Microsoft 365 Data
Classification
and Retention Solutions

Automated Legal Preservation for Microsoft 365

Epiq leverages its domain expertise to advise enterprises on implementing Microsoft 365 in-place preservation capabilities to automate compliance with their legal hold obligations

Background

Over the past 15 years, Microsoft and other third-party software providers have offered solutions allowing enterprises to systematically retain data for legal hold purposes. Often this is managed by utilizing a disparate set of legal processes and information technology.

As a result, it is common to observe that data retained from these patchwork solutions isn’t accurately removed from hold status after a legal obligation ends, or even worse, data isn’t retained when it should have been due to a business process design or communication gap.

An automated solution using existing Microsoft 365 technology eliminates human error, reduces administrative costs, and ensures that in-place preservation processes are in sync with your issuance of legal holds.

Epiq Solution 

Epiq utilizes proprietary software to enable an automated solution within Microsoft 365 to utilize inputs from your existing legal hold system of record to (1) automatically create eDiscovery cases in Microsoft 365, (2) add custodians to each case, and (3) designate each data source for those custodians in a hold policy.

How Epiq Delivers Results

 

As new matters are added to the legal hold system of record or revised for existing cases, the automated software will detect and synchronize updates for those changes. Each workflow action will generate a report allowing stakeholders to audit the accuracy of the processes.

As a Microsoft Gold partner, Epiq provisions industry-leading technology and executes mature project management principles to defensibly use Microsoft 365 Advanced eDiscovery.

Example Workflow

Legal Hold Migration to Microsoft 365

Epiq Enables Enterprises to Migrate Existing In-Place Preservation Technology to Microsoft 365 Advanced eDiscovery

As enterprise productivity applications, legal technology, and compliance requirements evolve, Microsoft and other third-party software providers continue to enhance the tools and methods available for systematic preservation of data for legal holds. Over time, enterprises often manage data preservation utilizing multiple solutions from disparate processes and technology.

These patchwork solutions increase the associated security and compliance risks of in-place preservation, legal hold management, and the administrative cost associated with these requirements. Using multiple systems to manage holds can also lead to inadvertent data loss associated with human error or gaps in processes.

Organizations that have standardized on Microsoft 365 Advanced eDiscovery to manage in-place legal holds can eliminate many of the risks associated with patchwork solutions by moving all legacy legal hold preservation methods to a single solution.

How Epiq Delivers Results

 

Epiq works with legal and IT stakeholders to determine the most efficient and cost-effective approach to issuing legal holds, including evaluating and implementing 3rd party legal hold solutions. For organizations with processes already established, an assessment is performed and recommendations for process optimization are provided (along with an implementation road map).
 

Epiq Solution

Epiq works with your legal department to assess the hold requirements and plan a defensible migration. This process uncovers decision points regarding the extent of the migration, naming conventions, and implementation strategy. Epiq’s proprietary software, customized for each specific client migration, migrates in-place preservation hold policies to Advanced eDiscovery.
 

Example Supported Migration Paths

• Microsoft Core eDiscovery to Advanced eDiscovery
• Exchange In-Place Holds to Advanced eDiscovery
• Exchange In-Place Holds to Core eDiscovery
• SharePoint eDiscovery Center to Core eDiscovery
• SharePoint eDiscovery Center to Advanced eDiscovery
• Exchange Litigation Holds to Core eDiscovery
• Exchange Litigation Holds to Advanced eDiscovery