--- title: Building an Operational Layer for eDiscovery with Agility Blue description: "How Proteus Discovery Group uses Agility Blue to build an operational layer for eDiscovery: capture requirements once, automate what is known, and surface what is not." image: https://blog.proteusdiscovery.com/hubfs/image-png-3.png --- [‹ All posts](https://blog.proteusdiscovery.com/) Est. 2015 [Industry Analysis](https://blog.proteusdiscovery.com/tag/industry-analysis) [eDiscovery](https://blog.proteusdiscovery.com/tag/ediscovery) [Litigation Support](https://blog.proteusdiscovery.com/tag/litigation-support) # Building an Operational Layer for eDiscovery with Agility Blue Au Austin J. Hagen Nov 3, 2026, 10:42:56 AM ![](https://blog.proteusdiscovery.com/hubfs/image-png-3.png) ## Beyond tracking tasks For litigation support professionals, managing a matter involves far more than assigning tasks and tracking their completion. Every matter brings together people, data sources, physical media, processing requirements, review platforms, production specifications, and decisions that must remain connected throughout the lifecycle. The challenge is not always performing the work itself. Often, it is ensuring that the requirements, decisions, and information needed to perform that work are available at the right time, in the right place, and to the right people. A processing requirement documented during intake may become relevant weeks later. A piece of media may be associated with multiple operational activities. A decision made early in a matter may influence what happens during production. When information is scattered across emails, spreadsheets, notes, individual tasks, or institutional knowledge, teams spend valuable time finding it again, re-entering it, or asking questions that have already been answered. More importantly, critical information can be overlooked when it does not follow the work. At Proteus Discovery Group, these familiar operational challenges have influenced how we think about the fundamentals of eDiscovery and the role automation can play in strengthening them. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ## Changing the question Proteus selected Agility Blue to provide a centralized platform for managing our eDiscovery operations. Beyond organizing matters and tracking work, we saw an opportunity to leverage the platform's flexibility to support our workflows and evolving operational needs. As our workflows continue to evolve, so does our approach to the platform. We began shifting our thinking from: **“How do we track this process?”** To: **“How much of this process can the system help us manage?”**  ![](https://blog.proteusdiscovery.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-03-2026-03-20-59-7696-PM.png?width=975&height=569&name=image-png-Nov-03-2026-03-20-59-7696-PM.png) That shift continues to shape how we design and improve our workflows today. Rather than treating Agility Blue solely as a place to document work, we began exploring how it could help manage the information, relationships, and decisions driving that work. This included identifying opportunities to automate predictable steps, connect related records, carry information between stages, validate requirements, and surface exceptions requiring attention. The objective was not simply to automate more tasks. It was to reduce repetitive manual effort while improving the consistency, visibility, and operational control that litigation support professionals rely on every day. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ## Capture once. Use throughout the matter. One of the foundational principles behind our approach is that information should not need to be repeatedly entered or rediscovered as a matter progresses. Many operational requirements are established early in a matter and remain relevant throughout the eDiscovery lifecycle. Using custom objects and structured information within Agility Blue, Proteus has developed ways to capture requirements and make them available to the workflows that need them. For example, processing and production requirements can be maintained as structured records rather than relying exclusively on task descriptions, notes, or individual knowledge. That information can then support downstream activities, validation, quality control, and reporting. For Proteus, the goal is not to remove people from operational decisions. It is to reduce the manual work surrounding those decisions and give teams better information when their judgment is needed. Our guiding principle is: **Automate what we know. Surface what we do not. Give people better information for the decisions that still require human judgment.** **![](https://blog.proteusdiscovery.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-03-2026-03-22-30-5380-PM.png?width=975&height=569&name=image-png-Nov-03-2026-03-22-30-5380-PM.png)** \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ## Building systems that evolve Operational automation is rarely finished after its first implementation. A workflow may begin by solving a specific problem. As it is used across real matters, new scenarios emerge, exceptions become visible, and opportunities for improvement become clearer. Rather than treating these discoveries as failures, we see them as part of the development process. We build a workflow, use it, learn from it, and refine it. ![](https://blog.proteusdiscovery.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-03-2026-03-23-31-7616-PM.png?width=975&height=569&name=image-png-Nov-03-2026-03-23-31-7616-PM.png) The flexibility to adapt our workflows within Agility Blue has allowed Proteus to take an iterative approach to operational improvement rather than attempting to anticipate every possible scenario from the beginning. Over time, these individual improvements contribute to something larger: a more connected operational environment where information captured in one part of a matter can help support work elsewhere. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ## From work management to operational intelligence For Proteus, the opportunity extends beyond any individual automation. When operational information is structured, connected, and maintained throughout a matter, it becomes more useful. It can support workflow decisions, identify exceptions, improve visibility, and contribute to reporting that helps leadership understand operational activity. This represents an evolution in how we use Agility Blue: moving beyond tracking tasks toward building an operational layer that helps connect the information, decisions, and processes behind the work. That evolution is ongoing, and many of the most valuable improvements have come from solving practical problems one workflow at a time. For us, innovation also means making the fundamentals more dependable. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ## Looking ahead This article introduces a series exploring how Proteus is using Agility Blue to address the everyday operational challenges litigation support professionals know all too well. In the coming articles, we will take a closer look at matter intake automation, reusable processing and production requirements, our partnership with Agility Blue, media tracking, dedicated quality control tasks, controlled closeout workflows, evolving automation, and operational reporting. ![](https://blog.proteusdiscovery.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-03-2026-03-27-03-1090-PM.png?width=917&height=535&name=image-png-Nov-03-2026-03-27-03-1090-PM.png) Each story will explore a specific challenge, the approach we developed, and lessons learned along the way, with an emphasis on the fundamentals that help eDiscovery matters run consistently. The goal is not simply to automate more work. **It is to build better systems for managing the work that matters.** \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ *To talk through how your team manages operational requirements, reach out at austin.hagen@proteusdiscovery.com.* Au ###### Austin J. Hagen As the Vice President of Operations for Proteus Discovery, Austin leads the client services team, overseeing the strategy and execution of forensics, ESI hosting, and managed review. His more than 20 years of eDiscovery experience include project management, training, and consulting. Austin is responsible for process creation and documentation, workflow automation, and ensuring Proteus’ growth is geared to maintain the white-glove service Proteus clients have come to expect. 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