Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Greg Buckles. Published: 2014-03-26 20:00:00Format, images and links may no longer function correctly.
We have made no secret of fact that the eDJ Group has stepped out of the analyst arena and refocused our much leaner team on strategic corporate consulting. We bid a fond farewell to Barry Murphy in his new role with X1. We have worked hard to keep our clients, readers and professional network up to date with the changes, but the ‘Telephone Game’ can mangle even the clearest message when it is passed second hand. Twice this week I received job inquiries because, “We heard that eDJ was shutting down.” I appreciate the inquiries, but eDJ Group is here to stay, albeit playing a different role in the market place. I wanted to take a moment to spell out the new eDJ Group in simple terms.
What we do:
- Independent strategic consulting for large corporations and law firms supporting eDiscovery and Information Governance initiatives
- Surveys and research on demand on focus topics driven by client inquiries
- Host the evolving eDJGroupInc.com site as a research and perspective portal that will continue to generate blogs, eDJ Matrix, eDJ Notes, Surveys and Research Reports
What we don’t do:
- Directly manage cases, discovery or investigations
- Make referral money on client provider selections
- Provide managed services such as training, collections, processing or similar open ended relationships
- Cover or comment on consulting service providers or that market segment
How were we able to ‘turn on a dime’ when we saw the changing market direction? Mikki Tomlinson has managed our small consulting practice since Barry and I merged our personal practices back in 2011. I always felt that active consulting engagements were critical to differentiate eDJ from traditional analyst firms who had no ‘in the trenches’ perspective. Our engagements mostly came from ad hoc inquiries relating to our active research topics or speaking engagements. Our model was to deliver high value insight and education on short term projects and move on to maximize the research value. This brave new eDJ allows us to build more lasting relationships that create truly cutting edge mature business processes around the intersection of legal and information management. We look forward to getting back to solving problems and innovating custom solutions for good clients.
But what about the site? I created the original eDiscovery Matrix as a public research resource to track the proliferation of providers and technologies back in 2008. Credible consultants MUST commit to a significant amount of research time to keep up with new options, rules, caselaw and other changes. That justifies the time and expense to keep the eDJ research engine generating briefings, profile updates, notes and reports. What will it look like in a year? Only time will tell, but we want to hear your ideas to prioritize our next development cycle. So take eDJ Site Roadmap Poll and tell us what you want next. We are opening the blog pulpit to outside perspective, as seen in recent blogs by Mike and Conrad of Seventh Samurai.
I want to conclude this brief introspection with a heartfelt thanks to our clients and partners who stepped up with retainers and projects when briefed on the changes. That kind of support has allowed us to stay independent and continue to share our perspective with all of you.
For more information or to schedule a briefing, please contact me.
Greg Buckles can be reached at Greg@eDJGroupInc.com for offline comment, questions or consulting. His active research topics include mobile device discovery, the discovery impact of the cloud, Microsoft’s 2013 eDiscovery Center and multi-matter discovery. Recent consulting engagements include managing preservation during enterprise migrations, legacy tape eliminations, retention enablement and many more.
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