Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Barry Murphy. Published: 2011-02-01 02:32:32Format, images and links may no longer function correctly. It’s been a busy first day at LegalTech. Between running around the floor, taking vendor meetings, and try to say hello to everyone I know, they day has flown by. As I sit in my hotel room, I can’t help but wrestle with the feeling of a bit of a letdown on day one of LegalTech.
I thought that we’d see evidence of movement up the learning curve of eDiscovery maturity, but that’s been sorely lacking. I was amazed at the number of vendors with unrecognizable names that had some niche new technology that will change the eDiscovery game. I saw that story here in the New York Hilton five years ago. What I want to see now are results. Sadly, there are too few of them on display. I guess there is always next year.
On a more positive note, I did have a chance to meet with some vendors and get a sense of what they are doing for 2011:
- Affirm Discovery – offers a native file collection wizard aimed at paralegals who can go onsite and do custodial interviews and get collections going. The interface is straightforward and the company is focused on collection and giving clients flexibility on where that data goes downstream in eDiscovery. I could see this technology finding a niche in organizations overwhelmed by eDiscovery and needing a way to comply with federal rules quickly while they figure out a broader information management strategy.
- Orange Legal Technologies – has released the One-O SaaS discovery platform built on a single database with modules that connect to that back-end. Orange Legal offers a client services team that can help clients navigate the tricky eDiscovery decisions that need to be made throughout the process.
- CaseCentral – announced the R5 release aimed at helping clients automate and eliminate common tasks that would otherwise require expensive professional services. The company reports that it continues to see growth both within the law firm and the corporate business.
- IBM – is integrating the PSS acquisition to support the goal of triangulating legal, IT, and records management departments. To the extend that IBM can get those three speaking the same language, they can then sell in a wide array of eDiscovery solutions from consulting, process management, collection, analysis, and review. Look for IBM to come at the market more from the broader information governance perspective, but with the product mix to compete in point solution battles, too.
- EMC – emphasized GRC (governance, risk, and compliance) more than eDiscovery. There are some announcements forthcoming about the role of the Kazeon technology in managing GRC processes. Also look for the company to partner with a review platform (e.g. kCura’s Relativity) to broaden out its offering. It seems like EMC still has some work to do to set a strong direction for the SourceOne offering.
- FTI – announced the release of Ringtail 8 with an upgraded user interface to speed up repetitive, time-intensive tasks. The goal is to bring down the total cost of discovery by reducing review time. The DocMapper technology is now an integrated component of the Ringtail platform. The company reports a lot of success with the Acuity offering, the integrated e-discovery and document review service with centralized project management and predictable pricing.
We’ll see what Day 2 brings…