If you’re new to buying software systems, we understand the process can feel a bit daunting. By knowing what to expect, you will be better prepared to navigate the internal processes and set realistic timelines – which will mean a lot less frustration. This Buyer's Guide walks you through the process, including: developing requirements budgeting building a sound business case for management gaining approval from IT Take the first step in taming your legal preservation and have peace of mind from knowing you have a rock-solid, defensible process that you can execute flawlessly.

1. This Guide walks you through the process, from developing
requirements and budgeting, to building a sound business
case for management and gaining approval from IT. Every
step can be daunting, but we will show you what has worked
for many who have come before you.
Now take the first step in taming your legal preservation so
that you can have the peace of mind from knowing you have
a rock-solid, defensible process that frees you up to focus on
the important stuff.
Let’s get started.
If you’re new to buying software
systems, we understand the
process can feel a bit daunting. This
7-Step Guide is built from our many
experiences of working with people
just like you. By knowing what to
expect, you will be better prepared
to navigate the internal processes
and set realistic timelines – which will
mean a lot less frustration for you.
YOUR GUIDE
TO BUYING
LEGAL HOLD
MANAGEMENT
SOFTWARE
A roadmap to getting your lit
hold process under control.

2. BUYING LEGAL HOLD MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE | 2© 2014 by Zapproved Inc.
1
Define your legal hold needs
and requirements
How does your legal hold process work today? Do you know where your efforts fall short? What would you do if you
had to defend your process before a judge? How much staff time does your existing process really consume? Do
you know the status of your holds right now – and what would it take to produce a defensible report if requested? Is
your custodian acknowledgment rate adequate? Do your custodians need to be able to acknowledge hold notices
from Mac or mobile devices? How often do you send reminders? When and how do you release legal holds?
As the courts have demanded a higher standard with legal holds, many organizations are re-evaluating their process. After
reviewing the list of questions above, do you have confidence that you can answer them all adequately? If not, then it is
time to audit your process and identify the gaps that are contributing to your organization’s data preservation costs and
risks. For more information, see Intelligent Preservation.
2 Establish your budget
How many legal holds do you have? How many do you anticipate? How many custodians need to be notified? What is
your exposure of using your current process? What’s it going to cost? Do you need it to integrate with other systems?
With this data, it is possible to understand your existing costs, even if they are ‘soft’ costs of staff salaries. With the knowl-
edge of what you spend in dollars and time, you can rationally model the benefits of having an automated legal hold man-
agement system in place.
Checklist for
Buying Legal Hold
Management
Software
Plan to finish the process
in 60 days or less.
1 Define your legal hold
needs and requirements
2 Establish your budget
3 Evaluate your legal hold options
4 Make a business case
to management
5 Get IT buy-in
6 Finalize the contract
7 Roll out legal hold
management system

3. BUYING LEGAL HOLD MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE | 3© 2014 by Zapproved Inc.
3
Evaluate your legal hold management
software options
What are various approaches of each software package – standalone, part of a larger software package,
installed on-premise, or hosted? How much does it cost in license and maintenance fees? Is it easy to learn and
use? What IT resources would be needed to deploy and maintain it? Would you need to purchase additional
equipment? Are there hidden charges such as training, support, maintenance and upgrade costs?
Time to do your due diligence. Look at what software tools are available and educate yourself about what they can do for
you. Ask your outside counsel. Check with others in your professional network. Schedule a product demonstration. Doing
your research now will enable you to proceed with confidence.
4 Make a business case to management
Why do you need this system? How will it help you? How will it help the organization?
At some point, the person who oversees spending is going to ask those questions. It’s inevitable, so be ready. Prepare a
complete assessment of risks and inefficiencies, and be sure to fully articulate what you would do today if your data preser-
vation practices were called into question or a motion for spoliation sanctions was filed against your company.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
(aka Cloud, Hosted)
Installed Software
(aka Traditional, On-Premise)
Simply put, this is software that you use
through a Web browser. Data is securely
hosted on an external server via the Internet.
Gaining in popularity due to lower costs.
Overview
Software that is installed on a corporate
network. Requires installation on servers
and regular maintenance. Difficult to
access for custodians.
Subscription model – lower commitment,
pay what you consume
Finance
Capital expenditure involves longer
buying cycle, bigger commitment
Product constantly evolves and improves
Updates
Customer pays for enhancements,
upgrades require attention
Shared infrastructure, part of the product Equipment Customer provides the infrastructure
Provider supports and maintains Maintenance Customer supports and maintains
Deployment is immediate and easy Timeliness and Cost Deployment takes
A VERY, VERY SHORT PRIMER ON SAAS VS. INSTALLED SOFTWARE

4. BUYING LEGAL HOLD MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE | 4© 2014 by Zapproved Inc.
Next, you need to present a detailed estimate of the costs of a new legal hold management system. Evaluate the Total Cost
of Ownership (TCO) which factors in IT infrastructure costs, opportunity costs associated with managing and maintaining
hardware and software, and the productivity loss of dealing with a poorly designed or manual process. It takes a little effort
to be ready, but getting executive buy-in and budgetary approval can be a short conversation if you’ve done your home-
work.
5 Get IT buy-in
How is the software delivered? What installation is required and how many IT resources
will be needed to support it? Will your data be safe and secure?
Having your IT team do its due diligence is a necessary and important step. We have worked with many IT teams to provide
the information they need to be confident. Our team can provide security documentation and the results of testing by some
of the most demanding clients in the industry. We frequently have a special meeting with our technical team to answer any
concerns.
6 Finalize the contract
Who is responsible for reviewing contracts and executing purchase orders? How long is
the term of the subscription? What are the expectations around payment?
It’s easy to get lost in the details of a multi-page contract. Our standard agreement has been updated in order to expedite
the purchasing process. We work with lawyers and procurement staff to help them understand our product and some of the
aspects of “software-as-a-service” with which they may not be familiar.
7 Roll out the legal hold management system
Who will be using the legal hold management system and need admin rights and training? How do
we import our contacts and set up our templates? Will our custodians know what to do?
Now it is time to ensure a successful implementation so that you can realize the benefits of automating the litigation hold
process. Fortunately our system is intuitive so training is simple and can often be conducted with one online session. Our
support team will assist with navigating a couple of technical issues, including working to ensure email deliverability and
importing contact lists. We can also share with you ways to inform your custodians so that they know what to do when they
receive their next hold notification.