Given that all businesses need a method for archiving corporate business email, the challenge for IT decision-makers is to find an email archiving solution that works for them.
Some things to think about: On-Premises Archiving Considerations This enables information to be stored within your business' data centre.
As a result, your business is responsible for the installation, configuration and operation of the archiving system - as well as its underlying infrastructure.
So what are issues to look out for? 1.
Cost.
On-premise archiving requires considerable capital for hardware, software, ongoing operations and support.
2.
Failures in provider security.
How will you screen personnel? How will you verify the network and physical security of data centres? 3.
Availability and reliability.
Outages occur.
So, how will you ensure optimal data centre power and network connectivity for seamless business transactions? 4.
Legal and regulatory compliance.
Consider whether you have the infrastructure, processes and procedures, and staff to achieve regulatory compliance.
In Australia, directors are personally liable for failing to comply.
5.
Perimeter security model.
With this model, critical data and applications exist outside enterprise network firewalls.
Keeping this safe is in itself a task.
Although having an on-premises system means that your business would exercise total control of your archiving system, it also means that an internal person or body would need to manage data security, committing to vigilant security measures at all times.
Cloud Archiving Considerations Data security is the most pressing concern for IT decision-makers, especially when the cloud comes into play.
In fact, 49% of enterprise and 51% of SMBs revealed concerns about security and privacy within the cloud (Forrester Research).
Yes, failure happens - even for the largest, most controlled companies.
The recent Apple iCloud scare is a biting example of poor cloud security and the resultant threats to privacy.
On the other hand, in separate instances, cloud-based solutions are actually safer as made evident when Google Enterprise President's laptop was stolen, it was totally clean.
How come? Because 'everything was stored remotely - there was no loss of data, and no loss of productivity'.
In spite of this, the notion that data archived to the cloud is randomly distributed in an unsecured manner has found a home for itself in this debate.
But, importantly, the concern couldn't be more unsubstantiated.
Here's why: 1.
Physical access.
If you're archiving email in the cloud, it won't reach the hands of unwanted employees seeking to move the data across hard-drives or through back-ups.
The cloud reduces physical access to data, limiting this access only to select individuals.
2.
Encryption.
Any reputable archiving provider will replicate encrypted archived data - multiple times.
If someone, somehow manages to gain unauthorised access to the encrypted data, they still won't have the other half of the puzzle - namely, the ability to decrypt it.
This ensures that only the right people see the data.
3.
Commitment to security.
Email archiving vendors are vigilant about data security.
The rapid analysis technology they use highlights touchpoints where information is transferred, identifies new threats and applies security patches.
IT leaders in cloud security and data infrastructure systems management are focused on this task 24/7.
In the cloud, data is stored on more reliable hardware infrastructure than on what most mid-sized IT decision makers can afford.
In addition to this access to great technology, this solution frees the business owners from worrying about delivering capabilities they could never afford like redundancy, multiple data centre backups, and climate-controlled data centres.
On-premises Email Archiving 1.
Stored within on-premise data centre - a single point of failure 2.
On-premise data centres are open to threats from all personnel, visitors, hackers, and theft (stolen laptops, BlackBerries, or files) 3.
Data stored inside network security firewall 4.
Managed by in-house staff with many IT priorities Cloud-based Email Archiving 1.
Redundantly stored in multiple secure data centres 2.
All personnel screened and monitored, visitors continually escorted by security professionals 3.
Data is encrypted in transit (before leaving the firewall) and at rest within the cloud archive 4.
Managed by dedicated, full-time, messaging experts If you're looking at a cloud email archiving solution, remember to verify: - The integrity of the machines in use: Is this an established business that has spent billions of dollars to maintain an appropriate cloud environment? - Measures in use: What kind of network security processes are active? No matter what email archiving solution you choose, it's important to run through these questions.
A good decision is powered by information and research.
And, as we believe, with quality evaluation you'll see that cloud-based archiving is the most competitive solution on the market.