Extract from Irfan Shuttari’s article “Moving eDiscovery Upstream”
Ever since the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) was created back in 2005, there has been an assumed workflow to the practice of eDiscovery. Electronically stored information (ESI) has historically moved through a progression of being identified, preserved, collected, processed analyzed, reviewed, produced and presented.
Back then, email and office files located on-premises comprised most of the ESI involved in eDiscovery workflows, which was a significant driver as to why the phases are represented the way they are on the model today – that rigid, structured and contained eDiscovery workflow best fit the ESI that was predominantly included in discovery at the time.
However, the volume of ESI and the variety of ESI sources have evolved dramatically over the years and that has forced eDiscovery to move UPSTREAM on the EDRM. eDiscovery is no longer contained – today, it involves many different ESI sources, requires a variety of workflows and is continually evolving. This is forcing many organizations to learn how to conduct “eDiscovery in the wild”!
ESI Drivers to “eDiscovery in the Wild”
The evolution of ESI is driving eDiscovery “wild” in two ways:
Data Volume
According to IDC, the global data sphere is expected to reach 175 zettabytes by 2025, with a compounded annual growth rate of 61 percent. When the EDRM model was created back in 2005, the global data sphere was 0.1 zettabytes. That means global data will have grown 1,750 times in 20 years!
However, the volume of ESI and the variety of ESI sources have evolved dramatically over the years and that has forced eDiscovery to move UPSTREAM on the EDRM. eDiscovery is no longer contained – today, it involves many different ESI sources, requires a variety of workflows and is continually evolving. This is forcing many organizations to learn how to conduct “eDiscovery in the wild”!
