Get the Balance Right: A Guide to E-mail Governance

Online, October 6, 2009 (Newswire.com) - ITO America Webinar: EMC and ESG Participate

Date: Wed, Oct 7, 2009 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM EDT

Registration Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/613678210

Abstract:

"To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction." Sir Isaac's Newton's Third Law of Motion may be most applicable in the field of physics, but the concept resonates in today's corporate e-mail environments. IT wants to control storage costs so they enforce mailbox quotas. Quotas force knowledge workers to manage their own inboxes by creating personal archives. Personal archives make it very difficult for corporate counsel to respond to electronic discovery requests. The pattern can continue endlessly, and it often does in most enterprises - No matter what action someone takes to manage e-mail environments, there are reactions and consequences.

According to Enterprise Strategy Group research: e-mail, when compared other business applications, will have the greatest impact on server and storage spending over the next two years and eighty percent of electronic discovery events involves e-mail and associated attachments. These trends are unlikely to subside spurring the need for organizations to follow Sir Isaac's Newton's logic and come up with their own rules that govern information, specifically e-mail, management. This governance should drive policies which dictate how messages should be managed - including how long they should be kept, where they should be stored, and who can access them. Coming up with these policies requires cooperation and input from several departments including IT, legal, compliance and records management. Organizations must then invest in technology which can automatically enforce these policies.

Gregory P. Kosinski, Director, EMC and Brian Babineau, Senior Analyst, ESG discuss common e-mail management practices and their drawbacks as well offer opportunities and suggestions for improvement.