Scope
The 2008 Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey examines the state of electronic discovery in 2007.
Key areas include:
- Size of the market
- Market growth/shrinkage
- Leading providers
- Market trends
Versions of Report
We generate three versions of our report:
- A public report, published in the August 2008 issue of Law Technology News, posted on LTN’s website under the title “Mining for Gold.”
- A participant’s copy, which is somewhat more detailed; and
- A much more detailed subscriber report, which sells for $3,000.
Market Size & Growth
The overview results of the 2008 Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey Report are available here in summary form. The full report – 360 pages long – is available for purchase.
Survey rankings can be searched at http://www.sochaconsulting.com/003/topproviders.php
The Warning
Once again, we offer lists of leading EDD services and software providers. We stress, however, that anyone who makes buying decisions primarily on these rankings is a fool.
As with any top-X list, it is important to keep these lists in context and use them only as appropriate. You should not choose a provider based solely on these lists, or solely on the basis of any other top-X list. The factors we examined may not apply to your circumstances, and mostly likely will not apply with the specific weightings and ratings we used. In addition, you will have needs and considerations we could not have taken into account.
It also is important to note that our evaluation model relies heavily on information provided through interviews or questionnaires (spreadsheets). We recognize that there are other vendors with the qualifications to rank within the top X, however the data on them was not available to us. Some providers, including prominent ones, did not provide any data and others, including prominent ones, provided only limited information.
2007 Total Estimated Electronic Discovery Market
Our survey covered the 2007 calendar year. Based on our research, we estimate that 2007 commercial electronic discovery revenues were in the range of $2.794 billion – up 43% from 2006:
| 2007 Total Estimated Electronic Discovery Market | |
| Tiers | Estimated 2007 Revenues |
| Tier 1 | $1.171 B |
| Tiers 2 & 3 | $893 M |
| Do-It-Yourself | $260 M |
| Software | $470 M |
| Total | $2.794 B |
Projected Electronic Discovery Market Growth/Shrinkage
As in the past, we used consumer and provider expectations to prepare projections for market growth (or shrinkage) over the next three years – 2008, 2009 and 2010. Judging from those expectations, we anticipate that market growth will continue to be strong with increases of approximately 21% from 2007 to 2008, another 20% from 2008 to 2009, and 15% from 2009 to 2010:
| Projected Electronic Discovery Market Growth – Based On Consumer Expectations | |
| Year | Projected Market Size |
| 2008 | $3.381 B |
| 2009 | $4.051 B |
| 2010 | $4.666 B |
Electronic Discovery Market Growth/Shrinkage – Past & Projected
The chart below shows these estimates and projections, and compares them with estimates and projections from our earlier reports:
Subscriber Report
The subscriber version is the full copy of our 2008 Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey report. At 360 pages, it is an in-depth examination of the state of the electronic discovery industry in 2007. Key areas addressed include:
- Size of the market
- Market growth/shrinkage
- Leading providers
- Market trends
Structure of the Report
The 2008 subscriber report consists of an executive summary, 16 sections addressing various aspects of the state of electronic discovery in 2007, and then sections on methodology and disclosures.
The report contains 97 tables and 263 charts to support and expand on the text of the report.
Accompanying the report are a set of appendices containing complete copies of the law firm consumer, corporate consumer and provider spreadsheets sent out to potential participants.
Sections of the Report
The main sections of the subscriber report cover:
- Market size & shares
- Market leaders:
- Top electronic discovery service providers:
- Overall
- By selected evaluation criteria:
- Experience
- Capacity
- Corporation rankings
- Law firm rankings
- By electronic discovery stages (edrm.net):
- Identification
- Preservation
- Collection
- Processing
- Review
- Analysis
- Production
- Top electronic discovery software providers:
- Overall
- By selected evaluation criteria:
- Corporation rankings
- Law firm rankings
- By electronic discovery stages (edrm.net):
- Identification
- Preservation
- Collection
- Processing
- Review
- Analysis
- Production
- Top electronic discovery service providers:
- Consumer & provider perspectives
- Expenditures/revenue, 2007 and anticipated
- Demand for electronic discovery services & software
- Provider capacity
- Types of cases with electronic discovery
- Types of data handled
- Who buys electronic discovery services
- Who buys electronic discovery software
- Who influences the decision of which providers to use
- Who controls the consumer-provider relationship
- Preferred provider relationships
- Fee structures
- Software: what consumers are using
- Methodology
- Demographics
Purchasing the Subscriber Version of the Survey Report
To purchase a copy of the subscriber version of the 2008 Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey report, contact us by email (surveys@sochaconsulting.com) or phone (George at 651.690.1739 or Tom at 651.483.0022)
- Price: $3,000
- Format: PDF file with PDF and XLS appendices
- Usage: Internal only; not for republication or redistribution to others
We do not sell sections of the report, only the entire report, as the report is not designed to be broken into separate, independent units.
We do not provide free or discounted copies of the subscriber report to participants. Were we to do so, we would not be able to conduct the survey at all. The survey takes about nine months and many hundreds of hours to prepare.
Sample
For a sample of the 2008 Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey Subscriber’s Report, click here.
The sample contains:
- Table of Contents
- Table of Tables
- Table of Figures
Methodology
Conducting the Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey takes about 9 months, starting in October with refinements to the model we use and ending with publication of the subscriber, participant and public reports in June.
How We Gathered Information for Our Survey
- We contacted potential participants – We started by contacting as many potential participants as we could. We sent individual email invitations to individuals at electronic discovery services and software providers, law firms and corporations. We also post open invitations on the Litigation Support Mailing List (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/litsupport), on this web site, and anywhere else suggested to us.
- We sent spreadsheets to all participants – To each participant, we sent a spreadsheet to assist the participant in gathering data. Designed for easy review and data entry, the spreadsheets cover a wide range of electronic discovery activities. While we would love to have everyone fill out their spreadsheets in full, we know that will not be the case..
- Some participants stopped there – Some participants chose to provide information via spreadsheet as their schedule permitted and preferred to avoid scheduling an interview. For those people, we provided spreadsheets.
- We conducted telephone interviews – Many participants preferred a combination of spreadsheet and interview. We conducted the interviews by phone; generally they lasted between 45 and 90 minutes.
- We collected information from other on-line and off-line sources – Once again, we went to a variety of sources for information about the state of electronic discovery in 2007 and beyond.
What Data We Gathered
We worked with data from or about 155 organizations that provided or consumed electronic discovery services or software – 107 providers, 29 law firms and 19 corporations. We initially contacted nearly 1,300 individuals about participation in the Survey. Ultimately, we gathered information from the organizations through direct confidential interviews and three indepth spreadsheets – one for law firms, a second for corporations, and a third for services and software providers. As in years past, the consumers represented a cross-section law firms as well as some of the largest companies in the country and the providers came from a robust cross section of the industry. Law firm participation included 16 of the AmLaw 100, 9 of them from the top 50, and 2 of those from the top 10. In addition to gathering information from these primary sources, we also collected an array of secondary source information from variety of business and information resources.
How We Evaluated the Data We Gathered
- For each participant in our Survey, we prepared a spreadsheet containing information from and about the participant’s organization.
- We aggregated information from the individual spreadsheets into three higher-level spreadsheets, one for providers, one for law firm consumers, and one for corporate consumers. As part of the aggregation, we weighted and rated each line of information.
- As part of the rating process, we considered information obtained from sources other than interviews.
- From there, we prepared a master spreadsheet consolidating information from the three higher-level spreadsheets.
- Working with these spreadsheets, we prepared our analyses and ultimately our reports.
Additional Information
For additional information about the methodology we used, click here.
Confidentiality
We understand the importance of confidentiality to those who provide us with information as well as to those who purchase our surveys. Accordingly, short of a court order or similar requirement:
- We do not and will not identify individuals or organizations that participate in the Survey.
- We do not and will not identify individuals or organizations that purchase the Survey report.
- We, and we alone, have access to the raw survey data. We do not sell the raw data to anyone. We do not share the raw data with anyone.
Independence & Disclosure
The Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey is an independent survey conducted by two independent consultants, George Socha and Tom Gelbmann.
We are not affiliated with any provider or consumer of electronic discovery services or software. Although we always are open to suggestions about how to improve our survey, we do not allow any provider or consumer to participate in the construction of the model we use to gather and evaluate information about the electronic discovery market. We do not allow any provider or consumer to assist in gathering data, other than as interviewees or by completing spreadsheet files sent to them at their request. We also do not allow any provider or consumer to assist in evaluating the data we obtain or in preparing any of our reports.
The Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery survey is supported solely by purchases of copies of the report we publish. We do not charge anyone to participate in the survey. We do not take payments to place organizations in any of the rankings we publish.
Since 2003, Socha Consulting LLC has provided paid consulting services to (or has been reimbursed for travel expenses) by a number of the services providers named in this report, and has provided paid consulting services to (or have received software at no charge from) a number of the software providers named. Socha Consulting LLC also has provided consulting services to a number of services and software providers not mentioned in this report, including potential electronic discovery providers, electronic discovery consumers, venture capital groups, private equity firms, and others.
Gelbmann & Associates, an independent management consulting firm focused on the legal sector, has provided paid consulting services to some of the providers named in this report.
Since 2005, over 150 electronic discovery services and software providers, law firms and corporations have participated in EDRM. Among those organizations are ones mentioned in this report. Participating organizations pay a fee to be active in the projects. Used to defray the costs of managing EDRM, that fee is paid to Socha Consulting LLC and Gelbmann & Associates. Full lists of the participating organizations are available at http://edrm.net.
