In every business, keeping track of important files is necessary. Email archiving is a helpful tool especially when the business runs short on storage space. Getting a higher storage limit means the company has to pay more, hence, with email archiving, you can save some of that precious on-site storage space. However, like any business practice, there are dos and don’ts to using email archiving.
The Dos of Email Archiving
Here are the best practices you should employ when using the office 365 email archiving feature.
•Make archiving a company-wide policy. Brief every employee of the company about the importance of email archiving. Email communication is valuable documentation that the company should keep and maintain to remain compliant with specific regulations.
•Be prepared for legal matters. Email is vital information used as evidence in case of an investigation or a lawsuit. If the company does not have proper archiving procedures in place, they may be subject to costly litigation proceedings and fines.
•Comply with email archiving regulations. Archiving emails is not limited to storage alone. Emails should be tamper-proof and stored in the correct format prescribed by law.
•Integrate email archiving with company CRM system. If the company has a customer relations management system, it is best to augment it with email archiving. This way, all outgoing and automated emails are automatically filed and stored.
•Managers have improved insight. Email archiving can be a helpful tool in management. For example, when you keep track of emails forwarded and received, you can get a glimpse of possible issues such as effective customer relationship management. You can also gain an insight into the employee relationships and whether there is cause for concern or intervention.
•Dedicate a database for archiving. Email archives tend to increase in size rapidly. You can use an email archiving solution designed for scalability and reliability. Dedicate a database solely to archived emails to ensure that you never run out of space to keep track of important email communication.
These best practices in email archiving not only maximize the benefits but also help the company address specific issues by having sufficient archived documentation.
The don’ts of email archiving
These don’ts in email archiving can counteract the best practices in email archiving, hence they should be avoided.
•Know the difference between archiving and backing-up. There is often some confusion where email “back-up” is considered the same as archiving. The purpose of email back-up is to save data in the event of system failure or disaster. What email archiving does is provide advanced search and retrieval functions while also keeping the information tamper-proof.
•Don’t wait until the last minute to adopt an email archiving solution. Some companies wait until their on-site servers have filled up before considering an email archiving solution. Unfortunately, emails contain crucial corporate information and it is not possible to delete them as needed.
•Don’t rely on Microsoft Exchange alone. Microsoft Exchange is not designed to store the entire email history of a company and provide fast search features at the same time. Consider an email archiving solution with scalable features that best fits the needs of your company.
Email archiving is vital for companies today. Whether you are relying on on-premise infrastructure or cloud solutions, you can find an email archiving solution that will work with both types of systems.
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