Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Babs Deacon. Published: 2013-11-05 19:00:00Format, images and links may no longer function correctly.
What is the real differentiator between eDiscovery service providers? Many customers struggle with this question when selecting vendors and, as analyst members of the community, we are very interested in helping to decode this puzzle.
This fall, we’ve been approaching it from two angles: the buyer’s perspective and the service provider’s. To gather insight into how corporations and law firms prefer to purchase eDiscovery services, we have created a survey: eDJ eDiscovery Services Selection. This survey asks how purchasers prefer to buy services; whether they like to perform eDiscovery tasks in house; and what are the breakdowns in eDiscovery responsibilities between outside counsel and clients. Results of the survey will be published in an eDJ Report early next year.
At eDJ, we don’t think experienced eDiscovery solutions providers can be quantified in a box with arbitrary ratings, yes or no answers, or by lumping service organizations together with software developers. And we don’t think that kind of simplistic analysis is helpful to decision makers. That is one of the reasons why we have created the eDJ Matrix Services Framework that is detailed in our new eDJ Research Report published today, How To Select An eDiscovery Service Provider Writing An RFI With The eDJ Matrix Services Framework. We will be using the eDJ Framework to conduct detailed interviews with eDiscovery service providers to understand the reach and depth of their offerings and to try to highlight the characteristics that might assist a consumer in making an informed decision.
By doing these interviews, we are also informing eDJ’s own process related to how the eDJ Matrix catalogues service providers. The Matrix was recently relaunched with countless improvements to make it easier for members of the community to use as a resource and also for providers to use to fully describe their organizations and offerings. The Framework interviews will help the eDJ Matrix to constantly evolve to more completely describe market participants.
To date, we have conducted over a dozen of these interviews. The questions are intended to profile an organization’s service offerings by engendering a conversation about what services are offered, what tools are used, how services are priced and what really sets that particular provider apart from their peers. Information gathered during briefings will be transferred to the eDJ Matrix as Analyst Notes, where they are available to eDJ’s research subscribers.
We are making the Framework, itself, available in a research report as an aid to consumers starting the selection process. The framework questions can be used as a starting point for drafting the Request for Information (RFI) and the research report contains helpful information on how to conduct an RFI effort.
All these briefings with service providers, not to mention my own experiences working for two, have helped me understand not just their various services and pricing models but the challenges they face on a daily basis. I’ll be participating in a webinar, “Overcoming eDiscovery Bottlenecks with eDJ, TransPerfect and Index Engines” Wednesday, November 13, 2013 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST which looks at some of the hurdles service providers and in house eDiscovery groups struggle with trying to maintain repeatable, defensible processes. To tune in please register.
Babs’ current research focuses on eDiscovery Service Providers and Pricing Models, the proposed amendments to the FRCP and the future of in Situ Discovery.
Connect with Babs:
- Email: babs@edjgroupinc.com
- Twitter: @BabFab