Electronic discovery is the process of retrieving useful data and information from electronic sources. With the increasing use of electronic devices for data transfer and storage, obtaining valuable information from the millions of data pages is an arduous task. Moreover, electronic discovery is very important for dealing with litigations and government investigations. It is also required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Electronic evidence can be obtained from user files, backup media, spreadsheets, CAD/CAM/CAE and graphics, personnel records, policy and procedure manuals, software and source code, internet and intranet content, internet service providers, fax servers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), telephone /security / network activity systems, cell phones, pagers, voice/video mail and special databases such as CRM or ERP. The main aspects to be considered are the type of data to be collected, the potential sources of the required data, identification of the people who are likely to have access to the data, and the most likely places where high amounts of data can be found.

It is very important to understand an organization's structure, the main people involved in electronic data creation and transfer, the communication flows in the organization setup, the type of documents used, the kind of corporate archiving used, and even information about the end users of the data created. An understanding of common data errors and distortions in the data flow would also help in electronic evidence discovery. Electronic evidence discovery is used mostly in litigations and lawsuits.

Electronic evidence discovery is a very useful tool for attorneys. There are special software tools available today for electronic evidence discovery. Data mining software programs such as SPSS can also be used for evidence discovery. These tools not only extract data but also review it, thus minimizing costs and time. The data can also be shared across multiple locations over the Internet or a local network system. Some tools also have foreign language support. The minimum PC requirements for installing this software are: MS Windows, preferably 2000 Pro, MS .NET Framework, MS Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher, MS SQL Server 2000 and MS IIS 5.0 or 6.0.