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Everyone’s Writing The Obituary For “Per Gig” E-Discovery Pricing, But Has Anyone Derived A Fair Solution? #ediscovery

September 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There has been much discussion within the electronic discovery industry regarding the demise of the “per gigabyte” pricing model, and understandably so given the multi-million dollar price tags associated with large e-discovery projects.  Despite the commoditization and downward pricing pressure facing all vendors, average price points simply have not scaled to meet the demands associated with the explosive growth in discovery data volumes.  Not only has this created intense sticker shock for law firms and their clients, but it also creating a significant challenge to vendors as they balance competitive pricing with overall value provided to the client and the need to make enough profit to sustain the business.

So my question to the industry and our clients – what’s next?  We have grown from charging “per page”  in the early days of e-discovery to “per gigabyte” pricing today.  Are firms and corporations willing to work with vendors in the early stage of a matter to develop a value-based flat rate?  Are software developers willing to move from unit-based pricing to a profit-sharing or subscription model?

I will continue to follow the discussion and welcome comments regarding the same.

Brad Mixner, Founder & President, Global EDD Group | brad.mixner@globaledd.com

 

 

 

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Confusion Carries the Day in E-Discovery | Law.com

March 22, 2010 By

Lawyers and vendors look for ways to create common standards in e-discovery.

As the market for electronic discovery software and services continues to grow and mature, making sense of exactly what it is e-discovery vendors are selling is not always easy. “I’ve been hearing from providers for years, ‘look, you don’t understand e-discovery. We’ve got the ultimate solution — those other guys you’ve talked to don’t know what they’re doing,’” says George Socha, an attorney and e-discovery consultant in St. Paul, Minnesota. “Well, they all can’t be right. But there was and is no way to verify a lot of the claims vendors are making.”

Lawyers trying to find out the cost to process electronic records for litigation often run into a confusing array of data and terminology that can obscure the issue. Everyday terms such as cull, image, document, and duplicate take on new meanings in e-discovery projects and legal processes like early case assessment, and production varies depending on the discovery query and the data set. And that's not even considering the variation in local rules in different jurisdictions.

via Confusion Carries the Day in E-Discovery.

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Can Windows 7 Help You Prepare for Litigation? Advances in E-Discovery Readiness

February 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Upgrades and system changes allow IT departments to streamline efficiency and gain functionality for companies of all sizes, but many are considering an additional factor when making the change to Windows 7: litigation preparedness.

Companies across the country spend enormous amounts of time and money to locate and produce documents in the course of litigation. These electronic discovery projects can become more complex based on the particular technology and policies in place – for instance, if backup tapes are kept indefinitely, searching all of them for a specific document makes for a very expensive project.

Some companies are making IT changes independently of upgrades in order to reduce the impact of litigation on their business. However, the advent of Windows 7 is a golden opportunity for businesses to consider the e-discovery consequences from the very first implementation of a new technology. This is particularly true since some of the Windows 7 features can directly effect the creation and retrieval of electronically stored information (ESI) of interest during the litigation process.

via Can Windows 7 Help You Prepare for Litigation? Advances in E-Discovery Readiness.

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The Million-Dollar Words of E-Discovery

December 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Throughout history, humans have had miscommunications and misunderstandings. Some are comical like Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First?”; others can be tragic like “Romeo and Juliet.” Most of the time, a misunderstood word here or there doesn’t have far-reaching implications, but in the legal profession a misunderstood word or instruction can cost millions.

In today’s litigious environment, attorneys and IT professionals frequently find themselves in the midst of an e-discovery project that requires the team to quickly find information, which can reside on computers and smartphones, within applications such as e-mail, or on backup tapes stored in the closet of someone’s home. Put these challenges together and the stage is set for expensive, complex, and sometimes frustrating, e-discovery projects.

THE BILLION-DOLLAR MARKET

E-discovery is among the fastest growing segments in the IT industry. Spending for EDD software and services will reach an estimated $1 billion by year-end according to Gartner. A survey of medium-sized U.S. companies conducted by Kroll Ontrack found that, on average, companies will spend $1.29 million to manage electronic data in 2009 compared with $437,000 last year.

[continued] Law.com – The Million-Dollar Words of E-Discovery.

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