In the second of a four-part blog series from Jim Gill of Hanzo, he discusses collaboration data challenges before litigation!

In the blog titled Collaboration Data Challenges Before Litigation (And How Technology Can Help) (available here), Jim investigates the challenges faced by companies when using chat applications and how technology can assist with managing collaboration data.

Organizations often struggle with determining a reasonable retention period for workplace collaboration data before a legal matter arises. This challenge has become more prevalent in court, causing headaches for both legal teams and IT departments. Fortunately, an increasing number of companies are now implementing retention policies and schedules for workplace collaboration tools to mitigate this issue.

A recent survey by Hanzo found that 55% of respondents had a collaboration data retention policy throughout their organization in 2021, which increased to 65% in 2022. However, determining the retention period for communication tools like Slack and Teams presents challenges for companies. Unlike email, these tools have unique retention settings that may depend on the company’s license. By default, all messages and files are retained for the lifetime of the workspace, but users can still edit and delete posts. Companies can set different retention periods based on their licenses, allowing messages to be automatically deleted after a specific timeframe.

Jim goes on to discuss various factors companies should take into consideration to help address collaboration data challenges before litigation and how technology can help with information governance. Check it out here – it’s just one more click! And if you missed part 1 of his series, check that out here!

So, what do you think? What collaboration data challenges before litigation does your organization have? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Disclosure: Hanzo is an Educational Partner and sponsor of eDiscovery Today

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.