Ediscovery Software Comparison: Best Ediscovery Solutions for This Year

Regardless of the industry a business operates in, modern companies process and store terabytes of various types of data on a weekly basis. This is quite a handful of information pieces to go through when you need to track down and access a particular document or file. Without an effective ediscovery software solution, this process can become time-consuming, arduous and costly.

This apparent need for quality ediscovery software created room for the rapid growth of the global ediscovery market, which led to an increase in the number of platforms that offer electronic discovery services.

Choosing an optimal archiving and ediscovery software solution is not a walk in the park, especially with so many vendors now available on the market, so we decided to take a closer look into some of the most popular solutions and help you make an informed decision as to which tool is the right one for your organization.

But first, let’s get a first grasp of what ediscovery really is.

Ediscovery Explained

Short for electronic discovery, ediscovery is a process that legal entities use to request, access, obtain and search ESI (or Electronically Stored Information) that typically includes data stored and processed through email, text messages, social media content, etc.

This type of information discovery is critical within the legal landscape as it involves the procedure of introducing vital and incontrovertible pieces of evidence to the record.

Within the modern, digitized business environment, the data that needs to be made accessible through ediscovery software includes:

• Email-based data
• Data in text and SMS messages
• Social media networks and channels
• Videos and photos
• IMs
• Global positioning data
• IoT devices, etc;

The FRCP requires companies to manage and store data so it can be easily accessed and retrieved should an ediscovery request be made. This is typically done by introducing clear and strict data retention policies across all ESI-based data; otherwise, businesses could end up facing hefty penalties and/or criminal charges.

Benefits of Using Ediscovery Software

Using quality ediscovery solutions helps IT and legal departments streamline legal discovery and respond to requests faster through the automation of all the necessary processes that underpin ediscovery procedures.

When properly implemented, this type of document review software enables companies to:

• Reduce expenses and optimize human resources
• Produce data in a compliant format
• Improve Early Case Assessment
• Control IT costs
• Apply legal hold and review
• Check for possible unauthorized actions
• Customize search criteria using specific keywords
• Conduct deep analysis of attachment content, metadata, tags, messages, comments
• Easily tag ESI
• Redact private, protected and privileged information
• Customize document formats for a more streamlined export
• Customize permissions and accessibility for ESI

Businesses that use cloud-based ediscovery software also have an option to share ESI online and, in so doing, obviate the interference of third-party entities and make the entire ediscovery process faster and less convoluted.

How to Find an Optimal Ediscovery Solution

Businesses that are looking for the right ediscovery software solution should take the following criteria into consideration:

Features

Be sure to check what search capabilities you get; whether or not you can organize data by metadata field; if you can export to different/multiple formats; if the tool covers regulatory compliance tasks; if it has integrated quality control; etc.

Cost

Check out all the pricing plans that are available. Scalable pricing is typically a huge plus as this option allows you to tailor the costs according to your usage needs. Also, check if the vendor includes customer support in their plans.

Deployment

Deployment options are also among the first aspects to examine. Most vendors offer cloud-based, SaaS, and on-premise deployment. And don’t forget to check if the software is able to scale according to your company and its growing needs.

Security

See if the solution stores and secures your data the way your organization prefers; whether or not it offers backup and disaster recovery; if it allows you to customize roles and permissions; and if it creates full audit trails and message integrity verification.

Reviews

Be sure to look for organic reviews of the product you are checking out and determine what the most common issues are with that particular vendor.

Comparison of 5 Quality ediscovery Software Solutions

Nextpoint

Nextpoint is a cloud-based ediscovery tool whose best feature is that it allows its users to drag and drop an unlimited number of documents and files. It enables you to quickly review and share productions, while it also performs very well in terms of streamlining collaboration.

Source: Capterra

Nextpoint abides by the necessary EDRM protocols and speeds up legacy discovery tasks in multiple ways, which is why it allows businesses to perform ediscovery processes within 24 hours. One of the biggest benefits includes unlimited data uploads, no additional fees for import and hosting charges, so it is quite convenient for ediscovery-based cost-efficiency, especially for smaller companies.

Logikcull

This closed-loop, end-to-end ediscovery software enables organizations to easily and extremely quickly (in a matter of minutes) import, search through and review massive data volumes. The platform features robust security frameworks and layers, one of the strongest within the current ediscovery market, some of which include:

• data encryption,
• virus scanning,
• malware protection,
• 2FA (two-factor authentication),
• customizable access permissions/user roles, etc.

Source: Capterra

Logikcull ensures compliance with the necessary rules and regulations (HIPAA, GDPR, SOC2 Type II, etc), while it also offers 3 different deployment options – cloud-based, SaaS and web-based, with both versions being iOS and Android native.

Everlaw

Everlaw is an effective ediscovery software solution that helps businesses import and analyze all types of data – from emails and instant messages to audio files and visual transcription documents, which is a feature that is not always available with ediscovery tools.

Source: Everlaw

The platform allows users to perform quick and organized searches as it offers color-coding options for queries. This is especially handy and user-friendly even for beginner-level ediscovery software users as it enables them to track down desired information without the use of proprietary keywords or search syntaxes.

Relativity

Relativity earned its high reputation within the ediscovery software market via the RelativityOne tool that does an amazing job enabling enterprise-level organizations, government agencies, law firms and corporations to streamline data discovery and make this process as granular as possible. Through the RelativityOne platform, businesses can use custom-built apps available via the Relativity App Hub, which can be a big plus for many users.

Source: Contact

Aside from its typical ediscovery capabilities, Relativity offers high-end security features for sensitive data protection made available via Calder7 (vendor’s dedicated security team). The platform’s deployment options include cloud-based, on-premise, and hybrid.

Jatheon

Jatheon is an all-round data archiving and ediscovery software platform that is being used by numerous businesses across various industries as it offers top-tier features and the following services: Email Archiving, Social Media Archiving, WhatsApp Archiving. Mobile Archiving, Ediscovery, and Regulatory Compliance.

Source: Jatheon

Jatheon’s data archiving software comes with a robust set of ediscovery features that allows your compliance and legal teams to have full control of email discovery while having this process automated at the same time. The platform’s legal hold automation, full audit trail, integrated redaction and message integrity verification ensure a smooth ediscovery process and help verify data authenticity. It is suitable for both small businesses and enterprises as its storage through Jatheon Cloud allows you to store unlimited data volumes.

If you need more actionable information about ediscovery software solutions, get a demo from Jatheon ediscovery experts and see our platform’s ediscovery capabilities in action.

About the Author

Steven Tobolar

Steven Tobolar is Jatheon’s Head of Tech Support and an experienced engineer specializing in large-scale migration projects, AWS, Exchange Servers, and Microsoft Azure. Outside work, he enjoys reading, movies, off-road driving, and mountain biking.