Symantec Beefs Up eDiscovery Search Tools

With Monday's release of Enterprise Vault Discovery Accelerator 6.0, an extension of the Cupertino, Calif.-based vendor's email and file archiving solution, Symantec has simplified the process of searching through archived corporate data to find specific files, which has traditionally created headaches for companies during the discovery phase of lawsuits.

When a company is sued, it must go through the process of collecting all data stored on its network that could contain evidence related to the case, which can be very expensive, especially for larger companies. In December, new rules for managing this process - known as electronic discovery, or eDiscovery - will take effect.

While Enterprise Vault automates the capture and retention of documents that go through the email system, Discovery Accelerator 6.0 lets companies search through multiple Enterprise Vault databases to find the specific files that are relevant to a lawsuit, said Nick Mehta, senior director of product management at Symantec.

Discovery Accelerator makes it possible to automatically preserve and protect all data related to the lawsuit and to provide this data in whatever format the requester asks for, Mehta said.

As part of its nascent Messaging Retention and Discovery program, Symantec also announced a partnership with Minneapolis-based law firm Redgrave Daley Ragan and Wagner LLP, which provides eDiscovery related consulting services. Symantec is also teaming up with Renew Data, which offers a service for taking data from legacy storage systems and migrating it to Enterprise Vault.

"Many customers have an enormous amount of backlog and have to get this data into a searchable format," said Mehta.

Symantec also kicked off a technology partner program that allows data stored in Enterprise Vault to be exported to third party legal software applications through open APIs, Mehta said.

Brian Moody, vice president of sales and business development for San Jose, Calif.-based Computer Media Technologies, says Discovery Accelerator 6.0 addresses the "substantial disconnect" between IT and legal departments that has traditionally slowed the process of eDiscovery.

Discovery 6.0's multiple database search capability is especially important for meeting the legal discovery needs of larger companies, Moody said. "This is a workflow tool that allows legal departments to separate the wheat from the chaff."

Being able to export Enterprise Vault data to third party applications and classify data in workflow fashion are also valuable features that streamline the process of responding to legal challenges, Moody added.