PORTLAND, Ore. – Fios® Inc., a Socha-Gelbmann top 5 provider of electronic discovery services, today announced that it has expanded its Information Governance consulting services to help clients reduce the costs of managing electronically stored information (ESI) in response to litigation and governmental investigation. Fios’ Information Governance consulting services now include assessment and planning for records management, retention policies and legacy data reduction. The new services are designed to help clients develop more robust protocols, methodologies and tracking mechanisms for managing ESI across all phases of the discovery process.

"Effective governance of ESI can be very difficult, particularly for organizations trying to balance IT, legal and compliance requirements. Quite often, our clients simply don’t know where to start," said Brad Harris, director of the Discovery Center of Excellence at Fios. "Fios helps bring focus to the problem, set priorities, build the business case and establish the decision framework for moving forward. We’ve seen dramatic reductions in projected e-discovery costs and risks by executing sound methodologies for compliant disposition."

According to Harris, e-discovery itself often serves as the catalyst or business driver for corporations to begin addressing their overall records retention and disposition policies, as the risks of non-compliance under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are becoming too costly. With the new services, Fios has established a Compliant Disposition Methodology that enables clients to:

• Assess business requirements that drive the creation, storage and replication of ESI
• Analyze existing policies and practices for managing the retention and disposition of that ESI (including retention periods)
• Establish a decision framework for determining what to keep and what to eliminate
• Build the business case for investing in the people, process and/or technology required to realize the benefits of compliant disposition
• Execute the plan

This methodology has already been successfully delivered to Fios’ clients for addressing governance issues such as implementing new email archive systems, managing legacy data on orphan backup tapes and reducing the amount of data being managed for e-discovery. Applying this proven methodology, clients can more efficiently:

• Find the data – Most corporations have a records retention schedule, usually contained in a word processing document or spreadsheets. Fios helps clients create a database that will enable legal, IT and records and information management representatives to examine the data in creative ways and make intelligent decisions about how and where to manage ESI.
• Manage the protocols – Once the data locations and retention requirements have been identified, organizations must manage to the new retention periods and practices going forward.
• Reduce the data – Every organization must manage and address some volume of legacy data.
  Whether that data is in the form of backup tapes, an under-utilized e-mail archive or orphaned data on network servers, Fios helps organizations put in place “compliant disposition” methodologies to ensure the data can be disposed of in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
• Document the process – Both the processes to be employed, including policies and detailed methodologies, and the actual actions taken must be well-documented to allow the organization to demonstrate good faith and reasonableness before the courts.

Fios’ expanded Information Governance services are immediately available as part of the comprehensive e-discovery consulting services delivered by Fios, which include Discovery Readiness Assessments, ESI Content Mapping, Discovery Response Planning, Technology Implementation services and Discovery Conference Analytics. For more information, visit http://www.fiosinc.com/services/preparing-e-discovery.

About Fios, Inc.
For over a decade, Fios has helped legal teams reduce risk, control costs and gain management control over the entire spectrum of electronic discovery. We are dedicated exclusively to delivering comprehensive services and expert guidance that transform the burdensome nature of e-discovery into a streamlined, legally defensible business process. Our proven services and methodologies are based on an integrated, in-depth knowledge of technology, legal and human resource requirements to meet the ever-changing demands of complex e-discovery. Headquartered in Portland, Ore., Fios is backed by top investors, including W Capital Partners, Digital Partners, Banyan Capital Partners, FBR CoMotion and Fluke Venture Partners, and has offices throughout the continental United States. For more information about the company and its services, visit www.fiosinc.com.

####

For more information, contact:

Debbie Caldwell
Senior Manager, Public, Analyst and Industry Relations, Fios, Inc.
503-265-0775
dcaldwell@fiosinc.com