eDiscovery refers to the retrieval of electronically-stored information (ESI) for legal or other purposes. The growth in the volume of electronically-stored information has led to growth of the market for eDiscovery. The need to manage and organize large volume of ESI has also given rise to the eDiscovery market. The rise of social media such as Facebook and Instagram is further contributing to the increase in the volume of ESI, leading to growing demand for eDiscovery services.
According to a recent publication from leading U.S.-based market intelligence firm Transparency Market Research, the
global eDiscovery market was worth US$5,563.7 million in 2013. Growing at a stellar 16.2% CAGR, the market is expected to close to quadruple in value by 2022, to be valued at US$21,089 million.
On-Premise eDiscovery Software Dominates Market, Off-Premise Software to Catch Up
The global eDiscovery market is broadly divided into two main components, services and software. Of these two, software leads the market with a majority share. According to deployment, the global eDiscovery software market is divided into on-premise and off-premise eDiscovery software. Due to the convenience of on-premise software and lack of large-scale off-premise eDiscovery channels at present, the former emerged as the leader in the global eDiscovery market in 2013. On-premise eDiscovery software took up a 61% share in the overall market in 2013.
Nonetheless, off-premise eDiscovery software is expected to rise in prominence in the coming years. The emergence of cloud services has made possible large-scale operations of off-premise eDiscovery software. The superior convenience of cloud services, which require lower maintenance costs than their on-premise counterparts, will help the off-premise eDiscovery software segment carve out a meatier chunk of the global eDiscovery market in the aforementioned forecast period. Cloud services are already in use in many sectors owing to the lower manpower and expenditure they require. The extension of this technology to the field of ESI is a matter of when and not if.
However, higher prices associated with advanced eDiscovery software could restrain the growth of the global eDiscovery market.
Favorable Government Regulations Propel eDiscovery Market
Governments and regulatory agencies were by far the largest end users of eDiscovery services in 2013, accounting for a 51% share. The ease provided by eDiscovery services in civil litigations and regulatory audits is expected to keep the end-use share of governments and regulatory agencies high in the coming years.
Government regulations in many countries, led by countries such as Japan and South Africa, also support the widespread usage of eDiscovery services and software. The increasing usage of social media in virtually all countries around the world have led to constantly increasing volumes of ESI, which gives rise to the need for a competent program to store, manage, and access the information. This is the prime growth driver for the global eDiscovery market.
North America leads the global market for eDiscovery owing to prevalence of advanced technology in the region. The regional market is expected to retain its dominance in the market in the coming years, though the eDiscovery market in Europe and Asia Pacific are also on the rise and could erode the North America market’s share in the long run.
