A quick guide to Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

In our recent short video explaining why common mistakes in Microsoft Purview eDiscovery lead to undesired outcomes, we highlighted common mistakes in Microsoft Purview eDiscovery and their impact on desired outcomes.

Now in this blog post we’re diving deeper into eDiscovery and how you can leverage its full potential to enhance your organization’s data management and compliance efforts.

Understanding Microsoft 365 Purview eDiscovery

Microsoft 365 Purview eDiscovery is a powerful tool designed to help organizations manage and retrieve electronic data for legal and compliance purposes. It provides an end-to-end workflow to preserve, collect, analyse, review, and export content that is responsive to internal and external investigations. The Purview eDiscovery suite includes several tools, each with unique features and capabilities. 

Key Components of Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

1. Content Search: This tool allows you to search for content across Microsoft 365 services, including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Teams. It is ideal for quick searches and preliminary investigations.
2. eDiscovery (Standard): This tool builds on Content Search by providing additional features such as case management, legal hold, and export capabilities. It is suitable for more structured and ongoing investigations.
3. eDiscovery (Premium): Also known as Advanced Purview eDiscovery, this tool offers advanced analytics, machine learning, and predictive coding to streamline the review process. It includes features like data deduplication, relevance scoring, and communication tracking. 

Best Practices for Using Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

1. Define Clear Objectives: Before initiating an eDiscovery process, clearly define the objectives and scope of your investigation. This will help you focus your efforts and ensure that you retrieve relevant data.
2. Leverage Advanced Features: Make use of advanced features such as machine learning and predictive coding in eDiscovery (Premium) to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of your data review process.
3. Implement Legal Holds: Use legal holds to preserve data that is relevant to your investigation. This ensures that the data remains intact and unaltered throughout the eDiscovery process.
4. Regular Training and Updates: Ensure that your team is well-trained on the latest features and best practices of Microsoft Purview eDiscovery. Regular training sessions and updates will help them stay informed and proficient in using the tools. 

Successful Implementation of Microsoft Purview eDiscovery: A Case Study

In a recent webinar, Microsoft MVP and Leadership Through Data trainer, Sara Fennah, discussed how an organisation that she knew of had used Advanced eDiscovery to manage a complex legal investigation.

The organization, who shall remain nameless, effectively used Microsoft Purview eDiscovery to manage a complex legal investigation. The organisation leveraged the advanced features of eDiscovery Premium, such as optical character recognition (OCR) for searching inside photos and PDFs, advanced indexing, conversation threading, and better deduplication of messages. These features helped streamline the review process and ensure that only relevant data was considered.

The organisation created an eDiscovery case, built multiple searches into it, and put the content on hold while carrying out the searches and investigations. This approach allowed them to gather different search criteria, keep them separated, and handle the volume of information more efficiently. They also used the tagging feature to follow up on specific content and notified users that their content had been put on hold.

By using these advanced features, the organisation was able to quickly identify and review relevant data, significantly reducing the time and cost of the investigation. This real-world example highlighted the practical benefits of using Microsoft Purview eDiscovery tools for legal and compliance purposes.

Watch the full webinar here: Microsoft 365 eDiscovery an intro for Information Managers.