With Microsoft Exchange undergoing developments in the recent weeks (with 2016 and 2019 hitting their End of Life and newer versions updating to Microsoft Exchange SE, it’s high time to return to a little discussed topic – preserving data present in your company and employee mailboxes.
Mailboxes are one of the main sources of data that has to be preserved – not only communications (both internal and external) but also attached files, invoices and so on will be present.
This makes mailboxes a key and complex matter. They of course fall under E-Discovery requirements, and as they contain customer and employee data they also fall under the purview of any potential Right-to-be-Forgotten cases.
Access to mailboxes over longer periods
Besides questions around active mailboxes, businesses will also have to confront the question of leavers and inactive mailboxes; churn is normal at any institution, and sooner or later it will become apparent that some key information or a needed file is present in the mailbox of someone no longer employed.
Keeping access to that mailbox via a standard license is one possibility, but as churn continues quickly becomes a source of significant monetary output to maintain. Additionally, mailboxes themselves rarely have search tools capable of easily digesting the data stored inside – identifying the piece you’re looking for becomes a larger task than it needs to be!
Archiving solves some concerns
At least some of the questions of preserving business mailboxes can be simplified down to the statement of “get an external archiving software.” This solves several of the thornier problems including long term retention and access, E-Discovery or Right-to-be-Forgotten.
At the same time, establishing an archive is not an easy task; making the decision whether to archive on the Cloud, on-premises or in some combination of the two alone is a large commitment. Establishing an archive is a commitment, these systems are intended to keep supporting your company for a long time. You have to carefully decide based on your particular needs and environments which archive to select, in what configuration – not only if it matches the business needs of your organization, but the regulations placed on you, and not only the current ones but any that can conceivably be adopted in the space of the next years.
Once a fitting archive has been selected, the question turns to data migration – moving your data into a long term storage. A separate topic, this is nevertheless another large investment of time and effort.
If these tasks feel overwhelming – TECH-ARROW can help. With combined decades of archiving and data migration experience, you can contact our team for a free consultation where we can discuss your unique business needs and how best to meet them.
Your Data In Your Hands – With TECH-ARROW
