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With the rising number of litigation cases and the growth of electronic data, eDiscovery has become a rather cumbersome process, especially for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) across enterprises. In the present situation, CIOs are the initial contacts who need to detect any security breaches. They need to ensure enforcement of data retention policies, and, additionally, they are the ones who are responsible for recovering data that has been either lost or erased. It can be a disastrous situation if organizations do not have an efficient system for managing data relevant for lawsuits.

A CIO’s role is a highly specialized one and thus very important. He needs to create a strategy to manage data. He has to be capable enough to handle the IT functions within the enterprise and be able to resolve the complexities of the architecture. When a company receives a lawsuit notification, it needs a team of experts who can respond promptly and make preparations in advance. Thus it is the CIO’s duty to ensure that he has sound proof and ready justification to support the company’s policies.

Per the court’s orders, organizations have to start preparing early for Electronic Disclosure and the CIO has to be involved in briefings with lawyers to prepare for early case assessments. This is advantageous as it helps in planning well ahead and having a foolproof plan. In order to be on the right track, CIOs must follow some basic steps:

• Enforcement of compliance regulations within the organization that are aligned with business operations
• Maintaining records of compliance regulations
• Ensure that records are accessible based on criteria such as department, subject, product, etc.
• A productive retention program in effect where records are preserved and disposed of when not required
• Adhere to the deadlines set by the courts for producing ESI
• Provide full support to legal teams
• Handle litigation costs without causing additional financial burden to enterprises

A lot of effort has been put in to developing new technologies for the preservation of ESI. There have been some areas that have perpetually posed challenges, and the backup system is one of them. The backup process is a complex one with minimal solutions. Thus it is very important for CIOs to ponder some critical issues:

• Is the documentation process well-defined enough to be executed for the litigation discovery process?
• Is the organization equipped with sufficient tools, processes and technologies to preserve data?
• Is there a system to determine the ediscovery costs required for data storage, duplication, migration, counseling services, etc.?
• Does the organization have a system to filter non relevant data?
• Are the processes reliable enough to help the migration of ESI to external lawyers and eDiscovery vendors without compromising security and without impacting productivity?

The CIO’s job can be made much easier with EDisclosure software with features that deliver commendable results. It provides solutions for effective preservation, retrieval, culling and production of ESI. Responsiveness and preparedness are a CIO’s forte. As lawsuits are inevitable, organizations require steady and strategic policies in anticipation of any legal battles. A capable CIO demonstrates his abilities by employing the appropriate electronic discovery services that can ably provide solutions on time with positive results.