Remove IT Department from eDiscovery Process
Email archiving solutions are valuable for organizations who are subject to stringent regulations such as the Sarbanes Oxley Act or the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The main purpose of an email archiving solution is to centrally manage email records for eDiscovery. When you consider an email archiving solution it is very important to consider the level of management required for performing the email search. Can the search be performed by the human resources (HR) department, legal or compliance officers involved in the investigation? The reason for this is that persons who perform the email search have certain legal responsibilities. Depending on the nature of the investigation, they may be required to provide testimony in court or in a deposition, regarding the exact nature of the search they performed.
If the email search is done by the email administrator, do you want your email admin in court answering difficult legal questions? It is better if the email discovery is performed by HR or legal staff who are prepared to be questioned by legal should questions arise. Email administrators should maintain control over the email archiving solution. They can assist in preparation of the data and they can assist in the packaging of the search results; but they should be involved in the actual search and the analysis of the search results. It is better that these tasks be performed by professionals who are trained in these matters.
