Extract from Evolver’s article “How the Intersection of Data Mapping and Shadow IT Creates a New eDiscovery Challenge”
As organizations started digitizing more information decades ago, it initially seemed like it would be fairly feasible to keep track of everything without living documentation. But when almost all work leaves digital traces or results in digital content, the location of a particular memo or presentation can’t be determined by memory or casual documentation. This is why organizations have turned to data mapping.
Creating a data map involves generating a thorough guide to the various locations of data relevant to your organization, along with key information regarding its purpose and handling. It can be a fair amount of work and organization leaders may question how necessary it is. However, as eDiscovery becomes one of the primary discovery processes in court, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have weighed in on the concept, with key adjustments to FCRP 26 and 37. The amendments to these rules now create a duty for parties to preserve electronically stored information (ESI), determine which information is reasonably retrievable, and disclose relevant ESI within 100 days of a case being filed. Without a proper data map, organizations involved in a case may be scrambling in a chaotic frenzy to track down pertinent ESI.
