1. Convergence –a key trend impacting Corporate Compliance with
Electronic Discovery and Records Management (RIM).
David Haines, Pitney Bowes Management Services, Legal Solutions Consulting
Comprehensive compliance processes are designed to facilitate greater efficiency in how
organizations invest or allocate resources and can help to minimize risk and cost.
Multiple corporate functions are beginning to converge in a federated approach to
addressing quality, risk and overall compliance management. This convergence may not
be an intuitive state for policies and processes traditionally created in silos. Convergence
is not always a logical process for the people who operate, manage, and implement those
policies and processes.
Every company operates with rules and regulations, which may vary by industry,
geography, size or other factors or may even have been self-imposed in a proactive effort
to improve operational efficiency.
As the regulatory environment continues to change with increased frequency and
measurable complexity, the requirements for automated, repeatable controls and
processes around the classic information compliance drivers - internal controls over
financial reporting, controls to protect and govern the use of personal information,
protection of intellectual property, records management and e-discovery rules grow.
Legal risk, implications of non-compliance are growing, with the potential for what could
be serious consequences ranging from significant fines and irrevocable damage of
company brand, to the reputation of the company and executives.
Information has become a regulated asset, with specific criteria for its protection,
privacy, use and retention.
Viewing core compliance accountabilities for multiple functions and business units, HR,
security, finance, legal, risk, internal audit and others, each may be addressing compliance
differently.
Leading companies are focusing resources on how they can better integrate compliance
enterprise-wide as a part of everyday business operations and decision making.
Companies that once were more likely to invest in compliance programs because they
had to, are starting to invest because they want to, seeing the value proposition in
technology-enabled compliance measures that also improve business processes and
performance.
One of the drivers of this new mind-set, perhaps its primary enabler – are IT, along with
legal solutions experts with information technology backgrounds, such as are found at
Pitney Bowes Legal Solutions.
Convergence can reduce compliance gaps overall and risk management in business units.
It has the potential to facilitate a risk and control model more efficient and effective in

2. supporting business needs, responding to regulatory change, and addressing demands for
more detailed risk-related disclosure.
Disparate kinds and sources of data notwithstanding that are tracked and extracted in
discovery, compliance mandates boil down to the fundamental issues of integrity,
availability, security, confidentiality and access.
Adding to the demands of Compliance Officers in convergence is the critical need to
assure record retention compliance programs are designed to comply with the
amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), as well as new state rules as
they relate to electronic discovery.
Corporations now appreciate the importance of preparing for electronic discovery, just as
they would for any other regulation mandating document retention and preservation.
Most Corporations today simply lack the infrastructure needed to process and produce
large volumes of data. These corporations are instead looking to achieve (e)Discovery
compliance by following one of several accepted approaches:
1. Utilizing national eDiscovery contracts with experienced electronic discovery
providers, such as top ranked Pitney Bowes Legal Solutions or
2. Establishing a request for quotation (RFQ) processes for individual projects, which
will ultimately be managed by the internal legal team, using experienced service
providers who understand the critical importance of chain-of-custody, defense of process
all within the framework of following compliance guidelines, as set out by the company.
By implementing one of these approaches, corporations gain a consistent, reliable
solution to (e)Discovery compliance and can limit investments in infrastructure or
personnel, given the rapidly changing nature of the technology, processes and
experience required. Either approach can also provide considerable flexibility to scale
corporate processes while limiting the impact to existing resources.
Pitney Bowes Legal Solutions, as one of the Top 5 ranked legal solutions companies in
experience in the industry * represents the convergence of people, processes and
technology to assure cost control, risk management, compliance objectives are achieved.
* according to the independent Socha-Gelbman 2008 Survey of Corporate & Law Firm counsel.
David