A forensic analyst works for an e-discovery firm where several gigabytes of data are processed daily. While the business is lucrative, they do not have the resources or the scalability to adequately…

A public cloud is available to the general public and lacks the dedicated compliance controls and auditability required to maintain legal chain of custody.

Aligning client intake to existing resources solves neither the scalability problem nor the inadequate infrastructure, and limits the firm's ability to serve clients.

NIST defines a community cloud as infrastructure provisioned for exclusive use by a specific community of consumers with shared concerns such as mission, security requirements, or compliance obligations. For an e-discovery firm, a community cloud shared with other legal or forensic organizations includes contractual and technical controls - such as audit logging and custodial accountability - that support chain of custody, while also providing greater scale than the firm can afford alone.

Outsourcing to a generic third-party cloud provider does not guarantee the shared legal compliance posture or chain-of-custody controls specific to e-discovery requirements.