Fact-Based, not Faith-Based, Confidence Needed When Implementing eDiscovery Processes

Regardless of how one approaches an eDiscovery project, having processes and tools in place to help guide you through the EDRM (electronic discovery reference model) are critical elements that influence how effective an eDiscovery project will be. Data retention policies, access to outside resources, and technology are all critical components to have in place in order to successfully complete an eDiscovery.

Yet an equally important question that organizations need to answer is how reliable is the information they discovered in their eDiscovery? Or, better put, how do they move from a faith-based approach of eDiscovery where they assume they have all of the information that they need to a fact-based approach where they have confidence that all of is the information found during the eDiscovery is accurate and defensible in court?

An eDiscovery strategy that does not provide accurate results and/or is not defensible in court could bring serious sanctions such as a negative inference ruling against an organization. Therefore when framing an accurate and defensible eDiscovery strategy, organizations should test their eDiscovery strategy as well as ensure it is applicable in the following areas:

• How is the integrity of ESI (electronically stored information) maintained?
• Is critical metadata maintained so as to provide a complete accounting of requested data?
• Is chain of custody maintained throughout the process?
• How is searching of ESI performed?

Using technology such as Kazeon's Information Server provides the ability to meet the accurate and defensible mandate. An independent study entitled "Search Accuracy and Relevance: Critical for Defensible eDiscovery" released by Reason-eD, LLC, shared its results after putting the Kazeon Information through a battery of tests. The study found:

• Integrity, metadata and chain of custody were retained while Kazeon Information Server scanned and collected ESI.
• Kazeon Information Server found unique search terms in over 40 file types during searches of large, complex ESI collections.

Reason-eD concluded that using the Kazeon Information Server organizations could put in place a mechanism to deliver an auditable, understandable, documented, and automated process for answering an eDiscovery request. But more importantly, organizations could use its results from the Kazeon Information Server as a means to defend in court the actions they had taken in responding to an eDiscovery request.

However implementing an eDiscovery solution is not enough - organizations need to test the solution as well. In a recent webinar, George Socha cautioned against just believing that an eDiscovery solution will work but that they actually need to test the solution as well. Companies that believe these processes will work without testing it are adopting a high risk strategy that is sure to show vulnerability if and when closely scrutinized.

Again, this is where solutions like the Kazeon Information Sever can effectively kill two birds with one stone. Reason-eD's testing showed that the Kazeon Information Server provides an eDiscovery solution that gives organizations a sense of confidence based on fact not faith that they are presenting accurate and defensible information before it comes under scrutiny in court.

Being able to answer the simple "How do you know and know that you know?" question is pivotal in building an accurate and defensible eDiscovery strategy. As Reason-eD's study showed, using an eDiscovery solution such as Kazeon's Information Server ensures that the integrity, metadata, and chain of custody are preserved during the eDiscovery process while providing an auditable process that can help organizations justify their position in court. In so doing, organizations can provide information requested during an eDiscovery process and know that their results are based on fact, not faith.