Posted by Lecorpio Marketing on Sun, Jun 13, 2010
A merger or acquisition isn't a success until integration is achieved. People, processes and systems need to be integrated into a cohesive entity. Each of these aspects has its own areas of complexity and requires different managerial skills.
From an IP Management Software standpoint, the diversity of the IP docketing systems and processes that existed in different entities now requires alignment. And the problem is compounded by the need for fast implementation.
Such an IP management software integration effort must essentially aim at integrating or consolidating intellectual asset management processes, eliminating duplicate IP docketing software systems, standardizing and conversing business-critical IP asset data and developing an overall implementation roadmap.
Post merger and acquisition, the Top 5 success factors for a successful IP management system migration include:
Get your vision down on paper
IP management integration is a multifaceted, multivariate problem requiring a solution that can analyze, evaluate, compare, and integrate the IP asset data from each of the merging organizations' core patent and trademark docketing management systems.
Establish key metrics to monitor your progress.
At a minimum, the plan must include:
- User Impact Analysis (including inventors, patent committee members, paralegals, internal and external patent counsels.
- Business process impact and consolidation of best practices.
- Risk assessment (including delays in recordation etc.)
- Data uniformity and data migration.
- Custom developments on the software for IP Management.
- Legacy docketing systems retirement.
- Testing and quality assurance
- Conversion and downtime impact
- Long-term support
Leverage Competencies
Too many patent departments have a very narrow focus during the post merger process, they focus too much on bibliographic and docketing data. There is no denying that docketing data is important, however don't let that drive the integration process. Post merger, both departments need to demonstrate features and capabilities provided by their systems and look for opportunities. The "not invented here" thinking should be banned. Just because an idea is originated from outside the acquiring organization does not make it redundant. The focus should be on leveraging the competencies of both companies.
Get Your Timing Right
After the merger, the intellectual property rights of the acquired company need to be transferred into the name of the new owner in each jurisdiction where such rights exist. Timely recordal of a change of ownership is critical to protect the ongoing validity and enforcement of intellectual property rights. This can drive the need
for fast migration. If the acquired entity have significant IP assets, break the data in parts and import it in phases. Here is the sequence that can help you get there:
Start with bibliographic data. Follow this with docketing, then IP licenses, IP assertions and other transactions, and finally invention disclosures.
It is a good idea to validate your plan with the IT department. For example, before you plan on transferring the data for invention disclosures, IT must allow employees of acquired entity an ability to log into the new system to view their past invention disclosures and submit new ideas.
Prepare for Data Issues
It is not uncommon to find companies use a broad mix of hardware, operating systems and software with patchwork maintenance. Over time, a company's IP management systems for invention disclosures, patent and trademark docketing, licensing and other related systems undergo incremental changes. This patchwork approach introduces data migration issues. Many times, inventor names are not matched against HR data. The products, technology areas and client groups need to be revised for the imported data. This requires a better understanding of data schema and tools for bulk update. It is better to do these changes prior to migrating the data into the final system.
Ongoing Training
During transition, it is important to have training materials ready and upto date. Clear and constant communication of vision, goals, and objectives can keep inventors, paralegals, patent committee members, In-house counsels and outside law firms on the same page and and help everyone to stay focused. It is important that all stakeholders are fully engaged and that training programs developed during integration planning are institutionalized.
Lecorpio IP management services have helped several IP departments consolidate multiple IP management systems into one by defining a common architecture for deploying
and enhancing the existing data from both organizations. Lecorpio provides services to cleanse, consolidate and standardize the data against public data sources for error-free operation of IP management system and ensure continuity and data integrity.
Learn more about Lecorpio's IP Asset Management solution or IP Management Software-related products and more.
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Posted by Jerry Lamigo on Mon, Mar 15, 2010
Things are not always what they appear. What may initially seem like an excellent price on Intellectual Asset Management Software, may end up costing you more in the long run.
A myriad of other factors come into play such as cost of operations, cost of maintenance, useful life span, and training costs. Over the effective life of an intellectual asset management application, the cost of maintenance and support dwarfs the cost of initial deployment.
Let's take the example of purchasing a car. By no means is this the end to all car-related expenses. You won't get more than three hundred miles before the gas tank needs filling, oil changes, new tires, various filters, belts, hoses, taxes, insurance... all of this contributes to the total cost of owning the vehicle. The same metrics apply to Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for Intellectual Property (IP) asset management software.
There are five major metrics of TCO analysis for the IP asset management software: Acquisition, Implementation, Operations, Maintenance & Replacement.
1. Acquisition
All too often, acquisition costs drive decisions concerning intellectual asset management deployment. This forces attention to up-front, direct, and budgeted costs. Acquisition includes the capital expense of IAM software licenses in the case of on-premise software and the operating expense of the subscription fees in the case of hosted solution. Be sure to know the differences between Hosted or On-Premise IP Asset Management.
For on-premise installations, the acquisition also includes the costs associated with the necessary hardware and infrastructure (operating system, database licenses) to host the application.
On an average, acquisition contributes to 10-15% of the overall cost of ownership of the IAM software.
2. Implementation
The implementation includes services to make the system work for users.
The costs associated with the implementation of the intellectual asset management application include development (customization/configuration), integration, testing, data migration, and training.
It is critical that the system does not require software expertise for any customization. That will make you dependent on the vendor and will cost you dearly in the long term. Ensure that the IP management software provides supportable, off-the-shelf capabilities for data migration from legacy docketing systems as well as integration tools to integrate seamlessly with existing systems. These capabilities should be easy enough for use by the IP team without the need for internal IT support or outside consultants. Read more on IP Management Data Migration.
On an average, the implementation contributes to 30-40% of the overall cost of ownership of the IAM software.
3. Operations
The operational costs occur in time and productivity loss. These costs are more difficult to quantify, tend to be process and people oriented, and often add significantly to the TCO. They can include unproductive end-user time, troubleshooting, and system downtime.
For measuring operational costs associated with intellectual asset management software, pay attention to how much staff is required to operate the application smoothly. Choose an application that can be managed without an IT/vendor team as opposed to the one that requires IT/vendor help for basic operational changes. These "people" costs contribute heavily to overall TCO.
On an average, the operations contribute to 30-40% of the overall cost of ownership of the IAM software.
4. Maintenance
The maintenance costs include country law updates, patches, upgrades and administration of the hardware, software, and databases.
Many hard coded IP asset management applications require significant downtime and break custom processes during upgrades. While determining maintenance costs, include the support labor hours and the management overhead to oversee any issues.
On an average, the maintenance and support costs contribute about 15-20% of the overall cost of ownership of the IAM software.
5. Replacement
It is important that you don't lock yourself into a specific IP asset management software vendor. During or after the expected life span, you should be able to transition to better software with ease. The software should provide you the tools to export the data easily into new applications. Often, this is difficult to determine upfront. You need to consider the extra support needed as you get up to speed with the new application.
On an average, replacement contributes to 10-15% of the overall cost of ownership of the IAM software.
The long term goals of IP asset management deserve the most sustained attention; In the short term, tactical cost reductions should not impede the achievement of long term goals and priorities.
Lecorpio provides a powerful intellectual asset management solution with comprehensive functionality, can be deployed 2 times faster, at a lower upfront cost and overall 50% of the total cost of operations than competitors. This is possible because unlike hard coded competitive applications, Lecorpio utilizes a powerful, model-based application platform. This results in faster turnarounds, lower maintenance costs, and better user adoption.
Get more information on best practices for IP asset management project implementation. Please post your thoughts to the comments.
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Posted by Jerry Lamigo on Mon, Mar 08, 2010
The market for Intellectual Asset Management - IAM Software is fragmented with many smaller organizations providing a wealth of features and functionality. This makes it difficult for corporate IP departments to choose the best software for their needs.
A number of our customers started their selection process looking at over 30 software vendors. Each vendor claimed to have the most comprehensive solution. The selection process was long (sometimes over 2-3 years), frustrating and confusing.
Here are the top five tips that will help you reduce the number of vendors for your evaluation and to separate the wheat from the chaff:
1. Usability
Without this, nothing else matters. If your users will not adopt and use your selection, it's a waste of time and effort. You should look beyond the glitz and try to understand how your users will accept the new IAM system. In short, the user interface should be simple and intuitive for the first time user.
2. Accessibility
If the software is not accessible via standard web browsers such as IE, Firefox, Safari or Chrome, discard it immediately. To make your IAM system deployment successful, you need strong adoption from your inventor community. In many organizations, inventors use different types of computers, operating systems, and browsers.
Your Intellectual Asset Management application should support such variations seamlessly.
3. Configuration
Ask you vendor to demonstrate how to add a new field of your choice. Most vendors who claim to have the most configurable application will hesitate to do this. If your selected software does not have tools to do these basic tasks, you got yourself locked into the vendor's roadmap.
4. Searching and Reporting
How good is IAM software if it can't provide good searching and reporting tools? It is frustrating to many users that they can't easily get to the data that they entered a few months ago. Ask vendors to demo their searching capabilities and make sure the searching and reporting tools are part of the basic system and do not require a PHD degree in rocket science.
5. Integration
If you have been previously involved in the deployment of IAM software, you already know it. The world of "docketing in a black box" is over for corporate legal departments. It is critical that your software can be easily integrated with other systems inside your organizations such as HR, accounts payable, active directory, etc.
Lecorpio IP Asset Management solution has been designed for strong user adoption, is accessible on all browsers, and provides robust configuration capabilities. Please don't hesitate to contact us for a free consulting session to help you better plan for a successful Intellectual Asset Management software project.
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