Global business advisory firm FTI Consulting is now offering eDiscovery and information governance managed services within a client's Microsoft Office 365 tenant.

The managed services enable FTI's eDiscovery professionals to access an organization's data via the cloud. That way, these professionals can use Office 365's Advanced eDiscovery features to manage the entire eDiscovery process.

"By combining the Office 365 Advanced eDiscovery features with our expert managed services, we are helping to reduce the cost, time and risk of eDiscovery," T. Sean Kelly, FTI's senior director of information governance & compliance services, said in a prepared statement.

What Is Office 365 Advanced eDiscovery?

Organizations can use Office 365 Advanced eDiscovery in conjunction with the following Microsoft services:

  • Exchange Online.
  • OneDrive for Business.
  • SharePoint Online.
  • Skype for Business.

Advanced eDiscovery helps organizations evaluate their Office 365 data and eDiscovery costs. It enables users to analyze unstructured data within Office 365 to "perform more efficient document review and make decisions to reduce data for eDiscovery," according to Microsoft.

Also, Advanced eDiscovery streamlines and accelerates the document review process by identifying redundant information. It applies predictive coding technology to track relevant documents and allows organizations to "focus on key documents, make quick yet informed decisions on case strategy, cull data and prioritize review," Microsoft stated.

How Do FTI's Managed Services Use Advanced eDiscovery?

FTI's managed services leverage Advanced eDiscovery and other Office 365 features to help organizations search and analyze data stored within Microsoft services. They provide near-duplicates detection and email thread analysis, FTI noted, to help organizations identify redundant data.

In addition, FTI's managed services team can export documents with coding decisions to traditional legal review platforms. This ensures relevant documents are discovered and prioritized for first-pass review.

eDiscovery: Services, Acquisitions

The eDiscovery market has seen considerable activity in recent months. For instance, ProSearch Strategies recently launched an Advanced eDiscovery practice for Office 365 to help corporations and law firms reduce their eDiscovery costs. Moreover, ProSearch intends to extend Advanced eDiscovery connectivity with Microsoft Azure, the company said in a prepared statement.

Strong customer demand has also driven merger and acquisition (M&A) activity. For instance:

  • Franklin Data: Bought eDiscovery and IT security provider Scarab Consulting in November 2016.
  • Special Counsel: Acquired eDiscovery managed services company D4 in October 2016
  • Epiq Systems and DTI: Announced a $1 billion merger in July 2016 to provide managed services and legal process outsourcing (LPO) capabilities.

Zion Market Research pointed out the global eDiscovery market was worth $7.8 billion in 2015. The market research firm has projected this market will expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.7 percent and be worth $18.5 billion by 2021.

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