“We knew Legal Files was going to be the right solution, but we ended up with the right solution for exactly for what we were trying to do.”
When the University of Connecticut Office of Clinical Placement Coordination (OCPC) determined it was going to implement Legal Files Software to meet the office’s contract management solution, University Contract Specialist Kimberly O’Connor knew it was a step in the right direction. After all, she had already used the software while working in the University’s Procurement Department; what she didn’t realize was just how right that decision was.
O’Connor had joined a new department, the OCPC, which would coordinate contracts with students and faculty in the University’s health side; its functions having been consolidated from individual UConn schools so contracts could be overseen more efficiently.
“Basically, it was going to be a small department tasked with handling a lot of contracts,” O’Connor said. The office is responsible for managing the contracts that the university has with specific facilities, organizations and health groups which are affiliated with UConn. At first, she said, they tried Excel to help manage the workload. “The Office was drowning with so much to do, “we realized we needed more, and Legal Files was going to be our life preserver,” she recalled.
“Since several different UConn departments use Legal Files, a lot of us understand its capabilities and are familiar with the tools Legal Files offers. We were sure that Legal Files was going to offer us more functionality and more power than Excel or even Access could bring,” O’Connor said.
“When I was in Procurement, we worked with contracts, but OCPC handles contracts differently,” she continued. “I was thinking that we could only slightly modify Legal Files, but going through the configuration process, it was like building a house. We had to go by the blueprints, but when we got to the big ‘reveal’ moment, the light bulb just went off. It was a joy to realize that the system could be uniquely built for our specific needs. It was a revelation. We knew Legal Files was going to be good, but it’s great.”
“Every iteration of Legal Files is different,” explained Legal Files’ Matt Ryan who helped lead the effort at OCPC. “There is no one size fits all. Implementation is a collaborative effort, and our value during this process is we’ve done this before. Someone says, ‘this is where our pain points are, this is where it hurts,’ and we say, ‘here’s the best way to solve that.’ We know how those needs can be met because we have that depth of understanding, and they know what they need. We’re a partner with them.”
“Our Legal Files system is very different than Procurement’s Legal Files system,” O’Connor said. “We knew Legal Files was going to be the right solution, but we ended up with the right solution for exactly for what we were trying to do. There’s a real pride of ownership here. We’ve spent our money very wisely.”