Gartner Publishes eDiscovery MarketScope (Pre-Cursor To eDiscovery Magic Quadrant)

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Earlier today, Gartner published its eDiscovery MarketScope for 2009. Written by Debra Logan, John Bace, and Whit Andrews, it is perhaps the most comprehensive "buyers guide" available for companies interested in using electronic discovery technology to lower costs. The eDiscovery MarketScope analyzes about 20 software companies focused on electronic data discovery. Based on extensive interviews with end customers and data from the companies themselves, Gartner rates the companies using criteria similar to those used in its famous Magic Quadrant reports. It also identifies market trends, and makes predictions for 2009 and beyond. This report is required reading for anyone considering an investment in eDiscovery software, and I strongly recommend that you get a copy, either from Gartner or some other authorized source. To give you a flavor for Gartner's analysis, a few of its main conclusions are as follows: 1. Bringing eDiscovery In-House Dramatically Reduces Cost This is a claim that electronic discovery software vendors often make, and prospective customers rightly question. Gartner investigates and finds that many of its corporate clients are saving large amounts of money by using eDiscovery software to reduce the amount they spend on lawyers and legal service providers. It reports that customers typically recover their money from buying eDiscovery software within 3-6 months of implementation. 2. There's No Single, End-To-End Solution For eDiscovery Gartner addresses what is probably the most common question I get asked by corporate counsels and litigation support managers - namely, "Isn't there a single product I can buy that will do end-to-end eDiscovery, covering all aspects of the EDRM?" The answer, of course, is "no" and Gartner goes further by predicting that the answer will remain "no" until at least 2011. So, for the foreseeable future, customers will need to buy best-of-breed products from different vendors for different stages of the EDRM model, and ensure they integrate smoothly. 3. There Are 4 Leading eDiscovery Software Companies

Company	Product
Clearwell	Clearwell E-Discovery Platform
FTI	Attenex, RingTail
Symantec	Discovery Accelerator
Zylab	E-Discovery Management Module

List of vendors achieving highest rating of "strong positive" (from Figure 2, page 10) Of all the companies it analyzed, Gartner only gives 4 its highest rating of "strong positive". Each of the four has different strengths. For processing, analysis and review, Clearwell is "fast-to-install and easy-to-use" (page 12) , while FTI's ability to offer Attenex / RingTail either hosted or on-premise "positions it well for the future" (page 13) . Symantec's leadership in email archiving makes Discovery Accelerator a good option for its customers who need to search and export data from Enterprise Vault. Finally, Zylab is well-known within law-enforcement circles and has a strong presence in Europe and Asia. 4. There Will Be Consolidation In The Next 12 Months As the market matures, Gartner predicts that as many as 25% of eDiscovery software providers will either merge, be acquired, or exit the business. Access Data's ambitious bid for Guidance has publicly put Guidance in play. Beyond that, Gartner suggests that Kazeon and several other players are all likely acquisition targets for larger companies wishing to enter the eDiscovery space. Of course, Gartner is not the only influential voice in eDiscovery. Earlier this year, George Socha and Tom Gelbmann published their Socha-Gelbmann Survey, which also provides a valuable perspective on the market. How do the two reports compare? That will be the subject of my next post.