Autonomy Integrates Archiving and Legal Applications

Evan Koblentz

Law Technology News

12-04-2012

Autonomy Corp. on Tuesday announced new editions of archiving, content management, and dashboard software for corporate legal and compliance officers.

The products, under the umbrella name Legal & Compliance Suite, are a repackaging and expansion of existing Autonomy applications adjusted for current market trends, said Neil Araujo, general manager, enterprise content management. They are all scheduled to ship by the end of January 2013, he said.

One product, Autonomy E-Discovery, is now available as a module for the company's Consolidated Archive application. A legal hold feature is also included in the module. That makes it faster and simpler to perform discovery on archived files and messages, rather than having to manually move data between the otherwise separate e-discovery and archiving products, Araujo explained.

Autonomy last updated its main e-discovery software in 2011. But now, by creating the e-discovery module, Autonomy is moving toward an all-in-one product, as stated by general manager Robert Youngjohns in a recent conference call for customers. The all-in-one movement is happening at other companies too — AccessData Group announced a similar plan in May, while a LexisNexis plan is ongoing.

Another new integration is between Autonomy's backup and legal hold applications. Now customers will be able to transfer custodial data from the backup product into Legal Hold, Araujo noted. Meanwhile, in content management, Autonomy upgraded its WorkSite Mobility software to version 2.5. It now lets Apple iPhone users scan, upload, and edit documents, Araujo said. Previous versions only allowed files to be viewed and shared.

In addition Autonomy now has new executive dashboard software. It can be used for tracking compliance status, legal fees, legal hold status, and volume of date eligible for deletion, officials explained. Dashboards are customized by Autonomy consulting staff.

The e-discovery module will be priced by capacity, while the legal hold and WorkSite applications are priced by the number of users, they said. Details were not disclosed.

Product plans are not impacted by the recent controversy between Autonomy, based in Cambridge, U.K. and San Francisco, and its owner Hewlett-Packard Co., Araujo said last week. HP CEO Meg Whitman in November announced an $8.8 billion write-down of Autonomy and publicly accused former Autonomy executives of willfully inflating their company finances. Officials at HP, based in Palo Alto, Calif., said there may be criminal investigations. Autonomy founder Michael Lynch publicly denied any wrongdoing and said Autonomy sales fell because of HP mismanagement.

Evan Koblentz is a reporter for Law Technology News. Send email or follow him on Twitter.