E-discovery in the Cloud, A New Approach to In-house E-discovery

Guidance Software Organizations are adopting cloud computing at an exponential rate. Projections for the cloud computing market show a jump from $37.8 billion in 2010 to $121.1 billion in 2015, according to marketsandmarkets.com . Even if your organization hasn't migrated to an Internet-based environment, you've likely heard about technology that facilitates the storage and retrieval of electronic information, collaboration among custodians and cost-effective scaling of web-based applications.

When it comes to e-discovery the question is no longer whether the cloud should be used. The question is what components of the e-discovery process are most usefully deployed in the cloud and which components work best behind the firewall to help an organization solve their e-discovery challenges. To date, in-house e-discovery often meant the purchase, installation, use and maintenance of e-discovery software for various e-discovery tasks.

Instead of making an either-or decision, organizations should leverage the strengths of their internal resources and the cloud to meet their overall e-discovery needs. A practical approach is to use internal capabilities on-premise for e-discovery functions that occur near the data and use the benefits of the cloud for geographically dispersed resources in multiple geographic locations both inside and outside the organization. With this approach, e-discovery functions such as legal hold, collection, preservation, and processing, that typically occur near the data are performed inside the firewall and early case assessment, review and production are performed in the cloud, maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of these delivery models. Separating e-discovery functions is not absolute, many organizations will decide in certain cases that processing and early case assessment is best done on-premise and for other cases in the cloud depending upon the specific needs of a given situation.

Of course, as with any technology decision, the business problem and/or litigation profile should be analyzed first; understanding the combination of cases, users, data volumes and future projections is important. Organizations should look for a solution that not only enables a repeatable, defensible process that is scalable from small to large matters, but one that also enables them to deploy the technology in a manner that best meets their needs (on-premise, in the cloud or hybrid of both).

There is no question that cloud computing offers organizations significant benefits for e- discovery, including faster deployment, increased storage flexibility, increased access to data and reduced infrastructure costs. However, for e-discovery you don’t have to make an either-or decision. The technology is available today to enable your organization to achieve its business objectives by deploying a hybrid approach with some e-discovery functions on-premise and some in the cloud.

Learn more about e-discovery in the cloud and the new approach to in-house e-discovery:

Watch Guidance Software's webinar Migrating to the Cloud, Read the Blueprint for Cloud-Based eDiscovery or Discover the benefits of controlling on-premise e-discovery processes.