In December 2006, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) indicated that e-discovery is no longer an optional process for organizations undergoing a lawsuit, audit or government investigation. All private organizations and government agencies must be able to find, capture, and produce electronically stored information (ESI) and content that may be relevant to a judicial or regulatory request.

In an effort to help customers meet their needs around e-discovery, Microsoft has released the Connected E-Discovery Framework. The Connected E-Discovery Framework consists of a technology architecture, best practices recommendations around proactive information management, and a collection of partner-owned vertical litigation support solutions to help customers overcome technology and process challenges they encounter when performing e-discovery.

The Connected E-Discovery Framework is based on the principles found in the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (ERDM). EDRM includes a process model and a set of published guidelines from industry experts that outline how e-discovery is typically conducted. Some of the primary benefits of the Connected E-Discovery Framework include:

Improve e-discovery execution through enterprise wide proactive information management. By maximizing the retention and disposition capabilities across SharePoint Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007, and Office Communication Server 2007 R2, organizations can establish a strong information management plan that maximizes their search capabilities via FAST, which in turn minimizes over-collection during discovery and decreases costs related to collection, preservation, process, review and analysis of ESI. Microsoft client tools such as Office Professional 2007 give users the ability to proactively categorize and metadata tag ESI at creation or edit time, relieving records managers from this burden after records are filed. This creation of content coupled with proactive management of the content reduces the costs associated with ESI collection efforts and increases an organization’s ability to discover and collect what is truly relevant ESI.

Support the entire e-discovery reference model using extensibility and integration features of the Microsoft platform. Microsoft is teaming with industry leading litigation support organizations to provide comprehensive coverage of the detailed needs organizations have when trying to overcome their e-discovery challenges. Whether using SharePoint as a web-based user interface and business process flow engine, using Exchange to search and identify mailboxes and server-based PSTs that have relevant ESI, or Windows Server 2008 R2 file shares where ESI is commonly stored, partner based products are available that cater directly to the individual steps found in the EDRM.

The Connected E-Discovery Framework is the foundation upon which organizations can begin to better create, collect and manage electronically stored information. The Connected E-Discovery Framework can be your foundation for better information management, better litigation preparation, and overall better organizational resource utilization.

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