E-Discovery Challenges of Microsoft SharePoint

WELCOME TO THE SHAREPOINT E-DISCOVERY JUNGLE
E-Discovery Challenges of Microsoft SharePoint

Copyright © 2011 eTERA Consulting

E-DISCOVERY CHALLENGES OF MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT
Today’s Speakers 3

SharePoint’s Expanding Reach 4

Challenges of SharePoint Preservation and Collection 10

How Pension Committee and Victor Stanley are Relevant 16

Risk Assessment Service for SharePoint 22


Today’s Speakers

John is responsible for assisting our clients in taking proactive steps
John to manage the complex ESI landscape and effectively address their
Rubens legal, compliance and regulatory requirements. Prior to joining
Managing Director, eTERA Consulting, John was the Managing Director of The Oliver
Corporate Analysis
eTERA Consulting
Group, an international forensic analysis company.

As Director of Product Management for StoredIQ, Amir Jaibaji manages
Amir the creation and development of the company’s market-driven product
roadmap. Providing technical leadership for StoredIQ’s award-winning
Jaibaji
Director, Product
Intelligent Information Management Platform, Amir is also responsible
Management for spearheading StoredIQ’s legal workflow application,
StoredIQ eDiscoveryManager.

Alan Alan is responsible for developing and managing integrated marketing
and training programs designed to educate clients on complex data
Brooks management challenges and solutions. Mr. Brooks has hands-on
Vice President,
Marketing domain experience with processes and technology for all areas of the
eTERA Consulting EDRM model from Information Management through Production.


SHAREPOINT’S EXPANDING REACH


What is SharePoint?

SharePoint is a multi-purpose platform allowing for managing
and provisioning of :
• intranet portals
• extranets and websites
• document management
• file management
• collaboration spaces
• social networking tools
• enterprise search
• business intelligence tooling
• process/information integration
• and third-party developed solutions

Source: Wikipedia


Why is SharePoint Popular?

• It has a wealth of easy-to-use,
web-based collaboration tools
and templates that are similar
to Microsoft Outlook, making it
easy for users to learn
• It is easily extensible and
customizable to fit a wide
variety of businesses
• It can scale
• Often only limited IT
involvement is needed to start
• It is a real 80-20 tool, almost 80% of common business tasks can be
achieved OOTB (out-of-the-box)

Source: SharePoint Magazine, SharePoint Paradox Meets SharePoint Governance
http://sharepointmagazine.net/articles/sharepoint-paradox-meets-sharepoint-governance


SharePoint Deployments on The Rise

Have you implemented Microsoft SharePoint 2007 in your organization? (N=581, 10+ employees)

Source: AIIM Industry Watch SharePoint – Strategies and Experiences, 2010


SharePoint Deployments on The Rise

Have you implemented Microsoft SharePoint 2007 in your organization? (N=581, 10+ employees)

78% Have SharePoint In
Use or Have Plans to
Implement SharePoint



SharePoint & Information Governance Is On People’s Radar

What would you say are the three most important ECM issues or current projects for you right now? (N=607)

Source: AIIM State of the ECM Industry, 2010


CHALLENGES OF SHAREPOINT PRESERVATION AND COLLECTION


Like any Technology, SharePoint also has its Weaknesses

Which of the following information management issues have you experienced with your SharePoint implementation?
(N=362, using or implementing, multiples allowed)



Specific SharePoint Collection Challenges

•New forms of content, e.g.
SharePoint is more than
wikis, blogs, and lists
a collection of
•More types of metadata, e.g.
documents
workflow tasks

User interface is a dynamic web
SharePoint provides UI
interface that presents capture
context
challenges

Is the Custodian the creator or
Who is the Custodian?
the person who has access?


SharePoint is More than a Collection of Documents

• Blogs
• Wikis
• Discussion threads
• User profiles
• Contacts
• Tasks
• Surveys
• Links
• Calendars
• Image repositories
• Announcements


SharePoint Provides UI Context

Customizable web UI; context can be important


Who is the Custodian Based on Context?

• The content created by a target
custodian?
• In a discussion thread, do you want
just the target custodian’s comments
or the entire discussion thread?

• The content the target custodian
can access?
• Is it relevant to the matter if a
custodian had access to specific
information, even if they were not
the creator?

• Will these rules be applied
consistently across all SharePoint
sites?


HOW PENSION COMMITTEE AND VICTOR STANLEY IS RELEVANT


Relevant FRCP Rules for SharePoint

FRCP

FRCP Rule 37(f) protects companies from sanctions for
deleting email as part of “routine, good-faith operation.”
This so-called safe harbor provision protects companies
that delete email as part of ordinary business activities.

However, “good faith operation” also includes the
obligation of the party to make sure that employees
cannot delete messages once they are put on “litigation
hold.”


Pension Committee

Pension Committee v. Banc of America Securities LLC

Judge Sheindlin ruled that 6 plaintiffs acted in a grossly
negligent manner, and 7 plaintiffs to have had negligent
discovery efforts for:

• Failure to properly preserve and collect
• Failure to implement written litigation hold orders in
a timely manner


Victor Stanley

Victor Stanley v. Creative Pipe, Inc

Judge Grimm called this situation the “single most
egregious example of spoliation that I have ever
encountered.” Judge Grimm ruled the defendant :

• Failed to implement any litigation hold plan
• Failed to collect and preserve data
• Willfully destroyed data


Cloud Computing – Hosted SharePoint

Courts consider cloud storage as data under your
control

• Flagg v. City of Detroit, 252 F.R.D. 346 (E.D. Mich. 2008)
• The Court rejected defendant’s arguments that the
Stored Communications Act (SCA) precluded
production of text messages held by a third party
• In re NTL, Inc. Securities Litigation, 244 F.R.D 179, 195
(S.D.N.Y. 2007)
• Goodman v. Praxair Services, Inc. 632 F. Supp. 2d 494
(D. Md. 2009)


How FRCP & Recent Rulings Relate to SharePoint

Implementing litigation hold can potentially be very
difficult.
• SharePoint sites are often very dynamic. While FRCP
provides some protection for overwritten data,
implementation of litigation hold must be timely
made.
• SharePoint sites can be company wide (intranets)
and cross company (extranets). Thousands of users
may need to follow the litigation hold notice. Can use
a backup as a “snapshot,” but if ongoing preservation
has been ordered, it’s very difficult to implement.


RISK ASSESSMENT SERVICE FOR SHAREPOINT


Assessment Services Overview

Assessment Services help answer the tough questions:
• What data do I have?
• Where is it?
• How should I classify and retain it?
• How much exposure/risk does it pose?
• Am I prepared for litigation?

Leverages StoredIQ Information Intelligence Platform

Pre-structured and custom assessments available

Deliverables include detailed reports and analytics in ~2-4
weeks

Data Topology Assessment - Common Use Cases and Needs

•Storage capacity planning
•Data migration or HW end-of-life projects
•Archiving design and deployments
•Non business related data identification for
purging
•Records classification for retention
management
•Basic storage and management reporting

Typical Report Content
Metadata Statistics
• File Type Distribution
• Access/Modification Aging
• Files by User/Department
• File Size Distribution
• Many other file attributes as required
Classification by File/Retention Plan


Legal Readiness & Risk Assessment - Common Use Cases and Needs

• Legal matter identification, collection, and hold
• Litigation exposure
• Data privacy and security exposure
• Regulatory compliance (GLBA, PCI, HIPAA, etc.)
• Regulatory compliance audit reporting

Typical Report Content
• Custodian mapping
• Early case assessment reporting
• Credit Card or SIN reporting
• PII – Standard HIPAA Reports
• Customized reports and data queries can be
created for company specific requirements


Key Take-Aways

• SharePoint is growing, don’t put off eDiscovery planning
• Because of SharePoint’s complexities, effective proactive
information management is a prerequisite for fast, accurate,
defensible and repeatable eDiscovery
• Implement an in-house solution that is IT friendly and
delivers immediate and long-term ROI
• Ensure IT ability to involve the Legal Team – in-house and
outside counsel – early in the process to reap significant cost
reductions downstream, and avoid process attacks
• Deep understanding of SharePoint and all corporate ESI
ensures accurate collection and preservation – and a
defensible eDiscovery process


Available Resources

StoredIQ

White Paper: Taneja Group Whitepaper: StoredIQ’s Flagship
eDiscovery for SharePoint

http://www.storediq.com/resources/whitepapers

Technology Brief: StoredIQ SharePoint Support

http://www.storediq.com/resources/collateral


Available Resources

eTERA Consulting

Insight Bulletin: Victor Stanley

White Paper: Is Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
Pervasive on Your Company’s Computers?

http://www.eteraconsulting.com/resource-center/articles


Contact Information

For additional information, please contact info@eteraconsulting.com.


E-Discovery Challenges of Microsoft SharePoint

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Featured

Featured (20)

E-Discovery Challenges of Microsoft SharePoint