Operational Savings: 8 Ways to Be Efficient With Relativity Storage

Relativity is a subscription service for e-discovery and Matters. Its management entails Staging, Repository, Review, and Cold Storage, and each stage has its own billing profile. Using a third-party application like CaseFlow will enable you to govern your Matters effectively and inexpensively.

Billing Considerations and Operational Savings

Operational costs in Relativity can get expensive if you don’t properly manage your storage. Any savings calculations will depend on where you want to save time and money. For example, RelativityOne is limited to 1,000 logged-in users. This limit applies to each instance of 1 terabyte of data in Staging, Repository, and Cold Storage. Data volume size is the actual file size stored across the Review, Cold Storage, and Repository stages. Here’s a breakdown.

Staging Costs

Staging is where you prepare and process data before importing it. It’s a temporary holding area for restoration archives or raw data before they're moved to the Repository and Review workspaces. Staging costs are for data storage and are calculated based on the highest storage space consumption during the month. Your subscription contract determines size and limits.

Repository Costs

Repository data rates are based on subscription volume. The workspaces are billed at a standard charge per gigabyte when documents exceed 50 million and at standard rates when unique documents viewed exceed 10,000. Note that this limit is only for documents opened in the viewer, not in preview. The Repository stage is also billed at the standard rate when there are more than ten concurrent viewers. Uninstalling a workspace from a workspace triggers standard rates.

Review Costs

Review is the workspace where you create templates for easy reuse. You can customize queues to replace batch administration, depending on your saved searches. Review costs are based on standard workspace data rates and subscription volume.

Cold Storage Costs

Cold Storage data costs are based on subscription volume. This stage is where you store Matters and administrative documents that you don’t immediately need. When you move workspaces into Cold Storage, the volume that you pay for determines how many Matters you can transition before triggering higher fees.

Containing Relativity Operational Savings and Costs

Each Relativity stage is an opportunity to have operational savings. Lowering your costs means being diligent about the Matters that you store, along with how, where, and for how long you store data. To cut operational Relativity expenses, you should have awareness of the following.

1. Transition Workspaces

Transitioning workspaces creates different rates. You must install the Repository stage within twenty-four hours to be charged at the Repository rate for the current month. Converting an existing workspace by installing the application is billed as Review until the beginning of the next calendar month. Workspaces that are transitioned to Cold Storage are also billed at their original data rate until then.

2. Clarify Data Retention Policies

A data retention policy maintains consistency with regulatory and contractual obligations. It illuminates how you manage data, how long you retain it, the storage systems that you use, and the system configurations. Your data system should be current with laws, regulations, and client obligations. Examine data retention policies regularly to ensure a compliant, secure system.

3. Do a Comprehensive Needs Assessment

A comprehensive needs assessment covers your legal practice’s unique requirements. Factors like Matter volume, document types, compliance standards, version control, and collaborative client needs are essential for managing data systems. Implementing robust access permissions, data encryption, and updating user access as needed creates a secure data environment. Assessing these needs before data system implementation ensures secure, compliant Matter management.

4. Monitor and Manage Workspaces Proactively

Managing workspaces involves continuous monitoring and maintenance. Monitoring means tracking workspace activity, identifying slow or resource-intensive workflows, and scheduling performance thresholds to prevent slow data performance and high subscription fees. Knowing when to archive and send Matters to Cold Storage is essential for less costly data management.

5. Manage Inactive Workspaces

Inactive workspaces add to your Relativity subscription price. Deleting or archiving them will lower your rates. However, managing these manually can result in the accidental deletion of current workspaces. You should only delete inactive workspaces after thoroughly reviewing their contents.

6. Use Automated Solutions

Automated solutions enable you to quickly and efficiently manage Relativity workspaces. You don’t have to waste time manually searching, organizing, and maintaining Matters. Automatically moving data to the various stages also helps with storage space and ensures that everything is sent to the correct workspace. With manual Matter management, you risk having duplicated information and fragmented data cluttering the stages.

7. Stay Current With Updates and Patches

Computer viruses are constant threats to data security. Updates and patches keep your system safe. Automated data management ensures that these are implemented consistently and remain current with emerging security issues.

8. Verify Access

Only stakeholders should have access to data; unauthorized users should not be able to access unapproved information. Legal compliance and security are easier with automated systems. With manual solutions, you face issues with stakeholders not having access to essential data or users accessing forbidden information.

How CaseFlow Manages Operational Savings

Managing Staging Costs

In Staging, the costs are your subscription limits, which are based on volume. CaseFlow helps manage these limits by pushing Matters to the next stages. The automated system sorts through raw data and archives to transition data into other spaces. That means your staff doesn’t have to manually assign it. CaseFlow also frees up Staging space by processing only the necessary raw data, keeping your subscription fees low.

Managing Review Costs

Moving Matters into Review is a slow, tedious process. Manual management can lead to errors, including duplicates and fragmented data. These can waste time and effort during the transition to Review, increasing subscription costs due to higher storage fees. With CaseFlow, Matter management is automatic, and duplicates and fragmented data are managed and erased within Review to free up space.

Managing Repository Costs

The Repository workspace is where you store documents and code for the Review stage. In this area, storage is finite, so once yours is full, your subscription fees increase. CaseFlow manages this stage automatically by moving Matters to later stages to keep storage space open and lower your costs. Its Repository management also notifies stakeholders of data storage changes, so all interested parties are aware of current Matters.

Managing Cold Storage Costs

Cold Storage costs are based on volume. With manual Matter management, expenses increase as you need more space. CaseFlow helps manage space availability by transitioning Matters into other stages where data is needed or by sending Cold Storage data to archiving.

Final Note

Operational costs are expensive without careful management. Staging data requires only the raw data that you need, and CaseFlow helps manage this with automatic processing. In Review, it manages duplication and fragmentation. The Repository workspace requires moving Matters to other stages, a function that CaseFlow manages automatically. For saving on Cold Storage fees, it transitions Matters and other information to various stages where data is required or archived.

Stop letting inefficient processes drain your firm's profitability. Every hour spent on manual case management and disorganized workflows is an hour that could be spent generating revenue. Your clients deserve better, and so does your bottom line. CaseFlow delivers streamlined case management, automated workflows, and real-time insights that free your team to focus on what matters most: practicing law profitably. Ready to drive real efficiency and savings? Discover how CaseFlow can transform your firm's operations.