New Posting Section: Featured Vendor, Digital Reef and Early Case Assessment

by Gabe Acevedo on November 3, 2009

in All

I know this blog mainly covers more of the right side of the EDRM model, such as attorney review and project management.  However, I am starting a new category called “Featured Vendor,” much like the “Featured Review Software” posts I do every week.  I usually post on featured review software 2-3 times a week, and will most likely feature an e-discovery vendor 1-2 times a week as well.  This will give the chance for Gabe’s Guide to more broadly cover other aspects of the e-discovery universe that I have not addressed in the past.

The first “featured vendor” I am highlighting is Digital Reef. I had the chance to meet with Digital Reef’s founder Steve Akers at the Masters Conference a few weeks ago.  Digital Reef focuses heavily on early case assessment, and I think their process and tools are definitely worth noting.

From their website:

Digital Reef Enables Fast, Cost Effective ECA

Digital Reef provides a smarter, more efficient way to execute ECA. First generation appliance-based ECA solutions have typically been deployed in response to a particular matter or case. However, first generation solutions are limited by:

  • Inability to handle popular file types – Scanned images – TIFF, JPEG, GIF and other file types have to be processed using ancillary methods requiring manual intervention.
  • Restricted scale – ECA appliances top out at 250-500 GB – they cannot easily or efficiently manage large volumes of data or be expanded or grouped together in a unified fashion.
  • Inefficient design – Early solutions cannot process data in-place; rather, they unnecessarily copy and move large amounts of data, which are then processed in blocks – an inefficient, risk-inherent, and time-consuming approach.
  • Narrow scope – it is overly complex and difficult to partition ECA appliances to accommodate multiple users, projects, and review teams…