It’s time for the Summer 2024 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey, published (as always) on Rob Robinson’s terrific ComplexDiscovery site.  Where does the confidence of individuals working in the eDiscovery ecosystem stand when compared to previous surveys?  Let’s see.

As always, Rob provides a complete breakdown of the latest survey results, which you can check out here. I’ve covered every quarterly survey since its inception, which is in its ninth(!) year!

While I’m continuing to look at all surveys conducted to look at trends over time, I’m displaying a rolling three years’ data for clarity as the entire history of more than eight years makes for a very crowded graph. Also, I should note that Rob reported results with two decimals again this quarter instead of the traditional single decimal (my reporting of the results are rounded to one decimal for consistency with previous quarters).

Last fall, Rob added new questions regarding the use of large language models and generative AI, so this is the fourth survey with those questions. I’m reporting on the results of one of those questions this time (in case you missed Rob’s coverage) and dropping trends coverage for the level of support question that I’ve covered over the years. Starting next year, I’ll begin to report on trends over time for those.

The Summer 2024 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey response period was between August 24 and September 20, 2024. This quarter’s survey saw 60 eDiscovery professionals sharing their opinions on the business of eDiscovery. So, let’s get into it!

Providers at The Top Again, But…: Software and/or Services Provider respondents were the sole leading group for the fifth quarter in a row with 36.7% (1.1% above the lifetime average, and a 3.4% rise from last quarter). Law Firm respondents tied for second (8.8% below the lifetime average of 30.4%) with Consultancy at 21.7% (5.3% above the 16.4% lifetime average and the highest percentage since Summer 2020). If you count law firms as providers (they’re technically both providers and consumers), providers account for 80% of total respondents (1% higher than last quarter). Corporation respondents were fourth at 6.7%, 1.4% lower than the lifetime average of 8.1%.  Here’s a graphical representation of the trend over the last twelve surveys:

So, how confident is a provider influenced group of respondents in eDiscovery business confidence in the Summer 2024 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey?  See below.

Current Business is More Good Than Not: Respondents that considered business to be good popped back up to 56.7% (3.7% below the lifetime average). Another 38.3% of respondents consider business to be normal (slightly below above the lifetime average of 38.7%). 5.0% of respondents rated business conditions as bad (3.3% below the lifetime average of 8.3%). Here is the trend over the last twelve surveys:

So, do respondents in the Summer 2024 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey expect business to rise in six months?  See below.

An Optimistic Outlook: 95.0% of respondents expect business conditions will be in their segment to be the same or better six months from now (up 1.2% from last quarter’s 93.8%, with over half – 51.67% – of respondents expecting it to be better. 53.3% expect revenues to be up (a drop from last quarter’s 58%) while 38.3% expect it to be the same (leaving only 8.3% expecting lower revenues). As for profits, respondents expecting higher profits rose nearly 11% to 55.0% (which is 15% higher than the lifetime average of 40.0%), while 38.3% expected flat profits and 6.7% expected lower profits (which is 5.6% lower than the average).  Here is the profits trend over the last twelve surveys:

Will we head higher or lower from here?  We’ll see.

Budget Consciousness is Back: Budgetary Constraints reclaimed the top spot for the first time since Winter 2023 with 31.7%, pushing Increasing Types of Data down to second with 26.7%, which is still 5.6% above the lifetime average of 21.1% and only the second time in eleven quarters not at (or tied) for top spot. Increasing Volumes of Data fell to third with 15.0% (5.3% lower than the lifetime average). Data Security was fourth at 13.3% (1.1% above the lifetime average of 12.2%). Inadequate Technology (0.6% lower than the lifetime average of 7.3% and Lack of Personnel (8.5% below the lifetime average of 13.4) tied for last at 6.7%. The graph below illustrates the distribution over the last twelve surveys:

Does the Budget consciousness imply election jitters? We’ll see.

Delivery Stays About the Same in the Fourth Results on LLM/GAI Benefits: Regarding the question “which do you perceive as the primary benefit of integrating LLMs and GAI into your organization’s operations or offerings?”, Improved Service/Product Delivery was again the top choice at 46.67%, which dipped slightly from last quarter’s 46.9%, followed by Competitive Advantage at 25.0%, higher than last quarter’s 22.2%, then Cost Savings at 16.67%, about 3% higher than last quarter’s 13.6%. Risk Mitigation popped up to fourth at 6.67%, over 4.2% higher than last quarter’s 2.5%. Enhanced Decision Making at 1.67% fell a whopping 8.23% from last quarter’s 9.9%, with. Only 3.33% see No Perceived Benefit, about 1.3% lower than last quarter.

Looks like the Summer 2024 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey shows respondents beginning to be optimistic, with many expecting things to improve in six months. What will happen next quarter? Check back here!

Again, Rob has published the results for the Summer 2024 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey on his site here, which shows responses to additional questions not referenced here.  Check them out.

So, what do you think?  Are you optimistic about eDiscovery business?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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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.