Typically, the production of data in litigation involves a series of disconnected actions involving several corporate or cloud-based systems. These disassociated e-discovery activities — identify, preserve, collect, and track (IPCT), and then feed into a downstream set of processing, review, and production (PRP) steps often hosted outside the corporate firewall. Fortunately, technology advances are helping counsel and client alike to integrate systems and streamline processes both inside and across the firewall. These improvements generate real advantages in risk reduction, time and cost efficiencies, and case strategy.

While the electronic discovery reference model (EDRM, as shown in Figure 1, below) defines the different steps in the e-discovery process, e-discovery in itself is not a linear process. For example, when interviewing custodians as part of the legal hold process, it is common to find other custodians or related data that may be relevant to the matter. An integrated e-discovery process allows legal teams to go back, preserve, analyze and collect data as information is uncovered through the interview process without having to rework steps already taken.