10 Relativity 8 Features You Need to Know
Long a favorite of the e-discovery industry, kCura recently announced the launch of the latest version of their already feature-rich litigation support management platform: Relativity 8. Previous versions offered flexible capabilities from image and native file review and coding options to data analysis (both visual and text) and even foreign language support. The latest release includes (and improves) all these elements, as well as incorporating email threading, improved search speed and functions and more streamlined assisted review capabilities. Here’s a look at the 10 best features of the Relativity upgrade.
1. Architectural Changes 
A new dtSearch agent included with the most recent release offers a 70 percent reduction in index build times, and can search up to 20 times faster. Search term reports will now also cache previous results from earlier searches to help complete future searches more quickly and intuitively.
2. Back-End Improvements
Structural improvements at the back end have been added to optimize system performance along with the improvements in search speed. Response times and data import function are now both much faster. Server utilization is reduced by 60 percent, while doc-to-doc loads can be finished about four times faster.
3. Improved Analytics
Email threading is part of the Relativity 8 upgrade, allowing for automated identification and organization of emails that were originally exchanged as part of a single discussion. Thread navigation is also improved with more intuitive features. Analytics can now detect near-duplicates, and filters for repeated content help improve search results to more easily identify the most inclusive documents prior to review while reducing redundancies.
4. More Flexibility With Assisted Review
Previously coded documents can now be used as a seed set for improved flexibility during assisted review. You can also use a control set in your project to create new reports calculating precision, recall and F1. The homepage has been redesigned for easier use, and project managers can view their progress via real-time status indicators to better gauge their headway and improve time estimates.
5. Greater Automation
Incorporating additional automation helps make managing assisted review projects even easier. Saved searches are now created automatically to help drive workflow, and documents can be batched out automatically for review.
6. User-Friendlier
Navigation in general within Relativity 8 has a new focus on a more intuitive usability. The image viewer has been overhauled to become more fluid and easier to use, while also including new capabilities like full-page and inverse redactions. You can also navigate more quickly between frequently visited pages via a new drop down menu that saves your favorites, similar to a web a browser.
7. More Security Options
Two-factor authentication give users improved security and control over data access for all users. Administrators now have the option to configure user accounts with send code or a combination of trusted IP and send code authentication developed by kCura. Using two separate authentication factors can help reduce security concerns related to login, file access and change log tracking.
8. Streamlined Workflow Process
The workspace now includes an improved integration with the review process to allow analysis without leaving the system. A central dashboard aids with customized settings as well as monitoring your progress and generating reports. Relativity 8 offers a new auto-publish feature that allows records to process directly into the review workspace.
9. Integration Improvements
Improved support has been added for the use of outside platforms to augment Relativity’s functionality. EnCase Logical Evidence Files (L01) can now be processed directly into Relativity 8. Security files, like LotusNotes IDs, are automatically decrypted for imaging and processing through the use of a new central password bank.
10. Unified API Interfaces
Relativity is specifically designed to allow other developers design, build or integrated additional applications to help tweak and extend existing functionality. In Relativity 8, more focus was placed on providing a consistent experience through the use of unified API interfaces. Workspace can now be modified both before and after application installation, so there’s no need to write additional custom installers to handle the logic. Also, all applications live in isolated AppDomains, so building across different versions or using third-party vendor assemblies won’t cause conflict.
There are of course many additional exciting new features with the Relativity 8 upgrade – check directly with kCura for more details or contact us if you’d like to learn more from our trained eDiscovery professionals. TERIS is excited to offer Relativity 8 to our clients and will be doing so in the near future. Stay tuned for our formal announcement.
