Sloppy e-discovery can cost you millions - Network World

Skip Links

DNSstuff.com
Get information about your IP
IP Information
50+ On-demand DNS and network tools

Data Center

Videos

rssRss Feed
Get instant email notification when white papers, webcasts, executive guides are added to our library.  Stay informed and up-to-date with the latest on IT Technologies with Network World's Resource Alerts.

Additional Resources

RSS

FEATURED WHITEPAPERS

Endpoint Security: Data Protection for IT, Freedom for Laptop Users Absolute Software

The movement towards laptop computers has fueled an unprecedented number of data breaches. For IT and Information Security, encryption and training has proven ineffective against careless users and insider threats. This paper discusses these limitations and explains how endpoint security allows remote deletion of sensitive data, tracking of computers outside the network and the physical recovery of missing computers. Learn how you can ensure mobile data protection regardless of end-user interference.

RSS

FEATURED REPORTS

Executive Guide: Storage Heats Up HP

Get the latest on storage technologies that allow IT professionals to better cope with new IT demands. Learn how storage technologies can help you successfully tackle e-Discover, regulatory compliance, green data center initiatives and the data explosion. Get all the details now.

RSS

FEATURED WEBCASTS

Learn how to Create a More Efficient Virtualized Data Center Novell

Find out how you can consolidate Windows workloads and create a more efficient virtualized data center in this informative webcast, "Reduce Complexity and Cost - Windows Server Consolidation with Virtualization." Six concise webcast modules are available for your viewing. Watch them all consecutively or only the topics that interest you. The modules cover performance, user case studies, enterprise-level support, managing windows workloads, setup and configuration and the future of virtualization. Learn more today. Register below to learn more and be entered to win an Archos 605 Portable Media Player.

Sloppy e-discovery can cost you millions

New federal guidelines could result in big problems for organizations lacking strong e-mail and electronic records-retention policies
By Joanne Cummings , Network World , 05/21/2007
  • Social Web 
  • Email 
  • Feedback 
  • Close

Your company has been hit by a lawsuit. Do you know the whereabouts of all its electronically stored information?

Lawsuits are a fact of life for organizations today. Recent surveys show that the average U.S. company faces 305 suits at any one time; that number jumps to 556 for companies with $1 billion or more in revenue.

With each lawsuit comes the obligation for discovery -- production of evidence for presentation to the other side in a legal dispute. In the past, this evidence consisted primarily of paper records, such as contracts, bills of sale, printed correspondence and so on. However, with the rise of the New Data Center, 95% of all business communications now are created and stored electronically. That places the focus on e-discovery: finding and managing electronically stored information (ESI).

New Data Center Interactive: Take this quiz and see how you rate on Network World’s e-Discovery Readiness Scale

"It makes sense," says Gregg Davis, CIO at Webcor Builders, a construction firm in San Mateo, Calif. "Before five years ago, we never allowed change orders or changes in price or scope to happen through e-mail; everything was signed and faxed and kept on paper. But now, everything we do is e-mail. It's our primary tool for business documentation. Now 90% of everything we do here is done electronically."

That puts a heavy burden on IT, says Browning Marean, partner at DLA Piper, a global law firm. "If it's digital and it's relevant, it's discoverable. So it all has to be found, preserved and examined," he says. "And IT plays a key role in that because it is the keeper of the information -- it knows where and how information is stored, and IT is the one that has to find and present it."

Gregg Davis

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |  Next >
Comment
Login
Forgot your account info?
Add comment
Anonymous comments subject to moderator approval. Register here for member benefits.
Have a NetworkWorld account? Log in here. Register now for a free account.
First Name
Last Name
E-mail
Zip Code
IT Buyer's Guides

View All Buyer's Guides