The Electronic Discovery Reference Model

Launched in May 2005, the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) was designed to address the lack of standards and guidelines in the electronic discovery market – a problem indentified in the 2003 and 2004 Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery surveys. 

As corporations continue to face the challenge of Big Data management with greater demands and inquiries on electronically stored information for litigation, regulatory compliance, or corporate investigations, following this simple EDRM eases the complexities involved in this process. Therefore, whether you are in-house counsel, corporate IT, a vendor or a law firm, the EDRM allows for everyone to understand and follow best practices to manage their eDiscovery from the initial management of electronically stored information to the discovery, productions and presentations. 

Information Management & Identification

• Establish a plan to manage electronically stored information (ESI) from creation through the final stage of disposition 
• Identify and locate potential sources of ESI and determine the scope 

Preservation

• Establish a plan to preserve potentially large sets of information with defensibility, consistency, proper documentation, and diligence
• Identify how to efficiently preserve in a possibility of multiple global locations, platforms and formats
• Prevent the risks of spoliation and sanctions related to destruction and transfer of evidence without interrupting business processes

Collection

• Collect & Analysis Data
• Data Recovery/Extraction
• Hard Drive Imaging & Analysis 
• Extensive file analysis of data stores (de-duplication, metadata extraction)
• Strict and defensible Chain of Custody for all data

Sfile Partners leverage the Sfile HPC Engines to process all sizes of data from 1GB to "Big Data" to rapidly gain insight using our analytic tools and reports.

Processing, Review, Analysis, and Production
Using one of Sfile’s greatest and unique advantages, the processing of ESI at an average rate of over 165 GB/hr in a single batch, partners leverage Sfile to quickly establish the scope of relevant data. ESI Processing includes:

• Extraction of PST files
• ESI analysis 
• Culling
• DeDuplication 
• DeNISTing
• Indexing

Review
With integrated Enterprise Content Management and Document Review Tools, Sfile is an ideal cloud based hosted platform to perform early case assessment and legal review jobs of all sizes from gigabytes to multiple terabytes for one to thousands of users. Our most raved about features include:

• Easy to uses and intuitive online experience
• Integrated native document viewer with no imaging conversion required
• Advanced search and filter options
• Sharing and collaboration features

Analysis
With the ability to perform analysis of all types including metadata, keyword, dates, and a number of email and file filters, coupled with Sfile's unprecedented processing speeds, stake holders are able to get greater matter insight with faster data analytics.

Production
Sfile's integrated production tools and services offer multiple forms of document production capabilities including native file, TIFF and PDF formats. Additionally, our professional services team stands ready to handle even the most complex request with the most flexible and customizable features such as:

• Produced images can be endorsed with bates numbering and other branding text
• Redacted sections of documents are removed from the extracted text within load files 
• Export to load file formats such as Concordance and Summation or a number of other eDiscovery systems

Sfile's partner network of Certified Computer Examiners (CCE) often serve as expert witnesses and offer defensibly sound best practices to assure the confidence required to meet any challenge. Sfile's network of CCE partners stand ready to deliver professional services to deliver:

• Exhibit preparation, including handling and testing of different kinds of exhibition file formats
• Case Management solution to support key litigation functions such as service of pleadings, court orders and discovery productions
• Evidence archiving and hosting with ability to configure system for global data treatment

Offering a full end-to-end eDiscovery solution to control costs, reduce risk and provide a wide variety of flexible technology solutions, Sfile and its partner network provide a proactive and complete approach for managing all stages of the eDiscovery process.

Continuing to deliver game changing advantages that create real answers to the market’s demand for meaningful solutions

Sfile understands that enterprise content and data management solutions are not a “one-size fits all.” Big Data has become a key basis of competition, growth, and security, and is rapidly becoming a disruptive force that will change your current data management methods.

As a leading provider of Big Data Processing and Analytics with a SaaS-based delivery of eDiscovery, litigation support, and collaborative technology solutions, Sfile has extensive experience working and customizing enterprise solutions for top Fortune 500 companies and AMLaw 200 law firms to meet their challenges of Big Data management. 

Sfile’s new product offering of End-to-End eDiscovery with Pricing Insurance^TM eliminates the economic risk associated with eDiscovery by targeting the unpredictable cost of document production. This product offering is offered through a simple and predictable pricing model and includes the following:

• ESI Processing & Culling
• Deduplication & deNisting
• Image OCRing
  
• Date, Concept, & Keyword Filtering
• Advanced Searching Capabilities
• 1 Year of Online Hosted Repository with Collaboration & Standard Document Review
  
• Unlimited Users
• SAS 70 Data Center
  
• Native, PDF, or TIFF Production of Up To 10% of Ingested Data INCLUDED
• Guaranteed Discounted Production Rate for Data in Excess of 10% of Ingested Data
  

As businesses demand more secure collaboration and sharing functions for managing enterprise content and large data sets to meet legal and regulatory compliance, Sfile’s platform seamlessly enables users to organize, manage, share, preserve, and collaborate with documents in one single platform that includes the following:

• Unlimited users with customized role-based security rights
• 1 year of initial hosting with no monthly fees
  
• Access to data from anywhere and from any mobile device
• Zero-footprint, web-based solutions – no plug-ins 
• Integrated native document viewer with no imaging conversion required
• Enterprise Advanced Search with smart filtering options
• Defensible disposition and preservation of legacy and working datasets
• Secure SSL Encrypted Connectivity
• SAS 70 Type II Certified Data Center (US)
• Safe Harbor Compliant 
• 24/7 Performance and Threat Monitoring with multi-level alert protocols

Understanding the time and the heavy cost associated with front-end processing of Big Data and large collections, we have leveraged our high performance computing engines to offer Pure Native Processing at unprecedented speeds and scalability. For a simple and predictable price, we convert large native datasets from PST and user files to TIFF or PDF with a standard load file of choice with the Sfile Pure Native Processing that includes:

• ESI Processing & Culling
• Extraction of archive contents, deduplication, deNisting
• Date, Concept, & Keyword Filtering  
• Standard Load File Creation

From two-party to multi-party complex matters, eliminate the logistics of paper production and delivery and manage all your PRP litigation matters with Sfile eServe, a case management platform designed to support key litigation functions such as service of pleadings, court orders and discovery productions. Based on a monthly subscription, this includes:

• Unlimited Postings, Users, Downloads, Storage
• Monthly Activity Reports
• Quality Control Audit Reports

Sfile’s global partner network of over 50+ partners nationwide and in the UK, positions us as a premier eDiscovery technology solution capitalizing on the efficient use of highly available resources and valuable partner expertise, such as:

• CCE Certified Computer Expert Witnesses
• Hard Drive Imaging & Analysis
• Data Recovery/Extraction
• Collection & Preservation Analysis
• Computer Expert Witnesses
• Email Investigations
• Security Audits
• Incident Response
• Large Bulk Scanning
• All Grades of Scanning (B&W, Color)
• OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
• LDD (Logical Document Determination)
• Document Coding

For more strategic methods to manage daily operations efficiently, effectively, and economically, Sfile’s team of experts work with your organization to customize and implement technology solutions to optimize internal workflows, including operations such as:

• Records Management and Retention
• Accounts Payable and Receivables
• Bill of Landings (BOLs) Management
• Digital Mailroom Services
  
• Day-to-day Document Management
• Litigation Document Support

Whatever approach you wish to take to meet the daily challenges of document management to eDiscovery to Big Data processing and analysis, Sfile can customize a solution to fit your needs.

Sfile End-to-End Electronic Discovery with Pricing Insurance^TM

Sfile continues to deliver game changing advantages that create real answers to the market’s demand for meaningful solutions from our “Techonomy” leaders.

Houston, TX (PRWEB) November 18, 2011 - Today, Sfile Technology Corporation, a leading provider of Big Data Processing and Analytics with a SaaS-based delivery of eDiscovery, litigation support, and collaborative workspace solutions, announces its newest product offering, Sfile End-to-End Electronic Discovery with Pricing Insurance^TM.

This new offering targets litigation support providers and their clients, seeking an end-to-end eDiscovery solution with an equally transparent and predictable end-to-end price. After considerable engineering efforts to create truly powerful processing technology, Sfile continues to deliver game changing advantages that create real answers to the market’s demand for meaningful solutions from our “Techonomy” leaders. The result is a new model for pricing that measures the very real risk of the entire electronic discovery process, factors in quantum advances in technology, and delivers new pricing paradigms that offset that risk with guaranteed maximum price exposure.

Recent commentaries circulating strong opinions about eDiscovery pricing models further demonstrate that the main issues remain to be price inflation and unpredictability, disconnection between needs and limits, and even transparency of the actual pricing itself.

"With the inclusion of a “price insurance” policy, Sfile eliminates the economic risk associated with the unpredictable processing-to-production cost. Finally, a solution that grants peace of mind to all involved in the eDiscovery process."

With breakthrough ESI processing speeds of 154 gigabytes per hour, and ‘native file to black-and-white TIFF’ production with industry-standard load files, at the incredible rate of 6 minutes per gigabyte, Sfile is by far leading the processing-to-production experience. Such technology performances reinforce Sfile’s capability to offer huge efficiencies to the marketplace with very little risk and at a greater cost-benefit to our partners and end-users.

Sfile End-to-End Electronic Discovery with Pricing Insurance^TM is offered to our partner network at the industry’s first $100/GB ingestion rate, which includes the following features in a cloud-based SaaS Platform:

•     ESI processing and analysis
•     De-duplication
•     De-NISTing
•     Keyword filtering
•     Date filtering
•     Concept filtering
•     Advanced searching
•     1 year of online hosted repository with collaboration and document review functionality
•     Unlimited users
•     SAS 70 data center
•     Native, tiff, or pdf production of up to 10% of ingested data INCLUDED
•     Guaranteed discounted production rate for data in excess of 10% of ingested data at $250/GB

“With the addition of pricing insurance and the advances afforded by Sfile’s HPC Massive Parallel Processing Engine, we have created a true end-to-end price for eDiscovery where cost can be as low as $100/GB and is guaranteed to never exceed $325/GB to our partners. The more you ingest into Sfile, the more you save,” says Frank Perez, CEO of Sfile. With the value added by our professional partner network, end-user pricing should be significantly impacted in the marketplace delivering true value and predictable pricing to end-users.

To find out more on how to take advantage of this incredible offering for any size job, from 1 GB to multiple TBs, or about becoming a partner, please email us at info@sfile.com.

About Sfile

Sfile is a leading provider of Big Data Processing and Analytics with a SaaS-based delivery of eDiscovery, litigation support, and collaborative workspace solutions designed to support electronic discovery and document review. Sfile’s solutions are offered through an international network of channel partners and hosted in Sfile’s data center. The Sfile platform is delivered in a true Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model and operates in a multi-tenant environment with high performance parallel processor engines to support ESI processing and analysis. This enables Sfile to offer a market-changing disruptive pricing model that immediately provides economic benefits to Channel Partners, Law Firms and Corporations. Sfile can be found on the web at http://www.sfile.com.

For more information regarding Sfile's press release, please contact press@sfile.com.

Transforming Commodity Servers into High Performance Computing Servers

With over 25 years of knowledge and experience building technology to provide worldwide enterprise content and knowledge management solutions for organizations, Sfile is pleased to introduce the latest in data processing which promises quantitative leaps in accuracy, quality, and speed. Sfile’s HPC processor leverages the latest multi-core processors to split the work of ESI file analysis and TIFF productions between distinct cores using our proprietary patent-pending parallel processing technology.

Technology

Efficiencies

With Sfile, all data that is imported goes through our ESI Analysis and processing engines for normalization and optimization. Sfile’s engine robustness ensures data is processed with no additional time lapse and provides greater cost-benefits. 

Sfile Technology Corporation, a leading provider of Big Data Processing and Analytics with a SaaS-based delivery of eDiscovery, litigation support, and collaborative workspace solutions offered through a disruptive end-to-end pricing model, is proud to announce today the proven and unprecedented processing speeds of the Sfile HPC Predictor Engine.

Houston, Texas (PRWEB) November 16, 2011 - Sfile Technology Corporation, a leading provider of Big Data Processing and Analytics with a SaaS-based delivery of eDiscovery, litigation support, and collaborative workspace solutions offered through a disruptive end-to-end pricing model, is proud to announce today the proven and unprecedented processing speeds of the Sfile HPC Predictor Engine. The Sfile HPC Predictor Engine is a supercharged massive parallel processing engine with an integrated, proprietary, patent pending technology which leverages the latest multi-core, multi-processor commodity servers.

With such innovation, the talented development team at Sfile is indeed transforming commodity servers into High Performance Computing Servers. The Sfile HPC Processor for ESI gives our partners the unique advantage of a risk-based pricing model to predict future outcomes based on real world experiences to disrupt the inefficient and risky practice of data being transferred from one system to another. With the advantage of the HPC Predictor Engine for parallel processing, Sfile achieves an average rate of processing electronically stored information at 154 gigabytes per hour on one industry standard server – where industry claims averages of 76 gigabytes per hour.

Along with our fast ESI processing speeds, the Sfile HPC Processor can convert native files to black and white TIFF images for document production, with an industry-standard load file, at an incredible rate of 6 minutes per gigabyte! This yields unheard-of performance results in both the processing and production stages, which allow us to offer huge efficiencies and cost savings into the marketplace while at the same time, creating a high degree of predictability to overall eDiscovery cost. “With this advantage and our ability to manage price risk, Sfile will be able to extend even greater value and cost savings to our partners and in turn, end users,” says Kevin O’Connell, President of Sfile Technology Corporation.

For an ever growing and evolving eDiscovery industry that demands new pricing and performance models, this advantage is essential. The proprietary and faster data processing technology allows Sfile to deliver high-quality solutions to its partners and provide realistic prices for eDiscovery services. The Sfile HPC Predictor Engine extends the reach of discovery and its status as the premier eDiscovery technology solution by capitalizing on the efficient use of highly available resources. According to CEO, Frank Perez, “Sfile’s HPC Predictor Engine technology has only barely been tapped. In the near future, Sfile will be able to offer richer data analytics and new product offerings that will fully take advantage of this new technology.”

Sfile’s leadership and ongoing innovation clearly demonstrates its ultimate vision to leverage creative engineering to change the economics of marketplaces with disruptive technology. According to Mr. Perez,

“The innovators in our marketplace are looking beyond traditional methods and finding solutions to all sorts of problems. Big Data is a reality and we have to adapt in order to face this tidal wave threatening to overwhelm businesses everywhere. Technology like the HPC Predictor Engine will not only defend us against this threat, but will be leveraged to empower us to gain better insight and even greater possibilities. The future is bright.”

About Sfile

Sfile is a leading provider of Big Data Processing and Analytics with a SaaS-based delivery of eDiscovery, litigation support, and collaborative workspace solutions designed to support electronic discovery and document review. Sfile’s solutions are offered through an international network of channel partners and hosted in Sfile’s data center. The Sfile platform is delivered in a true Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model and operates in a multi-tenant environment with high performance parallel processor engines to support ESI processing and analysis. This enables Sfile to offer a market-changing disruptive pricing model that immediately provides economic benefits to Channel Partners, Law Firms and Corporations. Sfile can be found on the web at http://www.sfile.com.

As a review team prepares to review files in the Repository, reviewers may come across the necessity to identify specific document types. Case Managers and Administrators will now have the ability to easily edit and add document types to the drop down section of the Document Type field. Abstract teams can then enter the requested information in the Abstract window which is very helpful when reviewing scanned images and electronic files with no information.

This is increasingly becoming a standard during the review process as we start to see the rapid advancement of new programs and thus, more different types of documents...as if there weren't enough already. 

Contact us for more information.

As Sfile continues to grow, we are diligently making improvements behind the scenes to ensure rock-solid reliability, security and performance for all users. One of our many improvements includes moving our servers to a new data center facility, CyrusOne – a SAS70 Type II certified data center in Houston, Texas.

Why move to a new facility?
CyrusOne will provide us with more power to handle performance enhancements to allow us greater room for expansion as our partners' requirements grow.

When will the facility move happen?
The move is scheduled for Saturday, June 25, from 4PM to 11PM CDT.  If additional downtimes are necessary, you will be contacted immediately with any updated information.

How will this impact me?
The system will be unavailable during this window. As a result of this migration, we will be changing our IP addresses.

If you have custom hard-coded configurations, these MUST be updated. You will be contacted directly by Sfile with the updated address.  You can add the new ranges anytime before Saturday and remove the old IPs in a couple of weeks.

If you do NOT have custom hard-coded configurations, no action is necessary.

Have Questions?
If you have any questions regarding this upcoming maintenance window or the migration, please contact us at support@sfile.com.

Sometimes it is just more convenient to have more than one option when responding to a coding field. Therefore, Sfile now offers a Multi-Options option when creating customized coding fields to capture the most relevant data.

Sfile has created a new type of field that creates a menu to select multiple options as a response within a tag – Multi-Options. 

This text is still fully searchable via the Advanced Search Builder and is still conveniently comma delimited. 

A new feature has been recently rolled out that allows users to view a list of duplicate documents while looking at the first unique item. Reviewers can now review a single document and then make the decision to apply the determination to all duplicates or to just that singular instance.

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