A clear majority of enterprises highly agree that having a records management program provides essential business benefits. These benefits include reduced discovery costs and risks in the form of penalties, sanctions and damage to corporate reputation.

A survey by Oce Business Services provides some very revealing information, which shows most are prepared for eDiscovery.  All the more reason to ensure archiving software, procedures and training must be planned now before litigation or compliance agencies make impromptu requests.

Almost anyone engaged in litigation today is aware of the surprises that the escalating volume and complexity of electronic discovery can present. Every seasoned corporate counsel and law firm attorney has heard a tale about eDiscovery that has gone badly, with a disastrous impact. This can make attorneys feel as if they’ve been operating in the dark.  Although there is growing understanding of the need for enterprise discovery-readiness, today’s eDiscovery and records governance efforts are largely reactive and limited in scope.

As a result, there is a notable gap between what an organization critically needs to manage its business for discovery and what is actually being done. Underlying this lack of preparedness, we sense a curious “Russian roulette” type of risk taking. Considering over 90 percent of business documents today are created and stored electronically, and 60 to 70 percent of corporate data reside in emails or are attached to emails, a far more judicious management of enterprise records might be expected. The potential cost of inaction is measured in millions of dollars. Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) have added new challenges to litigation readiness. The changes bring eDiscovery to the forefront of the process and make proactive, unified management of records and discovery more vital than ever.

The survey reveals the emergence of a major trend—an awakening. Senior counsels in many organizations are becoming more involved in discovery and seek better solutions to deal with the growing volume of data, costs and risks. They state ambitious goals that require fresh methods. As a result, legal departments will be taking a more hands on approach to litigation management, particularly when it comes to ESI and records management programs. Best practices businesses seek to move beyond mere compliance, a tenuous position. They aim to adopt a repeatable discovery process, technologies and services that will work for regulatory requests and internal investigations as well as litigation.

Corporate counsels and law firms understand that business process outsourcing is one of the components of an effective approach. The majority are considering a mix of internal and external expertise and service providers for their organizations. Corporate and law firm attorneys strongly agreed on five factors that are important to effectively comply with a discovery request:

• Having a functioning eDiscovery response strategy in place

• Having a well-planned and complete records management program in place

• Knowing the IT structure of your company/client

• Consistency in implementing discovery practices

• Having a legal hold system in place