Time for another thought leader interview on eDiscovery Today! My latest interview was with the CEO of Compliance, a state-of-the-art integrated eDiscovery and managed review provider!
Marc Zamsky, CEDS, has been architecting and delivering comprehensive eDiscovery solutions and legal review services since 1996. As CEO of Compliance, Marc guides the firm’s strategic direction and initiatives to deliver the highest standards of quality and client experience. Marc serves as a champion to advance innovative approaches for client cost control and data management, including implementation of advanced analytics and workflows for corporate legal departments and their outside counsel. He brings technical and legal expertise to his leadership, drawing on experience working with most of the Fortune 500 and AmLaw 200, as well as from practicing law as a commercial litigation attorney in Philadelphia after graduating cum laude from Temple Law School.
Marc, it’s hard to believe, but we’ve been in the midst of the pandemic for over six months now. How have you and the Compliance team been handling the pandemic challenges and the remote work environment during it?
As disruptive as the pandemic has been to our lives, the transition to remote for Compliance has been quite seamless, and that’s because all of our systems were purpose built for remote access and remote work. Everything from our two-factor authentication (2FA) systems to our security protocols that were in place, the use of some of our endpoint server based security, and the fact that we’ve had employees distributed across the country in work-at-home environments for the last several years made it a seamless transition for us and our clients. In fact, for many at Compliance, it was no transition at all. From a technology perspective for our internal team, we were able to continue delivering services to our clients essentially uninterrupted.
From a client perspective, they’ve always been able to gain access to their data through our Discovery-as-a-Service (DaaS) platform, whether they’re in their office or not. While there are varying security protocols set up around that, our systems and access to data in the various applications and platforms we use don’t require anyone to be on premise or have a certain type of connection—this made for a seamless transition for clients moving to a remote work scenario. We’ve received great feedback from clients that they didn’t feel any pain or disruption, and they had access to the same tools, technology, systems, and support they’ve always had.
Concerning our managed review teams, when the shutdown hit, we had hundreds of contract attorneys working in our offices. So, the ability for us to effectively “flip a switch” and transition multiple projects and hundreds of contract attorneys, as well as implement two security work-from-home solutions (one using a hardened laptop, the other using a secure Citrix portal) allowed us to immediately deliver secure remote managed review. In just a couple of days we had distributed workstations or set everybody up through Citrix and were able to continue our reviews with remote monitoring and project management solutions for managed reviews where our project managers were able to continue to track metrics, gain insight, review productivity, and ensure compliance with our security protocols.
Honest, on all front, it’s pretty much been business as usual for us.
With remote work so prevalent these days, it seems cloud solutions are more attractive than ever. Do you agree? And, what trends do you see regarding use of cloud-based solutions for eDiscovery?
Absolutely! For us, cloud-based solutions really come down to several different iterations of what it means to go to “the cloud.” Both corporations and law firms are starting to embrace outsourcing infrastructure, hardware, and software. At the same time, they’re increasing security protocols as well as accessibility, whether or not that’s through a third-party provider. Whether it’s (what we’ll call) the “public cloud” (i.e., the “Azures” and “AWSs” of the world) or moving offsite to a data center (through either a service provider, third-party infrastructure manager, or some other party that’s going to help manage that offsite infrastructure), I believe we’re going to see clients embracing greater (what I’ll call) “menu options.” Because when you have your own technology stack and you’re investing in software and hardware and in the people for maintenance, upgrades, upkeep, etc., you try to limit the technology stack you maintain, right? You have one primary platform, one primary analytics tool, one desktop management system and so forth.
When you start to move to the cloud, there is greater extensibility for how applications are deployed, and I think that we’re going to see corporations and law firms start to take advantage of the functionality of the cloud, its power, and its scalability. In addition to the number of service providers and partners that offer multiple technology stacks, I believe that we’re going to see a greater proliferation of software across the market. We’re going to see greater use of case-specific software implementation and I think we’re ultimately going to start utilizing the cloud the way it was really meant to be used: as more of an “as-a-service” offering.
We’re just getting started! Part Two of my interview with Marc Zamsky will be published on Wednesday.
So, what do you think? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.
Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners, or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.