In Case You Missed It (June 9 – June 15, 2008)

News stories from the week of June 9, 2008 that piqued our interest:

E-Signatures on Rise in 2008; ‘Get On Board,’ Group Urges
SHRM, June 9, 2008

This article details how e-signatures are becoming increasingly popular, especially within the financial industry.

Jerry Buckley, one of the counsels to the Electronic Signature and Records Association, states that five of the top 10 insurance carriers in the United States offer electronic signatures.

“Electronic signing was one of the top 10 information technology initiatives for the insurance industry in 2008; 77 percent of mortgage lenders indicated they will implement electronic signatures,” Buckley added.

While HR may have a hard time convincing management to forgo the cost and time needed to invest in electronic records, they can offer these great benefits:

• Reduced transaction costs;

• Significant increase in the speed and closure rates of transactions;

• Faster detection and correction of errors;

• Process management that is built into transactions so required disclosures, storage retention times and notifications can be handled programmatically and not forgotten; and

• Reduced carbon footprint from eliminating the need to reproduce, process and transport paper contracts.

ESI Trends Report from Kroll ONTRACK
Complex Discovery, June 10, 2008

Wouldn’t you think that legal professionals would be up to speed on ESI if they were managing it for their clients? One would sure hope so, but according to research conducted by Kroll ONTRACK, many of these attorneys are still simply trying to figure out what ESI exactly is.

The survey revealed in-house counsel’s legal and technology experiences, specifically their ESI management practices. The results boiled down into three themes:

• Preparedness: Organizations are not properly managing their ESI due to a lack of “understanding, preparedness, and enforcement”.

• Ownership: Company departments are unsure of their responsibilities when it comes to ESI matters.

• Challenges: U.S. and U.K. legal teams each have different ESI priorities, thus creating confusion across all borders.

It’s shocking to realize just how little some individuals know about the legal topics they’re suppose to be “experts” on. If legal departments aren’t familiar with ESI, how can they be expected to understand how to handle it and make sure that ESI makes it into evidence?

To learn more about the research findings, be sure to check out the report in its entirety.

Mimosa Systems Survey Reveals Two-Thirds of UK Firms Lack Confidence in Their Ability to Recover Microsoft Exchange
BusinessWire, June 11, 2008

According to a survey conducted by Mimosa Systems, a leader in live content archiving solutions, two-thirds of IT executives have little confidence in their ability to completely recover information on their Microsoft Exchange servers in the event of a failure or disaster. The research also showed that many UK firms spend hours trying to recover a failed Microsoft Exchange server, which is turn, leaves employees helpless for a good chunk of the work day.

“Email has become the most pervasive business application of the decade, and Microsoft Exchange is by far the most popular choice for UK businesses,” said Brian Bennett, managing director of Mimosa Systems UK. “As companies put more and more critical data onto their Exchange servers the greater their need to ensure they have a robust and rapid recovery plan in place.”

Statistics like this make it obvious that IT personnel need all the help they can get when archiving, protecting and retaining electronic information. Failing to do so will only hurt your business and leave you staring at a blank, unresponsive email application.

Posted by Jennifer on June 17, 2008 at 05:13 PM
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