Electronic discovery, more commonly referred to as eDiscovery, is the process of searching for and obtaining data that’s stored electronically. This includes emails, social media content, messages, and website searches. This is usually carried out as part of a litigation process that requires electronic data to be presented as evidence. However, eDiscovery software can also be useful in industries that handle a lot of data that must be retained for long periods, such as Protected Health Information (PHI).
In the US, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) require organizations to store and manage their data in a way that enables them to easily retrieve when necessary. Failure to comply can result in penalties such as a significant fine, so it’s in your business’ best interest to store data correctly.
eDiscovery software solutions help businesses to create a secure, tamper-proof archive of all their electronic data, with custom retention policies to help comply with data protection regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, and PCI-DSS. They also provide granular search functionality that makes it easier for businesses to find specific data—such as evidence for a litigation case, or a patient’s medical history—and export that data.
In this article, we’ll explore the top eDiscovery software solutions. We’ll look at features such as data archiving, customizable retention periods, search capabilities, auditing, and reporting. We’ll give you some background information on the provider and the key features of each solution, as well as the type of customer that they are most suitable for.
Intradyn is an all-in-one digital archiving and eDiscovery platform with unlimited storage. It provides real-time archiving of email, SMS-messages, social media, and Microsoft Teams, with comprehensive eDiscovery and an easy-to-manage admin console. The solution is available to deploy in the cloud, on-prem, or as a virtual appliance.
Plans and Pricing: Contact Intradyn directly for pricing information.
Expert Insights’ Comments: Intradyn provides a comprehensive digital archiving and eDiscovery platform for managing emails, SMS, Microsoft Teams, and social media communications. The solution is easy to use, thanks to its granular eDiscovery features, comprehensive archiving, and an easy-to-manage admin interface. The platform is ideally suited for use in North America, needing to adhere to federal, state, and industry regulations.
CloudNine is a data discovery software provider headquartered in Houston, Texas. Their eDiscovery platform enables organizations and legal teams to easily store, review, and search for historical data, streamlining the litigation and audit processes. A highly flexible solution, CloudNine offers on-prem and cloud deployment options, as well as mobile accessibility.
CloudNine Features:
Plans and Pricing: CloudNine is available as an all-inclusive annual subscription or on a contract basis based on usage requirements. Contact CloudNine directly for pricing details.
Expert Insights’ Comments: CloudNine is a highly effective eDiscovery solution that offers a high degree of automation to help streamline the data discovery process. This includes automatic data processing and ingestion of MS365 and OneDrive data. The platform supports a wide range of data types that can be located easily thanks to its granular, yet intuitive, search and tagging tools. We recommend CloudNine for any organization looking for an eDiscovery tool for litigation and auditing.
Digital WarRoom is an eDiscovery software provider Headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Their solution can be installed on-prem or deployed in the cloud. It enables law firms and corporate legal teams to process, review, and manage their electronic data in response to legal matters.
Digital WarRoom Features:
Plans and Pricing: Digital WarRoom is available via three packages, all of which include the above features. Pro($1,995/year/license) offers unlimited email support, 1 hour of installation support, and 2 hours of training. Single Matter ($250/month) supports one user, with 25 GB included, unlimited email support, and unlimited training. Private Cloud ($2,000/month) supports 50 users, with 500 GB included, unlimited email support and training, and an intuitive management console for viewing admin-level metrics and billing information. Pro deploys on-prem; Single Matter and Private Cloud are hosted.
Expert Insights’ Comments: Digital WarRoom makes it very easy to find specific data, with plenty of visualization options and a granular, but still user-friendly, search feature. The hosted versions of the platform comply with a wide range of data security standards (including ISO, SOC, PCI-DSS, and FISMA). The platform itself offers detailed audit logs for compliance. With this in mind, we recommend Digital WarRoom to individuals, small legal teams, and large law firms looking for an eDiscovery tool for litigation purposes.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, DISCO is a provider of AI-powered legal software that helps businesses, law firms, and governments to streamline their eDiscovery, document review, and case management processes. Their cloud-based solutions are available standalone or can be integrated to provide a comprehensive platform that enables teams to manage the entire data discovery lifecycle, from legal requests to review, within one interface.
DISCO eDiscovery Features:
Plans and Pricing: Pricing for DISCO eDiscovery is available from DISCO upon request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: DISCO eDiscovery is a highly intuitive tool. Its key differentiator is its AI-powered automation and analytics features which make it easier for teams to index and organize their data. The search functionality is easy to use, even for less-technical users, and the platform offers extensive support and training via the DISCO University. Overall, we recommend DISCO eDiscovery for small- to mid-size organizations and law firms looking for a user-friendly eDiscovery tool that will help them inventory, organize, and search their data.
Everlaw is an eDiscovery software provider headquartered in Oakland, California. Their advanced, cloud-based eDiscovery platform provides a suite of data discovery tools that enable businesses, law firms, and government agencies to upload, review, and produce legal documents. It also offers a range of collaboration features that help remote teams to work together on legal cases.
Everlaw Features:
Plans and Pricing: Everlaw is available via cloud-based, web-based, and SaaS deployment options. Pricing is available from Everlaw upon request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: Everlaw is an advanced eDiscovery tool. Its fast upload and review speeds as well as granular search tool make it suitable for enterprises working with large volumes of data. The in-built security functionality and easy-to-use redaction feature make it well-suited to sensitive data handling. One of the platform’s standout features is its ability to process multi-media data, such as image and audio files—this could be particularly useful for healthcare organizations (e.g., for reviewing medical images).
Exterro is a legal governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) provider based in Portland, Oregon. They offer a range of solutions for data privacy, digital forensics, risk and compliance management, and eDiscovery. Exterro’s eDiscovery suite enables businesses to manage and optimize their eDiscovery processes, unifying data collection and review, labelling, project management, and stakeholder management, within a single platform.
Exterro eDiscovery Features:
Plans and Pricing: Exterro eDiscovery pricing is available from Exterro upon request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: Exterro make it easier for organizations to manage their eDiscovery workflows with in-built project management tools. Another of the platform’s key strengths lies in its support for reviewing data through automatic labelling and the visualization of relationships between data. We recommend Exterro eDiscovery for larger enterprises looking to streamline their existing eDiscovery workflows whilst retaining a high degree of control.
Logikcull is a market-leading eDiscovery software provider headquartered in San Francisco, California. Logikcull’s eDiscovery platform is used by over 1,500 organizations worldwide, including government, educational institutions, corporations, and non-profits, to provide user-friendly, efficient, and reliable data discovery.
Logikcull eDiscovery Features:
Plans And Pricing: Logikcull is available via two pricing plans. Pay As You Go is their monthly plan, with pricing based on the amount of data (in GB) uploaded per month. It offers unlimited users, projects, downloads, 24/5 in-app support, and free initial onboarding support and training. Subscription Enterprise is their annual plan, which offers unlimited storage and projects, cloud integrations, A/V transcription, near-dupe detection, chat filtering for Slack, and premium support and training options. Pricing is available from Logikcull on request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: Logikcull’s document classification and filtering simplifies the search process, which, combined with an intuitive UI and effective automation, makes the platform very efficient and greatly reduces review times. Overall, we recommend Logikcull eDiscovery to SMBs and small- to mid-sized government, education, and law firms looking for a user-friendly eDiscovery tool that will help them process and review data more efficiently.
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Nextpoint is a provider of eDiscovery and trial preparation technologies for legal teams. Their cloud-based platform enables small firms, right through to government agencies (like organizations in the Am Law 100), to easily import and review data, as well as organize data contextually to help build case timelines.
Nextpoint Features:
Plans And Pricing: NextPoint is available via two plans. Single Project is available on a per user subscription basis, and offers unlimited data hosting with no additional import charges. All Access offers all Single Project features, plus unlimited projects and databases, a master account headquarters interface, advanced user permissions, global account search, and an annual CLE seminar. Pricing is available from Nextpoint upon request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: NextPoint is a user-friendly eDiscovery platform that makes it easy for legal teams to search for and review data. The solution includes many additional features that enables easier collaboration and case preparation. The solution’s per-user pricing, unlimited data hosting, and effective importing tools make it a cost-effective, yet robust, eDiscovery tool for small- to mid-sized organizations.
Chicago-based Relativity is a market-leading legal software provider that helps organizations manage their data and identify compliance and legal issues during litigation and investigations. Their RelativityOne platform is trusted by over 300,000 users globally, including corporate legal teams, law firms, and government agencies. Its broad eDiscovery feature set and open nature enables users to extend its functionality using applications from the Relativity App Hub. RelativityOne is available via on-prem, cloud, or hybrid deployment.
RelativityOne Features:
Plans and Pricing: RelativityOne is available on one-year or three-year commitments, with variable data tiers and platform customization options to help optimize costs. Pricing is available from Relativity upon request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: RelativityOne is a comprehensive eDiscovery tool that offers lots of customization—from custom layouts, views, and tabs, and the ability to integrate custom and developer-built apps via the App Hub. The platform is well-suited to large organizations and law firms looking for a powerful eDiscovery tool that they can mould to their specific needs.
Waterford Technologies is an integrated compliance provider that offers archiving and compliance solutions for public and private sector businesses. ComplyKEY is their data management and compliance platform which allows IT, legal, and governance teams to preserve, search, and export data in response to eDiscovery and litigation requests.
WaterFord Technologies ComplyKEY Features:
Plans and Pricing: ComplyKEY pricing is available from Waterford Technologies upon request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: ComplyKEY is a highly sophisticated eDiscovery and compliance tool. Its flexible data retention policies, role-based access, and comprehensive audit trails make this solution well-suited to organizations that need to prove compliance with strict data protection regulations such as PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR. The encrypted and tamperproof archive is another strong asset. Waterford Technologies also provide excellent customer support, which makes ComplyKEY accessible to SMBs as well as larger enterprises looking for an eDiscovery solution for compliance which offers deep technical functionality.
ZyLAB ONE is an eDiscovery platform that helps corporations, law firms, and government agencies to manage litigation, investigation, and document review requests. Acquired by Reveal Data in 2023, the ZyLAB ONE platform can be deployed on-prem or in the cloud, and provides defensible, end-to-end data discovery.
ZyLAB ONE Features:
Plans and Pricing: Pricing for ZyLAB ONE is available from ZyLAB upon request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: ZyLAB ONE is a user-friendly eDiscovery solution, which also comes with comprehensive training so that all users can get the most out of the software—especially those without a technical background. The platform allows you to customize how you work and the powerful automation tools help to streamline the document indexing and review processes. We recommend ZyLAB ONE as a strong eDiscovery tool for SMBs, particularly those working with sensitive data or operating within the boundaries of strict compliance regulations.
eDiscovery is the process of obtaining electronically stored information (ESI)—such as digital documents, emails, social media posts, and webpages—usually for compliance or litigation purposes. However, some organizations may use eDiscovery tools as a means to securely archive and easily search for sensitive data, such as protected health information (PHI).
The key stages of the eDiscovery process are:
eDiscovery is a lengthy process, and it can be very time-consuming to go through each of these steps manually. Today, eDiscovery software can help reduce that time, and resource strain, by helping organizations automate data collection, indexing, and analysis.
eDiscovery software solutions help businesses to find and present ESI so that compliance bodies and legal teams can review the data and uncover evidence for litigation or regulatory purposes. So, if your organization is handling sensitive data, or must prove compliance with strict data protection requirements (such as PCI-DSS or HIPAA), it’s a good idea to have an eDiscovery solution—or another kind of data management or archiving solution—in place.
There are a lot of eDiscovery software solutions on the market, and each of them offers a slightly different feature set to meet certain business or legal requirements. However, there are some features that every eDiscovery solution should have:
Caitlin Harris is Deputy Head of Content at Expert Insights. Caitlin is an experienced writer and journalist, with years of experience producing award-winning technical training materials and journalistic content. Caitlin holds a First Class BA in English Literature and German, and provides our content team with strategic editorial guidance as well as carrying out detailed research to create articles that are accurate, engaging and relevant. Caitlin co-hosts the Expert Insights Podcast, where she interviews world-leading B2B tech experts.
Laura Iannini is an Information Security Engineer. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity from the University of West Florida. Laura has experience with a variety of cybersecurity platforms and leads technical reviews of leading solutions. She conducts thorough product tests to ensure that Expert Insights’ reviews are definitive and insightful.