New e-discovery regulations will make storage managers' jobs even tougher, but they may also be a blessing in disguise. Last December, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), which govern civil law processes in the U.S., were amended for the 10th time. One of the amendments, Rule 26(a)(1)(B), states that an organization must be able to identify, by category and location, electronically stored information it may use to "support or defend claims." The amendment also mandates that this capability should exist before a discovery request for specific information is made.

I'm not sure organizations headquartered in the U.S. are ready for this, and we're eight months removed from the FRCP changes going into effect. I'm willing to bet that many CIOs and corporate counsels don't know what information they store, where it is and how much it would cost to produce it as evidence. The substantiation for this particular requirement, as well as Rule 26(f), which requires opposing parties to immediately meet and discuss issues related to electronically stored information, was the number of pretrial hearings on arguments surrounding the burdens--especially the costs--associated with producing digital evidence.