puzzle integration

 

Most lawyers already know the one about how a bill becomes a law, and so for the sake of variety this is the story of how an app becomes part of Relativity. The e-discovery solutions provider has over 180,000 users all with a smorgasbord of different needs that make the company's App Hub both a practical necessity and a prospective showcase for partners looking to show-off their development skills and build brand awareness.

According to Drew Deitch, director of strategic partnerships at Relativity, the platform currently has more than 85 different developers represented on its App Hub. Those relationships typically begin with an inquiry email sent by prospective app-licants to [email protected] and the initial screening criteria is actually pretty simple.

“The biggest thing we look for when evaluating new apps is how their custom solution addresses the specific, unaddressed needs of our customers, specifically with solutions addressing unstructured data,” Deitch said.

E-discovery solutions provider QDiscovery recently integrated two additions to the App Hub. Qmobile allows lawyers to analyze mobile device data and received Relativity's award for Best Innovation in 2017. Its younger sibling, QPrivAlert, helps identify privileged conversations.

Pains were taken early in the development process to ensure that QDiscovery wasn't duplicating its efforts by funneling resources into answering a problem that Relativity would just roll out its own solution to 6 months later. The sweet spot exists somewhere just off the edge of the existing road map but still arrives at place that manages to enhance the platform's services.

“Whether it's provider partners like ourselves or maybe it's someone who's strictly a developer, they encourage them to look for ways to improve upon their platform, ways to extend the uses or different ways to use it,” Tricia Johnson, director of marketing at QDiscovery, said.

The forensics and management teams behind Qmobile and QPrivAlert were able to coordinate directly with a group at Relativity dedicated to offering advice or assistance during bumps in the onboarding process. Developers are also given access to a “digital sandbox,” a copy of Relativity that can be run in a virtual machine environment.

Justin Blessing, founder and CEO Compiled, relied on the sandbox while his company was developing a new version of its e-discovery software ReadySuite for the platform. The app allows users to upload images, production sets and load files with field data into Relativity.

“Without (the sandbox) it would be pretty difficult to test against, to develop against. That's been pretty crucial,” Blessing said.

He also made use of the Relativity DevHelp Community, an online forum where new developers can post questions and benefit from the experience of their predecessors. Blessing said ReadySuite wasn't subjected to a certification process, but that Relativity did want to see a demo of the finished project before it was integrated with the platform.

A core element of Compiled's customer base are law firms and service providers who are already using Relativity. Making ReadySuite available to them on that platform is good for business.

“Everyone is excited about our integration, so I thought that was a good sign,” Blessing said.