Legislation governing the management and availability of electronically stored information is already strict and complex. With new data security laws such as GDPR being adopted in Europe and new forms of digital communications dominating the eDiscovery landscape, how is eDiscovery going to change in the following year? What kinds of data archiving solutions will be able to respond to today’s ever-increasing challenges of eDiscovery? Can we learn more from our archived data?

Find answers to these questions in our new infographic.

WHAT, AGAIN, IS EDISCOVERY?

Ediscovery is a process in which electronically stored information (ESI) is captured, collected and preserved for the intent of being used as evidence in a lawsuit, audit or investigation.

ESI is different from traditional, hard-copy documentation in that it contains vital metadata (information about the message) which also needs to be preserved and usually plays an important role as evidence in litigation.

On-premise and cloud data archiving technology ensures that the relevant online content is collected and preserved in a tamper-proof format which prevents alteration or destruction of data. The notion of ESI has recently been amended to include not only email, but also other digital communication channels such as text messages, IM and social media content.

THE CURRENT STATE OF EDISCOVERY

$1.8 million The average cost to companies during an eDiscovery case.

$30 million The amount of money some Fortune 1000 companies pay for eDiscovery annually.

$18,000 The average cost of reviewing 1GB of data.

70% of eDiscovery costs is paid to lawyers who review data.

38% of organizations have not employed new eDiscovery technologies.

57% of organizations spend more than $1 million on eDiscovery per year.

96% of litigators believe that time and date are the most vital metadata in a case.

25% of companies anticipate that litigation against them will increase over the next year.

WHAT WILL 2018 BRING?

1. MORE REGULATIONS & STRICT DATA SECURITY MEASURES

In the US, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are often amended, whereas the new, highly-anticipated data security law GDPR will take effect in the EU in May 2018. Non-compliance will result in hefty fines ‒ €20 million or 4% of a company’s annual turnover.

2. EXPANDING MARKET

While North America will remain the largest market, regions such as Europe, Asia-Pacific and Japan will be seeing the highest growth. The global market for eDiscovery software and services is projected to rise to more than $11 billion by 2020.

3. ESI IS MORE THAN EMAIL

New forms of electronically stored information (IoT, social media and IM) are forecast to dominate the eDiscovery landscape in years to come. These alternatives to email will cause eDiscovery to encompass data stored on various devices.

4. FOCUS ON ANALYTICS & PROACTIVE GOVERNANCE

Organizations are beginning to realize that information is their most valuable asset. It is expected that the majority of companies will be looking for a more holistic way to manage their information with a strong focus on visualizations, data analytics and improved possibilities for data interpretation, insight and conclusions.

5. INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS

Given the advent of social media and mobile, email archiving providers will have to rethink their current architecture in order to enable safe storage and instant retrieval of these new forms of digital communication. Where will we be storing it? Gartner predicts that 30% of data relevant for eDiscovery will be stored in the cloud (compared to 5% in 2015).

To learn how Jatheon’s email and social media archiving solutions can increase your eDiscovery preparedness, contact us or schedule a quick personal demo.