Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Why you need to be archiving your email right now
Thursday, July 16, 2009 by Michael Holley
Everyone has heard that we should all be archiving our email,
but why?
- According to KM World, somewhere between 60-70% of business
critical data exists in the form of electronic message. That
statistic is very important when one considers that over 70% of all small businesses that experience
data loss will be forced to close within twelve months of the
event. While many users simply use the included local email
archiving tool in Exchange or Lotus Notes, the relative volatility
of magnetic disk drives leaves local archives just as vulnerable as
before. A 2007 study by Google found that disk drives
that are three years old have a failure rate of over 8%. That means
there's an approximate 1 in 12 chance that any given user's drive
will fail in its third year of use.
- Not only is lost data bad for your business operations, it can
get you in serious legal trouble as well. Edward Alexi explains the details well here, but in a
nutshell, courts can subpoena any of your electronic communication
records (including instant messages) at any time, and if you can't
provide them, you're in big trouble. Penalties can manifest
themselves in the form of fines, contempt of court, imposing
sanctions on your case, or an automatic guilty verdict. There are
different standards of compliance across different pieces of
legislation, and different pieces of legislation apply to different
industries and entities. It's important to use a consultant, if
necessary, to make sure that the solution you implement meets the
guidelines set forth by the legislation that applies to you, or
your investment could all be for naught.
The bottom line is that a reliable email archiving solution is
an absolute must, both for the purposes of data security and
government compliance. It isn't something you can wait to implement
someday. It's like driving without car insurance; you never know
how long it's going to be before you get caught, but it's bound to
happen eventually. The only difference is that there's a lot more
at stake in the future of your business.
Best,
Michael Holley
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Consulting
& Support
Rochester
IT Consulting & Support
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