Effective Email Management Part 2: Email at the Desktop

1
Effective Email ManagementPart 2 Email at the
Desktop
Jesse Wilkins February 22, 2007
2
Agenda

• Classification and categorization
• Managing messages and attachments
• Storage and archival
• Web-based email
• Tools for taking control of your inbox

3
Email at the desktop

• Average employee sends, receives 85 messages per
  day
• Average employee spends 33 of their time working
  with email
• Users send emails to their personal accounts
• Users use email as a personal storage system

4
Where is your email?

• On the server
• In your Inbox
• In your Sent box
• In your Deleted Items box
• In someone elses Inbox

5
Classification categorization

• Is it a record or not?
• Where does it go?
• How do you get it there?

6
Classification

• Its a record if.
• It documents a business transaction
• It informs a business decision
• The law requires it
• You have to manage an email record
• You receive from outside the company
• You send to someone inside the company
• You send to someone outside the company

7
Categorizing Messages

• How do you classify/categorize messages?
• Automated, at the server
• Automated, at the client
• Manually, e.g. drag drop
• The records manager does it

8
Categorization

• Where does it go?
• Custom individual folders
• Structured individual folders
• Public folders
• Shared drive
• Moved to an ERMS or email archival application

9
Managing messages and attachments

• If the contents of the message are a record keep
  it
• If the contents arent, but the attachment(s)
  are
• Keep it
• Export the attachments into e.g. ERMS

10
Storage and Archival
11
Where messages get stored

• Messaging application
• Messaging client
• Backup tapes
• .pst and .nsf files
• Other archive solutions
• Hard copy

12
Messaging application

• Exchange, Groupwise, Lotus, Sendmail
• Not built for massive amounts of messages
• And attachments
• And records management
• And document management
• Can be difficult to search across inboxes
• Discovery, auditing

13
Messaging client

• Outlook, Groupwise, Thunderbird, etc.
• May store messages locally or not
• Can increase the amount of storage required
• Clients frequently not backed up
• Can be used with rules or to get around them

14
Backup tapes

• are just that.
• Not storing messages, but binary data
• Need to restore tape to access the messages
• Tape formats and applications change too!
• Better use backup tapes for disaster recovery
  and use other means to manage email

15
.pst and .nsf files

• Local archives
• Increase the storage required
• May result in multiple copies of messages,
  attachments
• Often multiple .pst files
• Readily corruptible
• Not backed up!

16
Other archive approaches

• Numerous desktop- and server-based tools
  available
• Export individual messages to PC or network
  shared drive
• Format issues
• Retrieval issues
• Search engine
• Google Desktop, Windows Desktop Search, Lookout

17
Windows Desktop Search
18
The dead-tree approach

• Hardcopy is the LEAST preferred approach
• Better than nothing but only just
• Potential loss of metadata
• Attachments
• Threading and sizing issues
• Phishing and other fun pastimes
• Volume!
• Exporting to PDF generally has the same
  limitations

19
Web-based email
20
Web-based email

• What it is and how it works
• The issues
• The strategies

21
Common web-based email

• MSN/HoTMaiL
• Now Windows Live Mail
• Yahoo! Mail
• AOL Mail
• GMail

22
(No Transcript)
23
(No Transcript)
24
(No Transcript)
25
Web-based email 101

• Available in free, premium flavors
• Uses HTTP may also support POP today
• Web-based interface
• Spam an issue
• Lots of spam sent on these networks
• Aggressive spam filtering

26
Why web email is a problem

• Spam, viruses, other unsavory content
• Gets around IT content filtering
• Gets around attachment size and type limitations
• Massive amounts of storage
• 1-3 GB per account
• Discoverable.
• but not readily available for discovery

27
What do you do about it?

• Address in policy
• Whether allowed or not
• What limitations if any
• Filter for it at firewall

28
Conclusion

• Email is a tool
• Email is NOT a series
• Email messages can be records
• Attachments can be records
• Email is just as discoverable
• Email users are in the best position to manage
  their own messages effectively

29
For more information

• Jesse Wilkins
• CDIA, edp, LIT/ERM, ICP, ermm, ecms
• [phone] office
• [phone] fax
• jesse_at_jwilkinsassociates.com