Post on 27-Mar-2015
Electronic Mail Management A-Z
Email Storage Management
The Personal Nature of Email
E-mail is a personal productivity tool E-mail is most effective when an
attorney can customize the environment to his or her own personal needs, including setting up folders
Policies that restrict an attorney’s ability to customize the e-mail environment seriously reduce the usefulness of this technology
Email is a growing problem!
Number of e-mails per day will grow from 9.7 billion in 2000 to 35 billion by 2005 (IDC).
E-mail has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 300% (IDC).
By the end of 2004, e-mail data will require 230 petabytes of storage (IDC).
60% of business-critical data is now carried via e-mail (Gartner)
Porter Wright’s Environment
Primarily a regional law firm (Ohio) with 6 offices, 300 attorneys, 600 end-users
One Exchange 2000 server in each office
Columbus is our largest office with approximately 350 users
Single store, over 150 GB Largest mailbox is over 10 GB
Porter Wright’s Environment
Inbox, Sent Items and Deleted Items folders groomed monthly Messages older then the first day of the
previous month deleted
Messages in other folders are not deleted
Attorneys folder messages in user-created folders that are usually matter-based
Why are Attorneys Holding onto this Stuff?
General knowledge Matter-specific information Proof of a transaction (by definition, a
record) Business critical information
The Attorneys Point of View:
They have a legitimate need for holding onto these messages
They need a place to store these messages They need unfettered access to these
messages while the matter is open Printing these messages out and storing
them in the file is not an option (Gartner indicates that people already spend up
to 90 minutes per day managing their email).
I.T.’s Point of View:
E-mail storage requirements are growing exponentially
Backup, Recovery and Maintenance windows are growing
Very large message stores could lead to corruption resulting in extended periods of downtime
Firm’s Point of View:
Electronic records, including email, not being managed
Growing threat of costly litigation and discovery requests
Standard policies, consistently applied needed with respect to retention and disposition of electronic records.
So What Problem are We Trying to Solve?
Tactical solution for system health? (Storage Management)
Records management solution for Regulatory and Business Policy Compliance? (Records Management)
Collaborative solution for sharing information? (Knowledge Management)
So What Problem are We Trying to Solve?
Answer: For law firms which are generally not
under regulatory or legal constraints, the problem is largely tactical and the solution deployed should provide a means for maximizing system health. However, the records management implications should not be ignored.
The Ideal Solution:
Allows attorneys to folder messages in Outlook while the matter is open
Moves messages to a non-critical system after the matter is closed
Allows users to retrieve archived e-mails without assistance from a system administrator
Allows the Firm to apply consistent retention policies
The Ideal Solution:
Our Conclusion:The ideal solution integrates the e-mail
system with a Records Management System (RMS) so that messages can be easily moved from e-mail to the RMS after a matter has closed, where they can be subjected to retention policies specific to areas-of-law or even clients.
A Word about Managing Records
95% of all records are never accessed (ARMA, International 2003 Conference)
Direct implications for “mission criticality” of the RM systems (RMS)
• Views messages as dead letters Shifts perspective with respect to
performance requirements May not have to be good, just good enough
Regulatory Compliance
Forrester: E-mail archiving for regulatory and business policy compliance should be addressed by a broader group of stakeholders (not by messaging system infrastructure managers) ... end users should not be able to archive e-mail because they could delete or fail to archive messages that the organization is required to keep.
In other words, it is no longer an I.T. problem.
Options for Managing E-mail
Do nothing Apply severe mailbox restrictions PST Files None of the above
Improvements in server, backup, storage and software have allowed us to put this problem off, but the issue needs to be addressed.
Options for Managing E-mail
Document management systems (DMS)
Email archiving systems (EAS)Records management systems
(RMS)
Presentation of Options:
FeaturesPlayersExampleTrigger EventsProsConsBottom Line
DMS Features
Integration with email clientDrag-and-drop functionalityAuto-profiling of messagesServer-based rules for auto-
archiving Email addressable folders (carbon
copy)
DMS Players
Hummingbird (DM5) Interwoven (MailSite)Most DMs have some level of
Outlook integration (WorldDox, NetDocuments)
DMS Example:
DMS Trigger Events
At or close to the time the message is created or received
After the matter has closed (but you lose most of the “collaborative” benefits)
DMS: Pros
Familiar interfacePowerful search capabilities Create and manage an “electronic
matter file” (collaborative benefits)
DMS: Cons
Business processes may be lacking May “pollute” the DM As long as attorneys can create
folders in Outlook there will be little incentive for them to use the DM
You may be shifting the problem from one mission critical system to another
DMS: Cons
Messages may not be available off-line (laptop users)
Messages may not be available via OWA
Features may have “undesirable” effects on the DMS
Porter Wright’s Environment
DOCS Open 3.9.6 (moving to 4.0 later this year)
Stable!Overall, our attorneys are satisfied
with the current DMSDon’t want to mess with the DMS!
DMS: Bottom Line
While at first glance a good solution for email management, on closer inspection it is not likely going to solve the problem and may in fact shift it to another critical system. The collaborative features have merit but this is not the problem we are trying to solve!
DMS: Future Trends
Hummingbird has acquired Legal Key Interwoven has purchased LegalTrax DMs may evolve into enterprise content
management systems with integrated RM and DM functions, but when?
Question is whether firms will be better positioned by moving messages to the DMS or RMS now.
EAS: Features
Automatically archive messages based on a combination of parameters
Access to archive from web-browser or e-mail client via shortcut or “stub”
Multiple storage options (disk, optical, tape, WORM, emerging devices) – compressed storage
EAS: Features
Automate the capture and archive of e-mail messages entering and leaving the enterprise (including legal and regulatory retention)
Enterprise scalabilitySupport for secure storage
EAS: Features
Offer migration tools for PST filesTemporary offline local options
(local “vaults” for laptop users)Extensions for OWA
EAS: Features
Package or integrate with tools to manage the discovery process, narrowing the search and managing the steps needed to deliver records
Include basic records management features or integrate with a robust records management solution to manage the life cycle
EAS: Example
EAS: Example - KVS Explorer
EAS: Players
KVS, Inc.Zantaz EAS (formerly Educom)C2CEMC LegatoOthers …
EAS: Gartner Magic Quadrant
EAS: Trigger Events
Most likely date-based: Messages older then n number of days automatically archived and replaced with a shortcut
May be used to automatically capture messages on send and receive.
EAS: Pros
Robust and feature-rich technology designed specifically for e-mail archiving
Virtually seamless to end usersProvides a solid foundation for
most regulatory compliance requirements
EAS: Cons
Message stubs may be larger then messages they replaced!
Using stubs does not reduce the total number of messages on the server.
Messages are not categorized by client and matter. This solution may not conform to present or future records retention policies.
EAS: Bottom Line
Proven, scalable technology that solves the problem but may complicate future records management policies.
RMS: Features
Integration with e-mail client Messages are declared to the RM
system by the end-userMessages can be filed in batch and
saved directly to the client/matter record
Can be part of a larger electronic records management program
RMS: Example
RMS: Players
LegalKey (Hummingbird) Filesurf (MDY)
Others:AccutracTower Software?
RMS: Trigger Events
When the matter is closedWhen the user’s mailbox reaches a
threshold limit
RMS: Pros
Messages are retained in the e-mail client during the life of the matter
Messages are categorized by client, matter and possibly document type, allowing for granular retention policies
Messages are moved to a non-mission critical system
RMS: Pros
Vendors continuing development Filesurf has a solution that
combines with KVS and other technologies to provide a D.o.D certified solution for electronic records management.
RMS: Cons
Firm records management programs may not be well developed enough to support this solution
May not meet standards for formal Records Management program
Attorney resistance possible, even probable
RMS: Cons
Vendors may not be able to deliver a workable solution in time to address this problem Industry characterized by a number of
small companies, consolidation is anticipated (Forrester)
E-mail archiving only part of a larger electronic records management system (ERMS)
RMS: Example Problem
RMS: Bottom Line
When addressing the issue of email storage management, record management issues should not be ignored. To the extent that solutions come up short, “good enough” may be ok. Acquisitions in the industry suggest extensive future development.
Email Archiving: Future Trends
Forrester: As e-mail archiving becomes more commonly implemented as part of a broader records management initiative and software implementation, the onus for managing it will expand to include administrators from the content management group.
Email Archiving: Future Trends
The I.T. and Records Department are going to have to team up on this one
Firms that have not already done so should consider having the Records Department report to the C.I.O.
Strongly encourage you to join the new LawNet Records Management Peer Group!