Wednesday, June 16, 2010

SM-ART Service

Social Media–Assessment, Risks and Techniques Presented by Applied Discovery in partnership with Sensei Enterprises* Applied Discovery, a worldwide electronic discovery leader offering multinational collection, analytics, processing,review, and production services for law firms, corporations, and government entities, and Sensei Enterprises, a leader in digital forensics, have partnered to deliver an innovative electronic discovery consulting service designed to assist clients as they consider social media in the conduct of electronic discovery. As part of a complete suite of electronic discovery services offered by Applied Discovery, the Social Media-Assessment, Risks, and Techniques (SM-ART) service delivered jointly by Applied Discovery and Sensei Enterprises provides expert consulting services that can help prepare for audits, investigations, and litigation by providing proactive consideration unconventional unstructured electronically stored information (ESI). In considering unconventional unstructured ESI, the SM–ART service assists clients in the assessment of an organization’s use of leading social media platforms, provides risk considerations in regard to social media usage, and provides recommended techniques to help proactively manage and monitor social media usage. Additionally, in situations requiring the actual preservation and collection of unconventional unstructured ESI from leading social media platforms, the SM-ART team can provide forensic collection recommendations and resources to enable clients to defensibly preserve and capture applicable data in support of electronic discovery activities. The SM–ART service is supported by: • Expert e-discovery legal and technology consultants • Demonstrated understanding of leading social media platform capabilities and usage • Established data collection capability with defensible chain of custody procedures and processes • Dedicated project management Assessment Module The SM–ART Assessment Module consists of three specific activities designed to provide an organization with a complete overview of current and potential social media usage based on the actual communications environment of the organization. Through a combination of functional area leader interviews, selected employee interviews, and an information technology capability review, the Assessment Module will deliver key decision makers actionable information in the form of a Social Media Landscape Overview, a Social Media Actual Usage Map, and a Report Assessing the Overall Use of Social Media within the organization. Risks Module The SM–ART Risks Module is comprised of an extensive review of organizational policy and procedures as well as a detailed review of domain specific regulatory requirements in regards to employee communications. These reviews may include a combination of interviews and research designed to help SM-ART expert consultants completely understand organizational communication specific preferences and compliance requirements. Once these reviews have been completed and internal/external compliance risks have been determined, results are then reconciled with the organization’s social media landscape – as determined in the Assessment Module – to allow for the preparation of a comprehensive Social Media Risk Exposure report. Techniques Module Following the completion of both the Assessment Module and Risks Module portions of the SM–ART service, SM-ART experts begin helping an organization translate understanding into action through the development of a set of recommendations designed to prepare the organization to proactively deal with the challenges of social media. These recommendations range from policy and best practice recommendations to management and monitoring recommendations. Additionally, to ensure an organization is prepared for audits, investigations, and litigation associated with social media, SM-ART consultants will provide process and tool recommendations to help facilitate the preservation and collection of unconventional unstructured data. *About Sensei Enterprises Sensei Enterprises is a computer forensics and information technology company in Fairfax, Virginia. www.senseient.com. To learn more about the SM-ART service and how it can help your organization assess, mitigate, and manage social media risk, request a free consultation by email at smart@applieddiscovery.com