eDiscovery Search Assistance — Office 365 Content Search
eDiscovery Search Assistance helps organizations search for specific content across Office 365 applications, including email, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams, using the unified Microsoft Purview eDiscovery experience in the Purview portal. IT Partner works with the client to define the search scope, conduct the search, analyze results, provide a summary report, and provide a link and instructions for accessing the search results.
What this engagement is
This service is designed to help organizations quickly and easily locate relevant information within a client tenant for compliance, legal, or investigative purposes. IT Partner conducts searches using Microsoft Purview eDiscovery tools, manages search results, and exports data in a format that meets the client’s needs. The engagement includes defining the search scope, conducting the search, analyzing the results, and providing the client with a summary report plus access instructions for the search results. Searches run in the unified Microsoft Purview eDiscovery experience in the Purview portal — the classic Content Search tool and classic eDiscovery (Standard) and (Premium) experiences were retired in 2025, and content searches now live inside an eDiscovery case. Premium-tier capabilities (such as review-set analytics) remain license-gated behind Microsoft 365 E5 or E5 Compliance and are outside this service's scope unless separately scoped.
Success criteria
What you receive
How the work unfolds
Define the scope of the search.
Conduct the search in the unified Microsoft Purview eDiscovery experience in the Purview portal.
Analyze the search results and provide a summary report.
Send a link to the search results to a client.
Prerequisites
Who does what
IT Partner
- Work with the client to determine the scope of the search.
- Conduct the search in the unified Microsoft Purview eDiscovery experience.
- Analyze the search results and provide the client with a summary report.
- Provide a link and instructions for accessing search results.
Your team
- Provide access to the Microsoft 365 tenant and relevant user accounts.
- Collaborate with IT Partner to determine the scope of the search.
- Review the summary report provided by IT Partner.
What's not included
Frequently asked questions
What is included in IT Partner’s eDiscovery Search Assistance service?
IT Partner’s eDiscovery Search Assistance includes defining the search scope with the client, conducting searches using Microsoft Purview eDiscovery tools, analyzing the results, and providing a summary report. The service also includes a link and instructions for accessing the search results, so the client can review the exported or available results after the engagement.
Which Microsoft 365 locations can be searched during this service?
This service helps search for specific content across Office 365 applications, including email, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams. The exact search scope is defined with the client at the start of the engagement, because eDiscovery searches need clear locations, users, keywords, date ranges, or other criteria to be useful.
What is the main purpose of eDiscovery Search Assistance?
eDiscovery Search Assistance is designed to help organizations locate relevant information in a Microsoft 365 tenant for compliance, legal, or investigative purposes. IT Partner uses Microsoft Purview eDiscovery tools to perform the search and summarize the results, helping the client identify relevant content more efficiently.
How long does the eDiscovery Search Assistance engagement take?
The listed project duration is 5 days, covering scope definition, the eDiscovery search, review and analysis of results, preparation of a summary report, and delivery of access instructions for the search results.
How much does eDiscovery Search Assistance cost?
The price for IT Partner’s eDiscovery Search Assistance service is $500 per project.
What happens during the eDiscovery Search Assistance process?
IT Partner first works with the client to define the scope of the search. Then IT Partner conducts the search in the unified Microsoft Purview eDiscovery experience in the Purview portal, analyzes the results, prepares a summary report, and sends the client a link to the search results with access instructions.
What information does the client need to provide before the search starts?
The client needs to provide access to the Microsoft 365 tenant and relevant user accounts. The client also needs to collaborate with IT Partner to define the scope of the search, because the quality of eDiscovery results depends on clearly defined search criteria and target locations.
What Microsoft licensing is required for this service?
The listed prerequisites include eligible licensing such as Exchange Online Plan 2, SharePoint Online Plan 2, Microsoft 365 E3, Microsoft 365 G3, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 F5 Compliance or F5 Security & Compliance add-ons, Microsoft 365 Education A3 or Office 365 Education A3, and Office 365 E3. Because eDiscovery capabilities vary by plan and tenant configuration, clients should confirm licensing fit with IT Partner before the engagement.
Will the eDiscovery search cause downtime for users?
No. eDiscovery searches are read-only queries against existing content — mailboxes, sites, and Teams content remain fully available to users while the search runs.
Does IT Partner provide the actual search results after the engagement?
Yes, IT Partner provides a link and instructions for accessing the search results. This allows the client to review the results after the search and analysis are completed.
What is not included in the eDiscovery Search Assistance service?
Legal advice, formal legal review, custodian interviews, full document review and production workflows, and forensic investigation are not included. Premium-tier Purview eDiscovery activities such as review-set analytics or predictive coding are license-gated and separately scoped.
Is this service a legal review or legal advice service?
The service is described as technical eDiscovery search assistance within Office 365, including search execution, result analysis, a summary report, and access instructions. It should not be assumed to include legal advice or legal review unless IT Partner explicitly confirms that in the project scope.