Organizations Not Confident About Information Quality, Accessibility

An HP survey revealed that organizations believe information is their highest business priority this year, yet fewer than 50% of decision makers are confident about their organizations' information quality and accessibility. About 40% of respondents said their firms lack in-house expertise and clear information strategies, particularly for electronic discovery. Among other findings from the HP-commissioned research surveys were:

Firms' biggest concerns regarding electronic discovery include the risk of being unable to produce documents quickly and the possibility of sanctions or bad press for failing to do so (42%). Other concerns cited included the lack of appropriate infrastructure to implement e-discovery strategies (24%) and worries about e-discovery costs (20%).

Somewhat surprisingly, very few respondents believed they would have to address multimedia information in e-discovery. The most frequently cited electronically stored information believed necessary for e-discovery was e-mail (89%), followed by office documents (87%), databases (78%), scanned paper documents (58%), SAP information (20%), and CAD drawings (18%).

Firms that did not have an e-discovery strategy in place most frequently attributed this to not understanding e-discovery requirements (26%). Smaller firms appear particularly in need of e-discovery education, with 47% reporting that they are not clear on e-discovery requirements. Other obstacles cited were staffing issues (9%) and available technology solutions (10%). 

Not everyone has the same idea of what comprises an e-discovery solution. Among respondents, 71% believe an e-discovery solution would consist of technology and services, such as review and analysis of documents. People in legal, compliance, and technology roles believe solutions would be a mix of technology and services. The other 30% – largely in general management – expected that e-discovery solutions would consist of technology only or services only.

There appears to be a disconnect in correlating information strategy and e-discovery strategy for some firms. When asked "Who decides e-discovery strategy?" 60% replied that the effort was collaborative and would involve the firm's general counsel. But when asked “Who decides e-discovery technology?" 71% said the decision would rest solely with the chief information officer. 

Only about half of survey respondents were familiar with the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (www.edrm.net) that is becoming widely accepted as a process for best practices. Many organizations noted that getting the right information at the right time is critical to their business success but found it difficult to justify investments in information management projects.

ARMA International IMN, May

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