| PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESS GROUP | EDRM STAGE | EXTERRO PRODUCT (Fusion Core Platform) |
| Initiating | Information Management | Genome |
| Planning | Identification | Genome & Legal Hold |
| Executing | Preservation and Collection | Legal Hold, Discovery Workflow |
| Monitoring and Controlling | Processing(Work-flow Management*) | Discovery Workflow |
| Closing | Reviewand Analysis | Discovery Workflow |
| Production | Discovery Workflow | |
| Presentation | N/A |
* Work-flow Management is not an EDRM stage, but was listed next to Monitoring and Controlling in the presentation. "Processing" was not paired with a PM process group and neither were "production" and "presentation".
[1] Natasha Keitges and Pete Warner, A Simplified Approach to E-discovery Workflow, Exterro.com, go to "Webinars," under the "Resources" tab. http://www.exterro.com/resources/webinars (last visited Nov. 23, 2009). Direct link to Webinar hosted by GoToMeeting: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/263821849 (last visited Nov. 23, 2009)
[2] Natasha Keitges LinkedIn profile, http://www.linkedin.com/pub/natasha-keitges/b/51/90b (last visited Nov. 23, 2009)
[3] Pete Warner LinkedIn profile, http://www.linkedin.com/pub/peter-warner/7/612/878 (last visited Nov. 23, 2009)
[4] Electronic Discovery Reference Model, http://www.edrm.net/ (last visited Nov. 23, 2009)
[5] Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge 41-43 (4th ed. 2008) [hereinafter "PMBOK Guide"].
[6] Id. at 39, 436. For example, in the PMBOK Guide, "initiating" is defined as "[t]hose processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase." Id. at 39, 436. The operative phrase is "obtaining authorization." When project managers discuss initiating a project, they are generally talking about activities such as developing the project charter and identifying the stakeholders. Information management can be a project in itself (e.g., a project to roll out Fusion Genome to build a data map) or an ongoing process, for which project management processes are less applicable (e.g., on going maintenance of Fusion Genome and scheduled updates to the data map). Initiating processes can certainly cross over information governance on an e-discovery project, such as referencing your data map as part of your process to determine stakeholders for the project, and obtaining proper clearances for a project, but information governance would be as equally important to the project planning processes and would also affect and inform all other PM phases in an e-discovery project.
Paul makes a very good point with regards to the complexities of project management and the difficulties of relating these directly to the EDRM phases. Most IT practitioners will recognize this mismatch immediately while to most attorneys the concept of PM in general is foreign. Having been through the curriculum and working on a daily basis with inside/outside counsel I know that the profession is not trained (or typically even introduced) to the concept of PM in general let alone for legal matters. The comparison we made in the webcast was an attempt to start people thinking about the fact that there is a litigaton life cycle (well represented by the EDRM) and it can and needs to be managed with sound project management practices. Of course there are tools available (e.g., Exterro) and there always will be. But just getting the idea that a new level of rigor needs to be applied in litigation management is key. Unfortunately, a 30 minute webinar forces a presentation that quickly gets to the presenters' key concept(s) while leaving something to be desired in terms of applicability and completeness.
Thanks to Paul for bringing a dose of reality - PM is hard work and isn't as simple or as simply mapped as we may have presented. However, I'll be happy if more practitioners just realize that there is a new paradigm that needs to be applied for this work and, while the first order of business is getting people and process in order, that there are some aids out there that may be helpful when you start looking.
Pete Warner