ELECTRONIC DATA DISCOVERY (e-Discovery, eDiscovery)
EDiscovery (a.k.a Electronic Data Discovery, E-discovery,Ediscovery): the process in which electronic data is sought, located, secured, searched and analyzed for use (or with the intent to use) as evidence in a criminal or civil legal case.
Ediscovery pertains to electronic data of any kind, including but not limited to hard drives, removable media (diskettes, cds, dvds, tape), emails, instant messages, recorded voice messages, etc. EDiscovery continues to become increasingly relevant in modern litigation. Ediscovery can be incredibly time consuming and incredibly expensive. Worse yet, organizations have little choice but to comply with and cover the costs of ediscovery for any case in which they are involved. A solid data storage, backup and retrieval plan can dramatically reduce the organizational impact of a lawsuit. A positive side effect, of course, is that your data is safely backed up and retrievable should disaster strike.
Any business leader, especially those business leaders with IT responsibility, should take ediscovery seriously...the courts certainly do.
Reference Information
Wikipedia Entry on ediscovery