E-discovery a high business priority in 2013

As enterprises are continually faced with a growing influx of electronic information, proper data management practices are more important than ever.

A recent survey conducted by Symantec determined that in the past year, the percentage of organizations with no information retention plan in place dropped from 14 percent to 7 percent. However, while almost two-thirds of respondents had a formal strategy for retention in place, only 34 percent reported that those plans were thoroughly implemented and functioning. Most businesses cited that the main obstacle to carrying out a plan for information governance was the anticipated costs. Trevor Daughney, director of the Information Intelligence Group at Symantec, asserted that risks from not implementing a formal strategy regarding electronic data management are too significant to ignore.

“With the number of ESI requests and failures to obtain requested information increasing, organizations face risks that are much more costly in the long run than implementing their plans,” he stated.

Further Symantec research revealed that while organizations received an average of 17 requests for electronic files, failure to retrieve that information increased from 20 percent in 2011 to 31 percent last year. These inadequacies are costly: 43 percent of respondents cited the inability to make a timely decision as a major disadvantage, while others reported damage to the company’s reputation, legal troubles and fines.

Control requires technological support
In order to avoid these issues, companies need to prioritize investments in technologies for electronic data management to improve organization of files and security compliance. CMS Wire experts predicted that going forward, e-discovery efforts and Information Governance (IG) will converge. Solutions to electronic data governance will be especially important because, as the source pointed out, firms are faced not only with mass amounts of information but also wide varieties.

According to CMS Wire, businesses are responsible for handling data from a multitude of devices, some of which is unstructured, and this can prove problematic when faced with a court e-discovery request for specific files. IG technology that is capable of discerning business-critical files from those that aren’t necessary can assist firms to better organize information so that data is more accessible. Not only are businesses able to more efficiently aggregate and archive data with these systems, but intelligent capture features allow businesses to index files for improved search capabilities, which minimizes the chance of noncompliance for a legal request.

Initiatives for more effective IG will continue to aid businesses in e-discovery improvements. Technologies that support data management can benefit firms in regard to quicker file access, thus achieving better business process automation and compliance.

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