A View on Email Management
Balancing Multiple Interests and Realities of the Workplace

Regardless of how the filing plan is constructed, the various organizational interest groups mentioned in the previous section must feel that their concerns will be adequately handled by whatever processes and systems are put in place.

Taking Human Factors into Account
The quality of any email archiving and management solution is only as good as the processes it supports and, by extension, the people who support that process. The impact of this issue is relevant on two levels:

• The fact that many risky emails are nonbusiness related (i.e., they are created, sent or circulated outside normal business processes). Recent surveys have indicated that a majority of employees have sent or received emails that could put their company at risk, and yet the vast majority of these employees do not think they have ever handled risky emails. These types of issues need to be acknowledged and accounted for in any type of business process and supporting system (i.e., some type of process— such as automatic email purging—must be developed to eliminate the risk of non-business- related email activity).
• The need for training and "buy in" from relevant staff regarding the processes for handling business-related emails. In this instance, staff must be trained about processes, particularly about what the organization has decided must be disposed of and what must be retained, whether for operational purposes or in case of an audit. Some organizations, though, may not yet be able to have fully trained staff in place, either because processes are still being developed or because employer turnover is high, so new staff is continually being trained. But even if staff is not fully up to speed, email management needs still exist, so some type of rudimentary process and supporting system still needs to be in place.

Evaluating Email and Records Management Systems
Although some email and RMA-related issues ebb and flow, core concerns remain constant and need to be addressed:

• Just because email is, according to a recent IDC report, the "elephant in the corner," doesn't mean managing it should be intimidating or viewed as exceptional within a larger RMA context. In fact, efficient and measured email solutions that are consistent with internal processes and allow for automated filing and selective disposal of emails help optimize available storage, make business processes run smoother, and lessen overall organizational liability.
• The paperless office does not exist and won't any time soon. Paper still exists in mass quant ities, which demonstrates that organizations still realize the multiple benefits offered by paper documents. The key is retaining the benefits of paper while relieving the burden of paper (storage, transportation, accessibility, and so on), as well as also allowing digitized paper to be searched in tandem with other archived data types, like email.
• Open technology and open formats, like XML and TIFF, enable better data security and availability throughout document lifecycles, regardless of original file types. Organizations need assurance that their information is always accessible without having to worry about upgrading or continually revamping their systems.
• Expectations for efficiency and costeffectiveness are as high as they are for system performance. Efficiency-focused organizations demand software that is easy to use, install, deploy, support and maintain. Solution deployment should take days, not weeks or months.
• Meeting compliance requirements is a cost factor, so email and RMA solutions must be flexible and integratable, supported by fast and usable searching, retrieving and organizing capabilities. Being able to optimize records information makes organizations more competitive and cost effective, particularly in terms of secondary costs like legal fees and staffing.
• A key to effective and affordable solutions is being able to buy only what is needed. Vendors must respect an organization's understanding of its email and RMA requirements and how to address them, particularly in terms of scale (i.e., lower upfront costs, quicker deployment and ROI and better positioning for incremental future growth). 
• Integration with existing systems is preferable to comprehensive overhauls. Replacing significant parts of existing systems is costly and time-consuming. New email and RMA components should also seamlessly integrate into specialized tooling (such as case management tools for legal professionals). 

A Realistic Email Archiving and Management Plan
Based on the analysis outlined in this article, ZyLAB suggests the following solution to address email archiving and management issues:

1. Users must be trained to file relevant emails directly from MS Outlook into a ZyIMAGE XML repository according to a filing plan that controls retention schedules and transfer rules. Advanced access capabilities must be available to investigate the wealth of knowledge buried in retained emails.
2. In parallel, ZyIMAGE Exchange Connector is used to create a copy of all emails that need to be stored for a limited period of time, say three to six months.
3. Using this data collection, a compliance officer or records manager should perform regular audits and enforce regulations by relying on automatic alerts (such as ZyALERT) based on predefined queries. Statistically relevant samples can be checked with ZyFIND or a ZyIMAGE Webserver to make sure that users actually follow rules and regulations and file emails and other relevant documents into a proper records management system.
4. After a set period of time, massive email collections are purged and the ZyIMAGE RMA system will retain a legally correct set of relevant emails.

This tiered approach focuses on core capabilities that enable organizations to add just the level of functionality they need: comprehensive search, automated alerting, "smart" document archiving, email and business process integration, and so on. ZyLAB has found that the reality of diverse and dynamic workplaces necessitates the ability to provide a breadth of integrative email archiving and management tools that enable users to investigate their files within the context of actual internal processes.

ZyLAB anticipated long ago that any sort of stable archiving functionality was only as good as its ability to enable users to find and access any type of specific stored information for as long as they need it, without any required systems upgrades or reprogramming. By providing a flexible yet solid foundation, users could expand (or not) their solution to exactly the right size and level of functionality.

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ZyLAB is an innovative developer of affordable content management and compliance solutions for paper-intensive organizations. ZyIMAGE, ZyLAB's flagship solution, helps small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and government organizations digitally file and manage millions of pages of paper, electronic documents and email. High-quality search and retrieval features (which support over 200 languages) give users the ability to easily organize, investigate and distribute information.

With more than 7,000 installations worldwide and more than 300,000 users, ZyLAB has a wide breadth of experience and knowledge across a variety of different industries and business applications. For more information visit: www.zylab.com