learn more about the features and benefits of Visible Practice, please use the tabs above.

Notes

1 Subject to our standard Axxia-integrated version being compatible with your previously identified requirements.

Why Choose Visible Practice?

We often find that our customers have one or more objectives when looking for a Management Information or Performance Management system.

Typical Practice Objectives

Your objectives may be to:

  • Provide daily updates on Target Hours & Fees Billed by Fee Earner.
  • Increase Chargeable Time, reduce WIP & Debtors.
  • Provide consistent Performance Management for all.
  • Allow all staff access the level of information they need 24/7.
  • Develop the performance & commercial focus of all staff.
  • Improve the responsiveness & quality of communication between individuals & teams at all levels.
  • Use MIS tools as an enabler for the firm's growth.

Questions You May Ask?

Usually, in order to meet your objectives a change is often required to overcome the drawbacks of any existing system, yet we recognise that change at the MIS or PM level is often a large and costly step and not one that can be taken in one go.  You may find yourself asking:

  • Are effective MIS & Analysis Tools available in-house to manage Target Setting.
  • Do we have the necessary knowledge and spare time to educate all staff?
  • Is the best option a new Practice Reporting System or evolve our own KPI's now?
  • What are the £ benefits of implementing an integrated solution this year?
  • Can an interim solution be produced to fill our BI and PM reporting needs?
  • Can a system based on Microsoft Tools & SQL Server create a natural migration path for the future?

Can Visible Practice Provide the Answers?

If these are the types of questions you are asking, then Visible Practice may be for you.

  • YES! Visible Practice can help evolve a proactive Performance Management system at Whole Firm, Department & Fee Earner levels with a long life span.
  • YES! Visible Practice can provide the MIS & KPI's for your Firm without significant costs and to a budget price.
  • YES! Visible Practice can provide a working solution without long time delays and often going live within a short period of time.

Please take a more in depth look at the features of Visible Practice.

Standard Features

Visible Practice provides individuals' desktops with:

  • Daily Key Performance Indicator (KPI) data and Management Information on a dashboard,
  • Secure Configuration to the appropriate role and authority of the User,
  • Browser-based access over VPN or Intranet,
  • Flexible analysis and reporting from the data extracted from the Axxia Practice Management system,
  • 24/7 Desktop Access subject to Authorisation,
  • Cube Analyses & Graphical Reports for KPI's,
  • One-click Excel interface for OLAP data,
  • A consolidated MIS Data Warehouse.
  • For the Fee Earner:
    • Drill-Down for New Matters,
    • Individual Utilisation,
    • Chargeable Time,
    • Working Capital.
  • By Division, Speciality or Department:
    • New Matters,
    • Utilisation,
    • Chargeable Time,
    • Working Capital for Last Month,
    • Y.T.D. & Targets,
    • Analysis by Foreign Currencies.

Integrations

Visible Practice has been designed to work with the Axxia Law Practice Management System by LexisNexis and currently works with the Axxia Desktop Client (versions 3 through to 4) and also the Ariston and Artion Desktop Clients.

TCS are currently extending Visible Practice to work with Axxia dna and recently TCS has developed Visible Practice to handle data from multiple Practice Management Systems.

Visible Practice has also been adapted to be the Data Warehouse for Microsoft CRM 3.0 with Performance Management and Key Client Reporting being driven from the Visible Practice database and those reports being made available through CRM and Microsoft Reporting Services.

Coming Soon

Visible Practice developments under consideration and/or commenced in the coming year are:

  • An improved drill-down facility.
  • Fuller integration with Active Directory Services.
  • Interfaces to other practice management systems (Ciceron).
  • Integration of Microsoft Reporting Services.
  • Use of Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Accelerator.
  • A single Fee Earner "repository" where all measures can be gathered and analysed (e.g. measures and data from HR, target hours, complaints and other systems).

Modules

The following diagram provides an overview of the various Visible Practice modules and their relation to other Client and 3rd Party systems.  All items are part of the Visible Practice system with the exception of items 1, 6, 13 and 14 which are ready owned and operated by the client.

Visible Practice Schematic

1. Microsoft CRM Front-end

The CRM Reports that have been created are integrated into Microsoft CRM. The reports are available from "Client" entities and also from the "Generic" reports area.

2. Visible Practice Front-end

This is the main Key Performance Indicator (KPI) dashboard. This screen can be filtered to various levels of detail and drill down is also possible.

3. Admin Utility

An administration facility is provided for configuring Visible Practice. User and Group Security, Menu Permissions and Cube, View and KPI Access can also be set in the Admin Utility.

4. iCube.NET

Included with Visible Practice is our Microsoft Certified OLAP Cube Browser, iCube.NET. This browser application allows Dynamic, Flexible Reports to be created and saved as Views on a security controlled menu.

5. Excel Export

Visible Practice and iCube.NET provides one-click excel export to allow you to modify and manipulate data in greater detail.

6. Microsoft Reporting Services

The CRM Reports are generated by Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services which have been designed to use data from both the Visible Practice relational database and the Microsoft CRM database.

7. Visible Practice SQL Database

The Visible Practice SQL Server database is both the working repository and data warehouse for all the standard components of the Visible Practice system.

8. Visible Practice OLAP Database

The Visible Practice OLAP database is held within Microsoft Analysis Services and provides data to iCube.NET. The OLAP database comprises of several Cubes each with a set of dimensions and measures tailored to the specific Practice Management Database, e.g. Axxia.

9. Visible Practice Virtual Cubes

The Virtual Cubes within Visible Practice are tailored to the individual needs of the Law Practice and the structure of the Practice Management System.

10. CRM Interface

The CRM Interface comprises of many components that, together, synchronise Client and Fee Earner data between Axxia and Microsoft CRM.

11. Axxia Extract

The Axxia Extract module also comprises of different components which provide a scheduled extract of the latest Axxia Client and Matter data together with over-night maintenance routines to ensure data integrity is enforced.

12. Budget and Ledger Extract

This routine extracts both Budget and Nominal Ledger data from Axxia and stores the transactional information within the Visible Practice Data Warehouse.

13. Microsoft CRM Database

The Microsoft CRM database is a standard component provided with the CRM System.  This does not need to be modified in order for Visible Practice to be installed.

14. Axxia Database

The Axxia Database is a standard component of the LexisNexis Practice Management System and does not need to be modified in order for Visible Practice to be installed.

Standard Modules

The greatest difference between Visible Practice and a standard 3rd Party software package is each client owns and controls their specific Visible Practice release with bespoke modules to meet their requirements while benefiting from competitive package licence prices.

This is achieved by having elements of Visible Practice that are "standard modules" (e.g. the extract of transaction data from Axxia systems) combined with elements that are tailored to Client needs (e.g. the extract / maintenance of the Fee Earners Department).

Consequently, a Client can have the same level of flexibility provided by a bespoke Management Information System (MIS), but, for a Licence Fee which is far less than the cost of developing a bespoke system.

TCS provide a full cost effective support service and when "Standard Modules" are upgraded, our Clients receive these free of charge under the Visible Practice Technical Support Contract.

Benefits

Visible Practice is built using standard Microsoft products and some components of the end user interface utilise standard Excel tools, which are often already familiar to advanced users. The server elements are based on standard Microsoft SQL and Analysis Services tools, usually known to our Clients' IT staff, and books, training courses and expertise for using these tools are readily available, making this system cost effective to operate and develop further as required.

...for Fee Earners and Users

Users of the system find the following software features easy to use and it has provided them the following benefits.

Feature

Benefit
Modular, flexible, MIS Tools for all Staff Standardise Performance Management in the Firm
Provide ease of access via the desktop Make Daily reporting & updates accessible
Publish Daily, current reports, not retrospective Monthly Cut work in progress
MIS/Fee Earner Performance data on Desktop Improve commercial awareness & collective responsibility for the value of each individual's contribution
Drill Down to the details Proves facts to Partners, obviates perceptions

...for Partners and Stakeholders

Practice Partners and other Stakeholders in the Law Firm need to be assured that Visible Practice can provide a Return on Investment by helping to improve the monitoring and measurement of performance.

Feature

Benefit
Quickly implement a Performance Management System tailored to their organisation Quickly target areas of concern
Use KPI's to proactively manage the Firm Improve Profitability and Cash Flow
An interim solution independent of main System Available within months, for all Users learning to manage their time & the Firm
The basis for proactive Performance Analysis & Management A catalyst for a change in Performance Management
All software costs are known prior to commencement Can pay for itself within months of full implementation
Migration path for package systems based on SQL Server Maximise the ROI in the existing systems & databases
Tools for Performance Management against Targets Accountability is pushed down the organisation making the individual Fee Earner responsible for their quality of information & daily £ contribution

...for Managers and Administrators

Managers of Fee Earners responsible for reporting on performance and System Administrators have experienced the following benefits when using Visible Practice.

Feature

Benefit
Measuring Performance in terms of:
  • New Matters/Time Booked/Bills Raised
  • WIP/Cash Flow
  • Analysis over Time
  • Last/Current/Y.T.D./Trends
  • Between Departments/Partners/Offices
 Managers understand the Firm's business by:
  • Department/Groups/Offices/Teams/Specialities
  • Individual Partner, Fee Earner and Key Position Client Partners
  • Client SIC/Postcode/Profitability/Matter/Work type
Full data integrity at different levels:
  • Transaction,
  • Matter,
  • Case and
  • Client
 Builds confidence in Management Information for:
  • Clients
  • The Whole Firm
  • Partners
  • Teams / Departments / Groups
  • Fee Earners
  • Administrators
Tailored Solutions for each Client from standard modules Retain your competitive edge and have total flexibility for a 'Package' price
Bespoke software can be integrated within weeks Respond quickly to the Practice's needs by introducing and changing performance measures within short timescales.
Available now to install Standard modules installed, Month End Reconciliation completed and implemented throughout the Practice <1 month.
Clients own their Source Code Supplier independence
Visible Practice software is developed using Microsoft Mainstream technology and skills
MIS platform from which all Reporting can evolve Long term solution

iCube.NET

Visible Practice makes it easy for users to create their own views through iCube.NET. The total number of different views that can be created is huge (each "base view" at matter level could be analysed by over 40 different Dimensions, and "base views" can be constructed by selecting from 43 different Measures). Our Clients can access thousands of potential reports from a single practice-wide licence.

When Visible Practice is installed, a number of standard cube 'Views' are created as part of the installation procedure.  These 'Views' are accessible via the iCube.NET component of Visible Practice and can be added to or modified as required.

Supplied Cubes and Views

Although the supplied iCube.NET views may be for the whole firm or may be analysed by a dimension (e.g. Department), they can of course be changed to analyse by a different dimension (e.g. Client) and saved as a new view using iCube.NET.

  1. WIP Movement

    A Pivot table showing WIP Movement over the Year To Date (by Dept)

  2. Chargeable Hours Worked

    A graph showing Year on Year comparison of Chargeable Hours worked (whole firm)

  3. Investigate when time booked for a period

    A Pivot Table that compares the actual date of time records, with the date when the time was entered into Axxia. This resolves confusion that often arises when (for example) time is entered in the following month for the previous month (by Fee Earner). The example provided shows a Fee Earner who has booked holiday for April during March and the data has been "drilled down" to show the specific activities booked against.

  4. Matters Opened

    A graph showing the matter opened (by Dept)

  5. Actual Date v Entered Date

    A graph showing for a selected Fee Earner when they are entering the time for each month and thus highlights consistent early / late entry. In the sample it can be seen that a significant part of time dated for May was entered in June.

  6. Non Chargeable Time Trends

    A graph showing the trends for selected Non Chargeable time categories.

  7. Working Capital Balances

    A pivot table showing working capital balances. The example shows the top 25 clients with the highest working capital across the whole firm (but this could be for a Dept or a Fee Earner).

  8. Aged Working Capital

    A graph showing how the current WIP, Disbursements and Unpaid Bills balances are aged over time (whole firm).

  9. Time Analysis

    A graph showing the % break down of booked time comparing different departments and thus highlighting which Departments tend to book more chargeable time as a percentage of time booked.

  10. Profit Cost v Billed / Written Off Time

    This is a graph showing over time the value of profit costs booked compared with the value of billed time removed on the bill and time written off without a bill. Shortly this graph can be extended to also include written off bills and written off disbursements.

Who uses Visible Practice?

TCS have Axxia Arista, Artion and dna clients and to date we have installed, configured and reconciled each of our clients' specified release of Visible Practice within 1 month of receiving their order.

Q: What do our Clients say about Visible Practice?

Picture of Clients

"In a year it has repaid it's cost 100 times in improved cash flow"

"The cost of the system has already been recovered in two months with the savings achieved before it was released to the whole Practice"

"I am so glad that we went for Visible Practice rather than the other system"

Installation and Future Support Partnership with TCS

Picture of a Support Person wearing a headset.

Although Visible Practice can be installed by its flexible and automatic installation program within minutes, the real power comes from the OLAP Cube building services of TCS Computer Services.  With a rolling annual maintenance and support contract for Visible Practice you will be investing in the security of a BI reporting solution that can adapt and grow with your business.

Q: How can we deliver this to you?

We can offer a flexible approach to managing your Visible Practice installation and will tailor our support style to suit your requirements. 

If you have a serious drive to establish a BI reporting infrastructure in your organisation we will treat your installation as a 'live' project with appropriate change control procedures in place to ensure accuracy and consistency of the information delivered.

If you want to use Visible Practice to explore what BI reporting can offer your organisation and enable user buy-in, we can treat your initial installation as a 'proof of concept' which offers a higher degree of flexibility and lower overheads to creating and modifying the underlying OLAP cubes and data sources.

Whatever your requirements, TCS can work in partnership with you to achieve your BI goals with Visible Practice and iCube.NET.

Online Demonstrations

The following demonstrations of Visible Practice illustrate the facilities provided to two categories of user: Cube Viewer and Administrator. The title and run time of each demonstration is given below. Registration will be required before viewing the files.

Flash Demos

  • Visible Practice Overview

    (Coming Soon) View a demonstration of how Visible Practice displays KPI data.

  • Using the KPIs

    (Coming Soon) View a more detailed demonstration of browsing KPI data.

Get ADOBE Flash Player
required to view the demo files
(minimum screen size 1024 x 768)

Case Studies

  • Case Study 1

    Consolidated Management Information project.

  • Case Study 2

    Management Reporting Solution for top law firm.

Pricing

Our pricing structure is tailored to the approach you take with your Visible Practice installation and licence prices can therefore vary according to the level of support you will require to establish the underlying OLAP data sources.

Please use the following as a guide to calculating the cost of Visible Practice for your organisation and please call us if you have any queries.  It doesn't cost anything to ask us a question.

Standard Modules Licence Fee

c £40,000 per Practice (subject to modules purchased)
Client Access Licences (CALs)
 Unlimited
Annual Support Fees in advance
 20% p.a. of Licence Fee and Bespoke Development Fee
Installation 1
 Included
Setup 2
 Included
Software Assurance and Upgrades
 Included
Training
 Two days "Train the Trainers" sessions held on site
Integration
 Charged at additional TCS daily rates
Customisation
 Charged at additional TCS daily rates
OLAP Datasource, Cube and Dimension Development
 All modifications to datasources (e.g. SQL Server database development), cubes and dimensions up to one day of estimated time are inclusive of support price

 

Further work over and above one day is charged at TCS standard daily fee rates with free initial consultation and estimate
Relational Database Development and Integration

Notes

1  Installation excludes the cost of Windows Server and SQL Server Licences and Hardware.

2  Setup includes any activities to reconcile VP KPI and Cube data over two 'month-end' periods.

What to do next?

Register here for an online demonstration of Visible Practice or contact TCS for a personal demonstration of the software either in your office or via the Web.

Click here to register and view the Visible Practice Demo

Make Key Decisions

Some of the key decisions to be made regarding the installation and set up of Visible Practice are:

  • The Business Imperative - identifying the gaps or overheads in current Management Reporting
  • Who are the key stakeholders, budget holders and decision makers?
  • Determine the key structure of the KPIs, should those made available include:
    • Partner Informatics,
    • Executive Informatics,
    • Fee Earner Informatics, or
    • All Informatics?
  • Should KPIs by structured by:
    • Practice,
    • Division,
    • Partner,
    • Office,
    • Fee Earner, or
    • any combination of the above?
  • Plan and identify Targets to be included in KPIs
  • Determine source and criteria for Exception Reports
  • Which standard KPI's and Cubes are required
  • How deeply integrated into the Corporate Intranet will be Visible Practice's modules.

Determine Implementation Timescales

Having had many successful installations of Visible Practice, we have derived a methodology of implementation that will help you plan, resource and budget your own Visible Practice installation.

Month 1

  • Receive a on-site Demonstration.
  • Can a decision be made by all Stakeholders, Budget Holders and Decision Makers?
  • If commissioned, TCS can conduct a Technical Investigation to check environment and data availability.
  • Scope & Cost bespoke work.
  • Order Visible Practice standard modules.
  • Trail Installation.

Month 2

  • Partner/Executive Informatics to learn data, set targets & manage initially for Partners and Executives only.
  • Trial reconciliation @ end of Month 2.

Month 3

  • Full reconciliation @ end of Month 3.

Month 4

  • Begin KPI deployment with Pilot parallel running.

Month 5

  • Confidence in Data quality ready for Firm Roll Out.

Month 6

  • Write Implementation Plan.
  • Training and Go Live.
  • Fee Earner KPI Management throughout Firm.

Other Key Considerations

When implementing a Management Information System like Visible Practice, it may be an ideal opportunity to consider 'spring cleaning' data sources to ensure that data integrity is in place and maintained throughout the installation and reconciliation period.  Some other activities that may need to be undertaken are:

  • Consolidate databases, perhaps bringing off line data sources into the SQL environment or automating the synchronisation of duplicate lists of data, e.g. duplicated staff or client lists.
  • Reviewing Month End Procedures to ensure that they are well documented and that the calculation of any data sets are timed correctly with the calculation of Visible Practice data sets.
  • Revenue Targets need to be set and categorised (by Department, Period and Fee Earner) to provide a base line for the KPIs.
  • Budget Maintenance Requirements may also need to be considered to ensure that when new budgets are set, then the targets can reflect these changes.

TCS is able to offer a proactive and interactive two-way process to help resolve any issues arising from the above investigations and suing our experience in supporting and maintaining many varied data environments, we will be able to offer guidance on best practices for maintaining accessibility and integrity of your valuable business data.

Download

Unfortunately, due to the bespoke nature of Visible Practice, it is not possible to offer a download, however, we can offer 5 days free consultancy1 to load your data ready for a free onsite demonstration if you contact us to discuss your needs.

Notes

1  5 days free consultancy is a discretionary offer subject to our assessment of an initial meeting to discuss your requirements.

Print this page
About Us | Careers | Contact Us | CSR Policy | Find Us | News | Pricing | Privacy | Search | Site Map | Support | Terms

©2003 – 2008 TCS Computer Services Limited. All rights reserved.
Last modified: 2008-12-19