Claudia said: ... We are in the process of setting up an email archiving
system and I would like some ideas.   Specifically, do you capture all users
emails or only certain users.  How long should emails be retained?  Are the
retentions set up per department?

Hi Claudia,

I concur with the others that email needs to be managed according to the
content.  However, you mentioned that you are in the process of setting up
an email archiving system, and that throws a layer of complexity into the
equation and I didn't want that to go unaddressed.  So, here's what my
current employer does:

1.  We manage email based on the content.  If the content meets the criteria
of a record, then it is retained and disposed of according to retention
policy.  This applies regardless of what technologies we may use now or in
the future - this is the general principle level, if you will.

2.  We are a MS shop and so use Exchange.  We were suffering from an
overabundance of email traffic, and so implemented Evault archiving
software (a Symantec product) and utilize a Centera device for storage to
auto-archive email off of Exchange after 120 days from receipt.  We set up
retention periods within Evault to facilitate the eventual destruction of
email when the time is right, according to policy.  (NOTE: This is not easy
- email archiving software and devices are not meant to be overly flexible
things, so making it match a very granular retention schedule will likely be
a bit of a trick.  Most products I've seen will work delightfully well with
the big-bucket approach to retention)

To your specific question, it captures all email on our server that are 120+
days old, regardless of department, user, etc.  But, we don't manage (or
don't want to manage) retention via the archiving tool ... read on ...

3.  In my organization, email that is deemed to be a record, should not even
be subject to archiving (usually) because it is our policy that email that
are records are to be filed in our DMS (we don't have an RMS, yet) and
retention will ideally be managed there, not via the archiving tool.  The
only real exception to this are email that become records only after a
period of time has passed (it's value was not inherent at the point of
creation/receipt); and if that period of time is more than 120 days, then
you'll find it living in the Centera, not on Exchange.  It still needs to be
moved to our DMS, it just has to be unarchived first.

We have this set up mostly because IT bought the stuff without asking anyone
if that was the best way to go about addressing the stress of volume on the
Exchange server (and was done well before I joined the firm).  In reality,
if we had gotten policy in place and been managing records well, I honestly
feel that we wouldn't need an archiving set-up at all.  But, since we have
it, it does function as a "back up" of sorts in the event we have folks who
aren't good filers (who don't move email to our DMS as fast as they should),
etc.  And anyone who's ever met a lawyer can probably understand that we do
have a few of them who aren't good filers.  Good lawyers, sure, not
necessarily good records managers though.

So what does all of that mean?  If you can, try to save your organization
the money and headache of implementing an email archive system in the first
place by helping them actually manage their email.  Act on email - move it
to a repository if you have to keep it or delete it if you don't need to
keep it.

If you can't do that, or you've already bought the stuff, make the most of
it.  For us, the Centera can be used for storage of other stuff if we end up
not needing its capacity for email (which we won't).  Also, it does add some
depth to our DR capability, although I could argue not enough to warrant the
cost of the software and two Centeras, and it is often where we spend a good
amount of time during discovery.

Email Archiving isn't a 4-letter word, or at least it doesn't have to be,
but it also isn't a euphemism for Records and Information Management.

I hope that helps at least a little.  If I can help further, please feel
free to contact me offlist.

Julie

-- 
Julie J. Colgan, CRM

[log in to unmask]
http://twitter.com/juliecolgan
http://www.linkedin.com/in/juliejcolgan

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
mailto:[log in to unmask]