>>Seeing as IT is going forward with looking for this capture software
anyway, is there anything I could or should do in regards to
retention?<<

You might want to suggest that since the contents of the retained emails
might be record material, that the prudent thing to do would be to
implement a similar policy for paper.  Retain it all, just in case.
After about a month, have management take a tour of the storage facility
stacked to the ceiling with shredded paper, plastic bags full of waste
paper from the trash cans and a hundred boxes or so of junk mail.  Then
tell them that you are concerned that you might have to find a single
copy of a letter somewhere in the midst of the mess.

When they all laugh, remind them that their email solution is probably
larger by a factor of 50-100 times, and someday they will be searching
the pile one record at a time.  How much they waste on the effort is
dependant on how long they are determined to keep everything.

Bill Roach, CRM
Enterprise EDMS Coordinator
State of North Dakota
ITD/Records Management
701-328-3589

BTW: I would hate to be in their shoes when they get served and ask a
bunch employees to review the emails.  You might well find that some
employees are fed up after reviewing a 100 or so Viagra testimonials.
They might well be tempted to file a complaint claiming a adverse work
environment.  Your organization may not have anything to say about
getting these types of emails, but retaining them is entirely within
your control.

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