Research and Advisory Services
Our Research and Advisory Services deliver to clients leading-edge analysis and insights, focused on the specific needs and requirements of our clients. Our services are uniquely positioned to take advantage of our team’s depth of experience in information security, IT management, standards, law and policy development.
Technology Investment Analysis
One of the most challenging problems facing anyone advocating for a new IT solution is to calculate the economic savings that the
new technology will achieve—the return on investment (ROI). Waters Edge assists clients investigate and assess the costs of
their information-based activities and, in turn, the benefit streams that will be produced.
Our authoritative analyses substantiate the business case—our special focus is on demonstrating the economic savings that can
be realized by solutions that address legal risks. Based on data that our clients provide, we produce Cost Assessment Studies
and Investment Scenario Reports that deliver valuable analysis.
Our analyses are particularly useful for companies that are struggling with the costs of electronic discovery for:
- Commercial Civil Litigation
- Commercial Arbitration
- Internal Investigation
- Regulatory Enforcement
- Compliance
Our Cost Assessment Studies and Investment Scenario Reports can be used by companies making new investments in
enterprise content management (ECM) solutions, as well as other technologies that touch electronic records with legal significance.
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Waters Edge strategic consulting is based upon a holistic approach to risk management, trusted information and asset protection that integrates legal, IT, audit, records management, e-discovery, security, personnel and business process. When clients need a trusted advisor to work side-by-side with management to evaluate the integration of these essential management systems, Waters Edge Strategic Consulting provides the mechanisms and the Waters Edge Reference Models are the tools of choice.
Advantages to clients include:
- Business based approach to incorporating asset and information protection into daily management
- Cost effective utilization of hard-to-find and hard-to-hire executive expertise in integrated risk management
- Strategic evaluation that utilizes risk and standards-based sustainable models for ensuring building trusted information – the currency upon which commerce depends
- Executive and board level reporting, as desired
- Objective, experienced, third party perspective
- Foundation for budget planning, tactical plan evaluation
- Basis for improved insurance premiums
- Entity level controls for asset protection and risk management
Waters Edge provides clients strategic research related to:
- E-discovery
- Records Management
- Information Security
- Trusted Information
This information is provided on a retained service basis in multiple formats according to client need:
- On-line at-desk seminars with interactive Q&A
- In-house executive seminars
- In-house workshops
- Periodic publications and white papers
The Waters Edge Reference Models are vital assets employed in delivering our services, and indispensable to assuring the trustworthiness of our clients systems. Rule-based design, to be effective, must responsibly capture all of the rules and requirements that exist in order to conduct useful assessment, design and consulting. The Waters Edge Reference Models are uniquely designed to capture those requirements from divergent sources:
- Network Architectures
- Information Security Controls
- Applications
- Standards and Best Practices
- Laws and Regulations
- Contracts
- Commercial Practices
- Systems Functions
Doing so enables Waters Edge to better assure an all-in analysis and deliver results which produce a defensible standard of care and enhance trusted information.
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The Waters Edge Records Management Reference Model is a comprehensive view of the published standards, best practices and regulations that must be navigated for a records management program to be successful. The Model also incorporates:
Evaluate existing records management practices
The RM Model includes annotations as well as dynamic links to many different sources and resources and provides strong, detailed controls for individual architectural elements.
Project Tools
Waters Edge can produce a variety of additional, invaluable project tools indispensable for records management functions. These project tools include:
- Project Templates (exported as Microsoft Project© files)
- Detailed Document Outlines (useful for Standards, Procedures and Guidelines)
- Questionnaires and checklists
- Powerpoint and Web-based Presentation Tools for Training and Management
The Waters Edge Electronic Discovery Reference Model enables Waters Edge to assist companies to evaluate their current business practices for locating and preserving electronic information required in audits, internal investigations, regulatory enforcement actions and litigation. From that evaluation, rapid designs can be produced for improving existing practices and meeting the new requirements for electronic discovery in the Federal courts in the United States.
Unique features of the Waters Edge Electronic Discovery Reference Model include:
Annotations
Annotations of all of the major case law developments that influence the design and management of corporate e-discovery programs and maps those to the process steps to be implemented.
Litigation Planning Guides
Detailed process models for structuring hold notices, activating preservation within records management functions, negotiating e-discovery service vendor agreements, preparing for attorney interviews and depositions, etc.
Metrics
A full library of possible metrics to be applied to corporate electronic discovery programs to enable measurement of performance and conduct continuous improvement to control related costs.
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