Gartner's e-discovery software Magic Quadrant ranks 20 of the most popular vendors in the space guiding customers on the selection of tools best for their needs. FTI Technology Inc., which offers the Ringtail e-discovery platform along with consulting services, was named a “leader” in the group for the third consecutive year. But the report also identified trends that are revealing about the direction of the discovery market, according to Kate Holmes, managing director of FTI Consulting.

“The points that jumped out at us were how e-discovery software is a mature market, yet at the same time were seeing a shift take place. Organizations are transitioning from a model where they treated each matters separately, often going with different providers, tools and law firms depending on the case, to one where they're standardizing on fewer platforms,” Holmes told Legaltech News in an interview. “In that way they're getting more effective workflow, getting more out of their products and teams know what to expect which bring cost saving and efficiencies.”

Because of that maturation, Holmes said, FTI's clients are increasingly focused on understanding what works best for them, and as a result they're able to ask for options and features from the vendors they use that may not have been available previously. However, Holmes said while FTI's focus is on serving customer needs and their inclusion as a leader in the magic quadrant is an honor, being dubbed a leader doesn't necessarily make a solution the best option for everyone.