ADVERTORIAL FEATURE

Email security and features driving huge email migration to exchange

 

Email might not be first on the list of priorities for systems to upgrade, but according to a recent email migration report and infographic commissioned by email management company Mimecast, there is more to email management than people might think. The independent report, which surveyed 500 IT decision makers, stated that 77 per cent of those considering email migration were doing so to keep up to date with Microsoft’s latest features.

Email moves fast these days. With Microsoft Exchange 2010 boasting reduced deployment costs, simpler disaster recovery and administration, as well as features that will increase productivity and ensure greater security, businesses are increasingly realising that the most developed email systems are representative of the most developed businesses. With Exchange 2013 undoubtedly on its way, the importance of developed email systems to a business is paramount. Excuses of email downtime are less relevant with partners providing support and email continuity.

Indeed, the importance of email in itself is paramount to generating, maintaining and retaining business. For Marc Munier, Commercial Director at the email marketing solutions company, Pure360, email security, as well as performance, is of the utmost importance:

“How much revenue do you get from your email sends at the moment? Typically clients get 25 per cent opens, 10 per cent clicks and 2 per cent conversions on their site, so on a list of 10,000 with an average order value of £2,000 each send is worth £10,000. That's £10,000 per campaign. The value of the list is incalculable. Now imagine you're back to square one because you didn't back your data up? There's no-one to market to, no-one for your sales team to call, months of contact activity wiped out. You can't target, retarget or even send a newsletter out!

What about if one of your competitors got hold of your list? All those warm prospects could be a real coup for an unsavoury competitor. Or if your data was copied and sold, they would start to receive emails they hadn't opted in to and start to view email campaigns as spam. If your data is not secure or gets lost with no backup, months of marketing time and money would have been wasted.”   

What is becoming clearer, beyond the business benefits of improved email systems, is that, as Mimecast points out, email security is becoming ever-more important. With the high profile intrusions on personal data undertaken by Anonymous and Lulzsec, it is becoming clear that no business is safe, and that adequate precautions must be taken.

Tech writer and founder of Monty's Outlook, Monty Munford, agrees:

"Complacency about online security is a refuge that only fools would cling to. Businesses are defined by their content and how they manage data and information so those who are unprepared for potential intrusions into that business don't deserve their customers.

"We have seen numerous examples that range from banks to games companies to public institutions who have fallen foul of hackers and have seen their brands severely damaged. It can happen to anybody, but it should happen to nobody. There is no excuse, none at all. Get wise or get turned over."

A number of online behemoths are uniting in an attempt to raise awareness of these problems. Google, whose high-profile Good to Know campaign has attempted to improve online practice, has noted that plenty of users create easy-to-crack passwords, as well as leaving email accounts signed in.  These bad email practices are tantamount to putting a sign outside your house telling people you’re out and the door is unlocked. That kind of campaign, combined with the findings drawn by Mimecast, shows a worrying lack of online know-how which could cripple businesses if it isn’t addressed.

Jacob Jaffe, Microsoft Office Division Business Group Lead sees the speed of change in the industry as a key factor for some businesses being less prepared than they could be:

‘Email is the backbone of most organisations today providing the core means for communication with the outside world.  Innovation in this platform has moved forward at a blistering rate in the last few years such that a customer currently running Exchange 2003 is having to pay up to 40 per cent more to store email and archive content than a customer that has moved to Exchange 2010 or Exchange Online today.’ 

It appears that some users are also sacrificing convenience and mobility for security of data, says Jaffe:

‘Cost is of course not the only factor to consider, most people are used to being able to access their email through a web browser and on a smartphone but this isn’t always the case for work email.  The reasons to move to a modern messaging environment have never been more compelling whether the drivers are cost or increased productivity or a mixture of the two.  Getting an IT partner to help with that transition may be a preferred option for those that want to worry more about their business and less about their IT.’

Plenty to think about. So, if you think you’ve got your email migration plan sussed, have a look at the report and ensure you’ve covered all the bases.

 

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

The 50 Best beachwear

The 50 Best beachwear

The hottest summer gear for men and women
Still standing: George Galloway reveals why his staunchly Leftist outlook is still invariably right

Still standing: George Galloway

Written off, ridiculed, wrongly accused of taking bribes the honourable member for Bradford West, has never bowed to the critics.
How will Daniel Radcliffe's fans react to his latest turn - as a damaged, drug-taking Beatnik poet?

Daniel Radcliffe as drug-taking Beatnik poet

His decade as the boy wizard may be over, but that hasn't hexed Daniel Radcliffe's enchanted life.
For whom the bell tolls: £20m 'Memo' project takes shape on Dorset's Jurassic coast

'Memo' project takes shape on Dorset coast

It started as a stonemason's visionary idea – to commemorate all the species that have ever existed and are now extinct.
Just add sunshine: Bill Granger's Turkish delights

Just add sunshine: Bill Granger's Turkish delights

Turkish cuisine is perfect for those long, sociable weekend meals with friends. It's just a shame that money can't buy the key ingredient.
Objets czar: David Usborne’s collection of myriad objects is quite the mystery

Objets czar: David Usborne’s collection of myriad objects

To others, they're junk. To David Usborne, they are his life: useful gizmos, mysterious thingamajigs and anonymous articles that dominate his home.
The iron ore lady: Why the world's richest woman is mired in controversy

World's richest woman: Gina Rinehart

Family feuds, attempts to control the Australian media and bitter public disputes are keeping the mining magnate in the headlines.
We just click: How Lego keeps building on its success

How Lego keeps building on its success

This year, Lego announced record profits. Gerard Gilbert visits its Denmark HQ.
The other bits: Mark Hix creates delicious and economical meals with cheaper cuts of meat

Mark Hix cooks with cheaper cuts of meat

Our chef creates delicious and economical meals on a budget
Strokes of genius: How to create summer's bold make-up look

Strokes of genius: Summer's bold make-up

From coral lips to fly-away fringes, make-up artist Kim Brown and hair stylist Richard Scorer reveal how to create the look
Marking his territory: Kilian Hennessy creates fragrances designed to provoke the senses

Marking his territory: Kilian Hennessy

The perfumer creates fragrances designed to provoke the senses
Photo essay: Britain's 1948 Olympians today

Britain's 1948 Olympians today

Photo essay
The top five E3 2012 triumphs: From Ubisoft's suite of titles to Dishonored and The Last of Us

The top five E3 2012 triumphs

The games and moments that left us grinning like the Cheshire Cat
The green movement at 50: Can the world be saved?

Can the world be saved?

Population growth and climate change are the big problems facing the earth in the next 50 years. But are there any solutions?
France: Will xenophobia go mainstream?

France: Will xenophobia go mainstream?

In the beautiful Rhone delta, John Lichfield visits a village where a dangerous new political landscape is taking shape