Industry analyst firm IDC has named Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: GUID) a leader in early case assessment (ECA) in a new report, the "IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Standalone Early Case Assessment Applications 2011 Vendor Analysis."

The report is IDC's first in-depth analysis of early case assessment applications, a fast-growing segment of the electronic discovery (e-discovery) market. IDC expects revenue for the standalone ECA applications market will total $400.8 million in 2011 and will reach $857.0 million in 2015.1

The need for early case assessment tools has grown in recent years as costs associated with e-discovery have escalated. ECA applications can help organizations achieve substantial cost and time-savings by enabling legal teams to have the metrics and insights needed to make informed decisions about case merits, risks and expected costs at the outset of a legal event.

"The value of early case assessment rests in its ability to enable better, faster case strategy decisions," said Victor Limongelli, president and chief executive officer, Guidance Software. "With EnCase, organizations can do case assessment truly early - including before and during collection and preservation. This unique capability gives our customers a clear advantage with assessment before collection, compared to other solutions that need to first have collection and processing complete, which could take weeks."

The IDC MarketScape evaluated early case assessment application vendors; reviewing their current capabilities and individual long-term strategies that impact their ability to meet evolving requirements, execute their go-to-market and product strategies, and gain market share going forward. The IDC MarketScape document scored and ranked vendors based on qualitative and quantitative criteria.

The IDC report highlights specific Guidance Software product strengths:

  • "Ability to deliver average cull rates of 90 percent using EnCase eDiscovery."
  • "Relatively light footprint of the EnCase agent, especially when used as part of an EnCase Enterprise platform deployment. In this scenario, customers are able to use a common infrastructure to support its internal audit, forensics and security investigations (incident management), and e-discovery collections activities."
  • "No distinction between an internal investigation and a legal matter, which enables organizations to use a single solution for all their cases."
  • "Ability to conduct remote and, sometimes, stealth collections of individual files, while preserving metadata over geographically dispersed networks."
  • "APIs, which enable integration with third-party legal spend management, billing, matter management, and legal project management applications."
  • "Support for granular nested proximity search. One customer tested nesting capability to 64 levels deep."

Download a complimentary excerpt from the report: http://www.guidancesoftware.com/Document.aspx?did=1000017580&cmpid=newsrelease.

About IDC MarketScape

IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor's position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors.

About Guidance Software, Inc.

Guidance Software is recognized worldwide as the industry leader in digital investigative solutions. Its EnCase® platform provides the foundation for government, corporate and law enforcement organizations to conduct thorough, network-enabled, and court-validated computer investigations of any kind, such as responding to e-discovery requests, conducting internal investigations, responding to regulatory inquiries or performing data and compliance auditing - all while maintaining the integrity of the data. There are more than 40,000 licensed users of the EnCase technology worldwide, the EnCase® Enterprise platform is used by more than 60 of the Fortune 100, and thousands attend Guidance Software's renowned training programs annually. For more information about Guidance Software, visit www.guidancesoftware.com/.

Follow Guidance Software on Twitter at www.twitter.com/encase and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/guidancesoftware.

EnCase®, EnCE®, EnCEP®, EnScript®, FastBloc®, Guidance Software? and Tableau? are registered trademarks or trademarks owned by Guidance Software in the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be used without prior written permission. All other marks and brands may be claimed as the property of their respective owners.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. There can be no assurance that demand for the Guidance Software's products will continue at current or greater levels, or that the Company will continue to grow revenues, or be profitable. There are also risks that the Guidance Software's pursuit of providing network security and eDiscovery technology might not be successful, or that if successful, it will not materially enhance the Guidance Software's financial performance; that the Company could fail to retain key employees; that changes in customer requirements and other general economic and political uncertainties could impact the Guidance Software's relationship with its customers; and that delays in product development, competitive pressures or technical difficulties could impact timely delivery of next-generation products; and other risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in Guidance Software's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company specifically disclaims any responsibility for updating these forward-looking statements.

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1 IDC, MarketScape for Worldwide Standalone Early Case Assessment Applications 2011 Vendor Analysis, Doc # #229928, September 2011

Guidance Software, Inc.
Cas Purdy
626-768-4666
cas.purdy@guidancesoftware.com