Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Greg Buckles. Published: 2014-01-18 19:00:00Format, images and links may no longer function correctly.
If you are a long term reader of the eDiscovery Journal, you know that we continually change our business model, sites and forms of content to bring you our unique perspective, keep our independence and make a living. As you may have gathered from our recent blogs, the consumer market does not seem to be ready to support paid subscriptions to our premium eDJ Notes, reports, survey results and more. We listened as consumers and providers alike bemoaned the lack of true strategic expertise to navigate the dynamic eDiscovery challenges and technical capabilities our clients face every day. With eDJ Group focusing on our consulting business, what does that mean for our research engine and readers? No one can generate consistent, high quality research content for free. You should always follow the money to understand any potential bias or hidden marketing messages in ‘free ’ white papers or articles. Even if you do not have the budget for a paid membership, you do have something to offer to the eDJ family: your perspective and survey participation.
No Litsupport department is an island
You see, I created the original eDiscovery Matrix because this market has too many offerings and participants for a busy consultant to keep up with on his own. I harnessed your participation to keep the proto-type research engine populated and up to date. It worked then and I still believe that eDiscovery has some of the smartest, most motivated professionals out there. All of us need help, but litigation’s adversarial nature generally prevents the kinds of unstructured community discussions that you find on boards and other web collaboration sites. Client privacy is one of our first and foremost ethical obligations. The need for quality information on technology, providers and practices inspired us to create the first truly ‘independent’ eDiscovery analyst firm. That need is still there, even if the market will not support our original ‘write it and they will come’ strategy.
So where does that leave the site?
We do not know what www.eDJGroupInc.com will look like down the road. The site has too much great data, research and perspective to just let it slowly become out of date. So we have created a new Participating Membership for validated corporate, firm or government members. Just take one short survey per month and you get immediate access to our private eDJ Notes, research reports and survey results. That enables you to share and receive quality information on hot topics. Have a tough question? Send it to me and if we don’t have a solid answer we can include it in a survey.
Informed insight takes effort
It takes time to do provider briefings, consumer interviews and other research that is vital to making quality assessments and recommendations to our consulting clients. We will continue to do provider briefings, moderate the eDJ Matrix profiles and create regular eDJ Notes, though not at the same frantic rate as we have previously. This new survey system will benefit everyone. We can get real answers to pressing questions and you get free access to our premium content.
So how do I become a Participating Member?
Just register or log in with a Validated account. This system makes validation of membership type (corporate-law firm-government) critical for data quality. If you register via LinkedIn, your account is validated automatically. If you manually register, we have to check your email domain to make sure that it matches your company name and member type. Once you are validated, just take a survey. Your access is immediately upgraded to premium content for 30 days. We will send you a reminder at 30 days, but all you have to do is take a quick survey to regain premium access.
How can I get the most out of my membership?
- Find your key technologies and provider profiles in the eDJ Matrix. Read and Follow them.
- Give us feedback on profile content that seems out of date or inaccurate.
- Check your Account page News feed to see recent Followed stories, press releases and more from our custom search engine.
- Customize your eDJ Digest for daily or weekly updates on blogs, briefings, profile updates, new eDJ Notes, reports and events.
- Send us questions. Really. We want to hear about your pain points, problems and solutions.
What if I need real support?
eDJ is not a law firm, service provider and does not sell software, but we know pretty much everyone who does those things and can help assess your realistic solution requirements. We focus on that special place where corporate data systems meet discovery and compliance requests. If you are wrestling with ‘analysis paralysis’ and need strategic expertise to lay out your options, risks, benefits and more, just give us a ring. If we are not the right fit, we can definitely find someone to help.
As with any new system, I am sure that we will encounter some technical bugs or usability issues. So please come take my quick LTNY 2014 Consumer Survey and test out the system. We need your feedback to continue evolving the site, so get in there and participate!
Greg Buckles
Greg Buckles can be reached at Greg@eDJGroupInc for offline comments or questions. 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.
Find Greg at the following upcoming events:
- LTNY 2014, February 4-6, 2014, New York, NY