Introduction to E-mail Archiving & Management
E-mail Archiving and Management (EAM) is very much an emerging technology space. CMS Watch research focuses on the broad problem of EAM -- a term still in search of a commonly accepted definition. More typically you will see products listed and promoted as Messaging Archiving, E-mail Management, or even Information Storage or Records Management. While the market has yet to settle on a single descriptor, we have opted for EAM because we believe that people buy such services and systems to have a base archive from which they can draw and manage very large volumes of e-mail throughput and production. The branding and terminology really matter little – what is important is finding a product that fits your needs – but nevertheless EAM gives us a peg to hang our hat on. So a good if simple definition runs as follows:
"EAM systems archive the contents of mail servers into a centrally indexed and managed location"
Many EAM systems hope to do far more than that, but even at the most basic level, all EAM systems do not do the same things.
Some focus on removing mail from the e-mail servers Others specialize in filtering and removing junk or useless mail. Still others concentrate on building and maintaining a copy of the mail environment so that it can be backed up if all else fails.
EAM paints with a very broad brush. Yet, regardless of the vendor's approach, almost every EAM system provides several s tandard features. This set of core features spans the EAM functional spectrum:
Manage e-mail over the long term – in some cases many years – but not in the e-mail server
Search and retrieve e-mail regardless of its age or status
Identify and attach retention policies to e-mail that contains business critical information
Configure e-mail to be compliant if the enterprise faces legal action
Account for e-mail across a life cycle that terminates with archiving and/or disposition
< The function-point domains of Archiving, Backup, Monitoring, Discovery, and Policy Management still represent distinct solution sets, each with its own unique business and technical drivers. And even if the technology elements are similar or even identical, each customer's needs and motivations remain distinctly different. What is common to both buyers and vendors is the very real need to address the growing volumes of e-mail. Be that from a storage and server optimization angle, or from the need to prepare and respond to litigation or onerous regulations.
E-mail outweighs the volume of normal electronic files and documents by an order of magnitude or more -- a ratio that is only set to grow larger. Blanket destruction approaches to managing e-mail growth (ie: destroy everything over 90 days) is clumsy and at times illegal, Just as is the thought that by adding more IT hardware to the equation will allow mail servers to grow exponentially. There is a very real and growing need to take control of the e-mail mountains, and EAM tools have been designed to assist.
For more information about requirements and tools, consult The E-mail Archiving & Management.