Many law firms and corporations rely on outside vendors to handle some or all of their eDiscovery tasks.  And while I have my own opinion has to which is the best option, regardless it makes sense to design you vendor ecosystem to work for you in the most efficient manner.  Here is my strategy that works well in just about every situation:

symbiotic relationship: photo by: nattu

• Select 2-3 vendors for your regular work
  • Fewer than 2-3 vendors is not enough diversity
  • More than 2-3 vendors becomes too confusing - invoicing and work-flow gets out of control
• Ensure each vendor is competitive on
  • Price
  • Invoicing practices
  • Service
  • Feature set
• Always have an extra vendor on standby.  Your standby vendor should be one you want to try (but you have not had a chance, since that would violate your 2-3 vendor rule)
• Whenever one of your regular vendors no longer stays competitive, then cut them loose and bring in your standby.  There should be no love lost here….this is business after all
• Rinse and repeat

Do you have another approach?  What makes sense to you?  Fill out a comment below.