e-Discovery: It’s Good to Have Options

by, Randall Burrows, vice president and general manager, Xerox Litigation Services

Recently, I was thinking about the classic TV commercial for Almond Joy and Mounds candy bars. Two similar candy bars made by the same company, but with distinct differences. Making the candy bar available with and without almonds gave people two great options from the same company to suit their desires.

Xerox’s recent acquisition of Lateral Data is like that. Our e-discovery customers will now have more great options from one provider – Xerox Litigation Services, one of the largest e-discovery providers in the world.  E-discovery is the process where electronic data is sought, located, secured and searched for use as potential evidence in legal and regulatory matters.

Our customers now have access to complete capabilities from a single company – whether they opt to work with a “full-service” e-discovery partner using a cloud-based model, conduct some or all processes on a do-it-yourself basis in-house, or choose a customized hybrid model. We can also now deploy e-discovery solutions with more speed and agility to address our U.S.-based clients’ complex international requirements, as well as meet expanded growth outside of the U.S.

The decision to acquire Lateral Data was guided by feedback from our clients who want to lower costs, more effectively manage IT infrastructure and human capital, and reduce risk and complexity associated with e-discovery processes.

After more than a year of evaluating opportunities, we identified Lateral Data as the most innovative software company in the industry. Their integrated collection, processing, early case assessment, review and analysis capabilities, workflow capabilities and speed for processing, searching on and analyzing data reduce the cost and inefficiencies of installing and managing solutions from a variety of different providers.

With the addition of Lateral Data’s e-discovery software Viewpoint to Xerox’s offerings, we are in a better position to offer our clients a complete set of services, technology and expertise to help them manage their e-discovery projects.

We are committed to continuing to invest long-term in all of our e-discovery offerings, including our cloud-based OmniX™ review platform, CategoriX automated document classification technology, services, e-discovery consulting and now Viewpoint. Over time, we expect clients will experience new levels of efficiency, flexibility and performance.

Our customers’ desire to access services with greater flexibility for their individual needs is what led us to the Lateral Data acquisition. Really though, it all boils down to one simple idea: It’s good to have options.