As companies are looking for innovate their way out of the recession, strategically cutting costs could be one viable option. Bringing services and processes in-house to gain more control might be another way to shake things up.

Particularly when it comes to e-discovery, enterprises have been looking for a way to navigate what many in the space view as “the perfect storm”: ever increasing data volumes, more litigation and government inquiries, e-discovery costs skyrocketing — and a call from the c-suite to cut costs due to the recession.

Findings from an Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) study, “Trends in Electronic Discovery: A Market Perspective,” show many do not believe the storm will go away any time soon. What is encouraging, though, is that organizations are doing more than just quickly brandishing an umbrella looking for a place to seek shelter.

According to the study, 78 percent of respondents say the number of lawsuits and regulatory inquiries they experienced increased in 2009 compared to 2008 — and more than two-thirds of them expect the number to continue to rise in 2010 by at least 20 percent. To Brian Babineau, senior consulting analyst at ESG, this tells him that e-discovery is not a passing fancy. “E-discovery started gaining momentum well before the financial crisis hit,” he says. “A lot of people say the [downturn] had a huge impact, but research shows it is more of a steady state event as opposed to one on the rise.”

To try and combat this slow yet steady rise in litigation, the study found more companies are beginning to dedicate leadership and staff specifically to e-discovery, comparable to the effort some organizations have undertaken in customer service by appointing chief experience officers.

via E-Discovery Requests Set to Rise in 2010 – destinationCRM.com.