 |
| Email Archiving |
Email archiving is the process of directly capturing
emails when they are being sent or received from the client. These mails can be
saved on the hard disks to be used for reference at a later date, instead of
having online access of the same every time. Most companies try to limit the
amount of data that can be stored in the form of emails. Depending on the job
profile, limits are differently allotted to employees. Storage in the form of
PST files increase chances of data loss or corruption on hard disks. With the
help of an email archival solution, it is possible to access mails on
mobile devices and also while being offline. It must be noted that mails can be
lost when one forgets to create a back up, but an archive search tool can help
in locating the same. If deleted by mistake, it would still be available in the
archived folders. Archives are usually set for deletion only after a certain
period of time.
Advantages of choosing email archiving
A reputed email hosting service can
provide archival solutions if asked for. Header information such as about the
sender, receiver and message contents is stored by the email archival
solution. Certain advanced versions of these solutions can even search for
data in attachments, which would save a lot of time for any business. In some
companies, access to archives is only available with account administrators,
while others allow employees to go through complete mail accounts. Email
archiving can also prevent mails from becoming viral. If there is some
derogatory information about employees that is to be conveyed to a particular
manager, then archiving would prevent it from being leaked on sources such as
social networking sites. Some archiving solution providers can store all mails
within a tamper proof space, so that no alterations can be made.
How to select the right email hosting
service
For selecting the necessary email hosting service, company management and the I.T. Department need to keep the
requirements of a company in mind. For example, businesses which require
litigation-oriented information would need to address e-discovery and legal
holds. Companies addressing performance management would give importance to the
end-user experience. As per statistics, litigation-related e-discovery makes
the greatest use of archives. Some companies would look for on-site hosting
while others would choose local hosting, depending on the nature of information
being shared. One way of using emails could be transitory, where communication
constantly takes place between different entities, while the other could be
repository, which would need storage space. Therefore, one can say that email archiving helps in preventing confidential information from being shared
with an inappropriate party. The I.T. department can always maintain track of
different mails being sent, which would protect a company's reputation in the
long run.
