eDiscovery Storage: How Much Space Should I Pay For?

07 November 2019 by John eDiscovery storage

Takeaway: eDiscovery storage is so affordable nowadays that you don’t have to worry about how much space you’ll need. Instead, what matters is your vendor’s pricing plan. And the best plan on the market is fixed-volume, prorated pricing. You get rock bottom rates without any surprise add-on costs – which is why it’s the plan used by next-generation eDiscovery applications like GoldFynch.

Many people ask, ‘How much eDiscovery storage space do I need?’

That question used to be relevant when we’d store eDiscovery data on our own servers (on-premises hosting), or on someone else’s private servers. The thing is, private servers eat a lot of electricity, are routinely hacked, need infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters, and require trained IT personnel to manage them 24/7. All this meant that storage space was expensive and precious. So, you’d spend a lot of time thinking about how much space you’d need.

The thing is, storage space isn’t precious anymore. You can easily get loads of it, for cheap.

That’s because of cloud technology. Here, software giants like Amazon and Google lease storage to businesses all over the world. And their thousands of interconnected servers form a ‘cloud.’ The more people there are in the Cloud, the less the costs for each. That’s the beauty of Cloud economics. And it means you pay much less than if you were using private servers. Also, these high-performance Cloud servers come with bank-grade security. Which means your data is as secure with them as your online banking information is with your bank. The data is encrypted both when it’s being transmitted and when it’s stored on their servers. And technical support is much better with the Cloud. Remember, the best minds don’t go to small companies offering you private servers. They go to Amazon and Google.

The more important question is, ‘Which eDiscovery service has the best pricing plan?’

These days, instead of buying eDiscovery software, you use an eDiscovery service. Your vendor runs the software for you in the Cloud, and you ‘rent’ it via the internet. So, your Cloud-based software and your Cloud-based storage come bundled as one product with a single price. And what matters is your vendor’s pricing plan.

Enter ‘fixed-volume pricing’ – the best pricing plan on the market.

The two most common kinds of eDiscovery pricing are:

  1. ‘Fixed volume’ pricing: Storage space is divided into chunks (or ‘plans’)–e.g., 3 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB, etc. And their prices have been set in advance. So, you choose a plan you want and pay a fixed amount for it.
  2. ‘Per-GB’ (or, ‘pay as you go’) pricing: There aren’t any ‘plans.’ You pay a set rate for each GB of storage space you use.

Per-GB pricing may seem more transparent (you pay for only what you use), but it isn’t. Because sneaky eDiscovery providers have learned to game the system. They’ll offer you competitive per-GB prices but will charge piecemeal for ‘extra’ features like the option of increasing bandwidth (so you can access your data faster), letting multiple users access to the same account, or offering prompt tech support. That’s why it’s much better to use fixed-volume pricing. You pay for a fixed amount of storage and it comes with all the perks. So, no surprise costs and you know your monthly eDiscovery bill in advance.

Which eDiscovery software offers fixed-volume pricing?

GoldFynch is part of a new breed of applications that offer essential eDiscovery tools at rock bottom prices. It uses fixed-volume pricing to help you take control of your monthly eDiscovery bill. And it shows a per-GB rate for you to compare it with services from other vendors. This means:

  • No sneaky hidden costs. You’re charged only for the files you upload and some ‘container’ files (a few MBs at the most) which handle essential technical stuff. Zip files and PSTs are automatically decompressed, so you’re not charged double. Neither are you charged for databases, audit logs, etc.
  • You know what your bill will be exactly. With fixed case volumes, you pay a fixed rate that covers monthly fluctuations in your case size. So you get a predictable bill.
  • You know that you’re getting the best deal possible because you have a per-GB rate to use as a comparison.
  • You pay for only what you use. GoldFynch has a flat, prorated rate.
  • Best of all, you don’t have to decipher complex pricing charts. Just move a simple slider back and forth to choose the case-size you want. It’s so easy to use that eDiscovery Buyer’s Guide highlights it in their GoldFynch review.

GoldFynch is great for other reasons too!

It has all the features that a discerning small-to-medium size law firm needs.

  • It costs just $27 a month for a 3 GB case: That’s significantly less–every month–than the nearest comparable software. And hundreds of dollars less than many others. With GoldFynch, you know what you’re paying for exactly – its pricing is simple and readily available on the website.
  • It’s easy to budget for. GoldFynch has a flat, prorated rate. With legacy software, your bill changes depending on how much data you use.
  • It takes just minutes to get going. It runs in the Cloud, so you use it through your web browser (Google Chrome recommended). No installation. No sales calls or emails. Plus, you get a free, fully-functional trial case (0.5 GB of data and processing cap of 1 GB), without adding a credit card.
  • It can handle even the largest cases. GoldFynch scales from small to large, since it’s in the Cloud. So, choose from a range of case sizes (3 GB to 100 GB, and more) and don’t waste money on space you don’t need.
  • You can access it from anywhere. And 24/7. All your files are backed up and secure in the Cloud. And you can monitor its servers here.
  • You won’t have to worry about technical stuff. It’s designed, developed, and run by the same team. So, its technical support isn’t outsourced. Which means you get prompt and reliable service.

Want to learn more about GoldFynch?