Review of corporate information management

The benefits of eDiscovery

Data Management and eDiscovery should be key components in the organisation’s Information Management Strategy. The SG has invested in a corporate eDiscovery solution which has already delivered  significant business benefits in supporting specific information searching and analysis  requirements. The eDiscovery business case was supported by collaborative learning with other organisations including the Welsh Government, Home Office, Serious Fraud Office and Police Scotland who have all deployed the solution. This powerful software offers a key enabler in overcoming some of the challenges of the legacy information. It has already ingested and re-indexed the entire contents of the network G Drives which can then be de-duplicated and cleansed. This enables more efficient and reliable searching, analysis and reuse of information.

Crucially eDiscovery can support the business in identifying information which should no longer be retained or which should be stored in eRDM and subject to proper records management. It will also support longer term technology strategies around potential migration to cloud based hosting services. Senior officials in iTECS have recognised that the SG cannot contemplate migrating the current mass of unstructured and problematic information to other hosting environments.

A dedicated but very small eDiscovery team was recently established within the KIM Branch of iTECS. These resources, trained in the use of the new specialist eDiscovery software, have primarily been drawn into supporting the operational business requirements of specific inquiries. Whilst this is a valid use of the tool it impacts on the team’s ability to focus on supporting the development of a strategy to deliver the original strategic objectives around the cleansing of legacy data etc.

The eDiscovery resource profile should ensure capability and capacity can match both the immediate operational needs of the business and the organisation’s business and technology strategies around digital data. eDiscovery will be a key enabler in those strategies which should also address not just legacy ‘on premises data’ but also information that may be hosted in the cloud.