“When You Shop For Storage Hardware, Bring A Lawyer”

A great headline from InfoWorld.com that briefly looks at the effects the amended FRCP has on IT professionals who are tasked with purchasing storage platforms for their companies.

I don’t totally agree with this quote by author Mario Apicella, but I can certainly appreciate his perspective:

“… hosted services that offer remote access for e-discovery and similar activies are a worthwhile alternative to building a layer of compliance applications in-house.”

True it may be easier (and more efficient) for a company to outsource some of their storage/compliance responsibilities, but it is still imperative that the IT professionals and company attorneys discuss the issues revolving around the storage and preservation of electronic records (i.e. e-mails, e-docs, etc.).

Even though a hosted service may adequately handle the logistics of preserving e-mail, the amended rules still impose a quasi-duty upon lawyers to be familiar enough with their clients’ information systems so they can intelligently discuss the exchange of electronic data with the opposing party.

Link to article.