Many organizations don't have e-mail policies

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: MICHAEL OSTERMAN ON MESSAGING
06/30/05
Today's focus: Many organizations don't have e-mail policies

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Companies lack policies on e-mail retention and deletion
* Links related to Messaging
* Featured reader resource
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How can companies get a fuller, sharper picture of their
customers to boost the quantity and quality of customer
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to achieve a "360-degree view" of customers for better selling
and marketing.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107434
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Today's focus: Many organizations don't have e-mail policies

By Michael Osterman

As part of a major survey we just wrapped up on hosted
messaging, we asked organizations about the e-mail policies that
they have established - or that they haven't.

We found that the most commonly instituted e-mail policy focused
on limiting the amount of storage per server through the
establishment of quotas. Three out of four organizations have
such policies, which are typically designed to maintain an
acceptable number of mailboxes per server, to keep back-up and
restore times at reasonable levels and so forth.

Less common, however, are policies related the retention or
deletion of e-mail. We found that fewer than half of
organizations have retention policies in place that specify how
long to keep e-mail, while only slightly more have retention
policies focused on limiting the length of time that e-mail can
be kept. Even fewer organizations have policies about when to
delete e-mail.

One of the problems organizations face if they do not have
appropriate policies regarding e-mail retention or deletion is
that they expose themselves to greater liability in the event of
a lawsuit or regulatory action. For example, imagine that a
court orders a plaintiff to turn over to a defendant all
relevant e-mail from five senior executives that discuss a
particular topic. If the plaintiff is unable to do so, a court
can instruct a jury to consider that the plaintiff might have
had something to hide in those e-mail messages and to take that
into account in their deliberations - not a very welcome
prospect if you're being sued.

Similarly, if you're being investigated by a government agency
and you keep stuff in e-mail longer than you must, you might be
exposing yourself to greater liability. For example, my neighbor
used to be a senior executive at a company in the aircraft
industry. His company was required to keep certain types of
documents for seven years - at seven years plus one day, all of
those documents were destroyed in order to limit potential
liability.

In short, all organizations should have an e-mail retention
policy in place that focuses on retention and deletion
schedules, acceptable use of e-mail and the like. I'd like to
hear your thoughts on this issue - please drop me a line at
<mailto:michael@ostermanresearch.com>

RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS

Anti-spam market weeds out vendors
Network World, 06/27/05
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/062705-spam.html?rl
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Michael Osterman

Michael D. Osterman is the principal of Osterman Research
<http://www.ostermanresearch.com/>, a market research firm that
helps organizations understand the markets for messaging,
directory and related products and services. He can be reached
by clicking here <mailto:michael@ostermanresearch.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Oracle
Boost the quantity and quality of customer interactions!

How can companies get a fuller, sharper picture of their
customers to boost the quantity and quality of customer
interactions? By creating a standardized customer-data model via
an "information grid." IDC analyst Stephen Hendrick explains how
to achieve a "360-degree view" of customers for better selling
and marketing.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107433
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the Messaging newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/gwm/index.html
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How well do you know your customers?

Accurate customer data directly impacts loyalty and business
planning, yet few companies update data regularly. Experts
address the challenges of ensuring a consistent, coherent
customer view across the enterprise.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107320
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE
FOCUS ON RECOVERY

IT professionals are changing the way they back up and recover
data, experts say, with new emphasis on the speedier fetching of
data made possible by advancing technologies. At a recent
storage conference in Orlando, disk-based backup solutions were
touted - find out if attendees agreed and if faster storage
solutions will soon be available. Click here:
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/062005-data-recovery.html>
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