Onit Implementation, Administration and Expansion for a Global Legal Department
Swiftwater moved an American-Asian global technology company from an aging eBilling system to Onit, migrating millions of records and deploying across four continents, then administered the platform and expanded it into a broader legal operations platform. Three Onit Level 4 certified practitioners supported Swiftwater’s ELM work.
By Imran Jaswal · Published August 31, 2026
Where this work sat in the Legal Operations Infrastructure Model.
At a glance
- Service
- Onit eBilling and ELM implementation, data migration, administration, and expansion
- Scope
- Millions of records migrated; deployment across four continents; payment feeds to accounts payable systems worldwide
- Outcome
- Aging eBilling system replaced; Onit kept aligned with the organization and grown into the department’s operating platform
What the problem looked like
The department ran on an aging eBilling system that no longer matched how it worked. Reporting and data structures were fragmented.
Every reorganization changed matter assignments, invoice approval workflows, reporting hierarchies, access permissions, and financial data, and nobody had spare capacity to keep the platform in step.
What Swiftwater did
A complex implementation
Swiftwater moved the client from its existing eBilling system to a new Onit eBilling system. The implementation covered matter intake, matter setup, billing setup, and payment reporting, and the deployment ran across four continents.
Data migration
The move required millions of records to be migrated to the new system.
Accounts payable feeds and middleware
Onit connected to the client’s systems through proprietary middleware. Swiftwater monitored the payment feeds to the different accounts payable systems across the world.
Administration
After go-live Swiftwater ran user and access management, matter and invoice workflow support, data integrity management, issue resolution and troubleshooting, and platform governance.
Configuration and enhancement
Workflow configuration and enhancement, reporting and dashboard development, release and enhancement coordination with the vendor, and testing and implementation support.
Translating organizational change into system change
Changes to department structure, approval authority, cost allocation, team composition, and regional process were mapped to matter assignments, approval workflows, reporting hierarchies, and permissions, so the platform stayed in step with the way the department operated.
Expansion
As the department’s needs grew, Swiftwater extended Onit beyond matter and invoice approval into a broader legal operations platform, keeping each addition aligned with the operating model.
What changed
- The aging eBilling system was replaced by Onit across four continents.
- Millions of records moved to the new system.
- Payment feeds to accounts payable systems worldwide were monitored.
- Organizational change was reflected in Onit as routine work, and reporting matched the current organization.
- Onit ran as part of the operating model.
Best for
- Departments moving off an aging eBilling system
- Departments running Onit or another ELM without a dedicated administrator
- Departments with frequent reorganizations
Frequently asked questions
What does an eBilling migration to Onit involve?
Moving matters, invoices, vendors, and history out of the old system, rebuilding matter intake, matter setup, billing setup, and payment reporting in Onit, and connecting the payment feeds to each accounts payable system. For this client that meant millions of records and a deployment across four continents.
Who should administer an enterprise legal management platform?
Someone who understands both the legal department’s operating model and the platform’s configuration. In this engagement Swiftwater administered Onit and the client owned the decisions.
What happens in Onit when a cost center or approver changes?
The change is assessed for its downstream effect on matters, approvals, reporting, and permissions, and the configuration is updated as part of the recurring administration function.
Ready to run legal operations as infrastructure?
A 30-minute discovery call on how your legal operations run today and what a managed operating model around your team would look like.
Book a Discovery CallNo commitment. No pitch deck. Just a direct conversation with an expert.