8. WEIGHING THE DECISION TO BUILD OR TO WORK WITH A VENDOR.
While the federal e-filing system is a government owned and run operation, state jurisdictions face a different environment
— lacking the resources and sometimes the skills to develop and manage a multimillion dollar complex enterprise application. In reviewing state e-filing projects, it appears that based on the number of registered users and number of documents filed and served, those states that contract for an Application Service Provider (ASP) model are the most successful.
Court IT organizations are increasingly partnering to meet their technology project needs instead of building their own applications. Driven by the need to deliver new technologies faster, the risk of project failure, and the increasing rate of change in technology, court administrators and clerks of court face significant risks when building their own systems.
To help assess the scope of the projects, there are generally nine steps to which you should assign costs when weighing the decision to build in-house, acquire a system, or work with an ASP. These steps include: initiation, planning, research, evaluation, development/implementation, operation, support, maintenance and upgrades. It is suggested that you weigh all options against these factors before proceeding.
Thanks to: Travis Olson is the national director for LexisNexis® File & Serve Implementation. He has advised courts and attorneys across the country on how to implement e-filing and has successfully implemented projects in several states. Olson is also an attorney.
Comments