Survey Reveals Users Unprepared

TORRANCE, Calif. -- LiveOffice Managed Messaging Services, a leading provider of on-demand messaging security, archiving and compliance solutions, today released survey findings showing companies are not well prepared for the new amendments made to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), which require organizations that operate within the United States to manage their electronic data so that it can be produced in a timely and complete manner. As a result, many IT departments are seeking technology solutions to help implement effective e-discovery plans.

On the heels of headline-making email debacles such as Intel's anti-competitive lawsuit with AMD that involved missing emails, and the White House situation where the Republican Party was unable to account for five million emails, businesses are recognizing the need to quickly and easily produce emails. Additionally, the amendments made to the FRCP are driving the need for cost effective technologies that simplify the e-discovery process.

The LiveOffice survey, conducted by Osterman Research, polled more than 400 IT mangers and end users nationwide in early June. Survey findings revealed 63 percent of respondents have been required to produce an email as part of a legal action, yet 53 percent admit they are not prepared to meet the new requirements of the amendments made to the FRCP. In fact, one in three (28.9%) organizations admits they are not even aware of the FRCP regulations.

The survey also revealed that when it comes to e-discovery requests, IT managers cringe. The study results show that IT managers find e-discovery requests so painful that dealing with the IRS was the only activity respondents found more unpleasant. In fact, more than half of survey respondents cited that they'd rather have a cavity filled than respond to an e-discovery request.

According to the survey, 52 percent of IT managers polled do not have an e-discovery plan that has been prepared by legal counsel, increasing the chances of costly mistakes. "The cost of being unprepared is huge, and in some cases, catastrophic," said Matt Smith, president of LiveOffice. "Instead of spending half a million dollars on reviewing information on hard-to-navigate tape back-up systems, companies can spend less than 10 cents a day, per user, using a web-based system to archive emails."Osterman Research