Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Barry Murphy. Published: 2012-05-24 09:54:35Format, images and links may no longer function correctly. In our piece earlier this week on the pool of winners and losers in the eDiscovery software market, we made some mistakes and omissions. The mistakes we can eliminate in the future with better editorial processes (we are a growing, learning organization like everyone else). The omissions will happen from time to time, especially in a market with so many small yet innovative vendors. It is a constant challenge to keep up with the complex offerings of the large software providers in addition to the many point solutions that exits. Thankfully, we have readers that keep us on our toes and remind us when we make a mistake or forget to include all the relevant players.
The first mistake was not being clear enough about the scope of the article. We limited it to strictly software providers because they have been our primary market focus historically. We recognize that it is increasingly hard to meaningfully differentiate software, SaaS, managed services, and other consumption models. As a result, we did not cover some interesting SaaS / managed services companies like Orange Legal Technologies, Planet Data, Valora Technologies, and Xerox Litigation Services. These companies do develop software, so they are very much in the pool of potential winners. We should have worded the article better to explain exactly what kind of pool we were focusing on.
The second mistake was a straightforward version control and editorial mistake. I used an old version of my notes on AccessData instead of my most recent version. Therefore, the article reflected an old question about AccessData’s SaaS strategy and perpetuated the rumor that the company may abandon the small firm market. I know that AccessData works hard to fight that perception and does actively support it Summation Express, which is a small-imprint software that can be installed on a single machine or for a single or mobile user on a laptop. This product still is web-based, but is very much designed to pick up the desktop customers who have traditionally used iBlaze. In addition, AccessData does in fact offer SaaS via its Valhalla, NY litigation services division. Currently, the company runs the CaseVantage legal review platform there, but will be offering the new Summation as a hosted service by Q3 of this year. We offer sincere apologies to AccessData that our older version of notes was included instead of more recent notes.
As for omissions, those will occur from time to time. We had readers remind us that we missed offerings like Thomson’s CaseLogistix, RevealData’s InControl, Venio’s FPR, and Zapproved’s Legal Hold Pro. We are glad readers brought this to our attention; it is good to know what eDiscovery professionals want us to be watching out for. There are likely other offerings that we could or should have included. Given the feedback on this piece, we will continue to update it and republish periodically so that we know we are on top of the market. As always, keep the comments coming.
eDiscoveryJournal Contributor – Barry Murphy