* Reasons for not using hosted or managed messaging
Our recent study on hosted messaging revealed that those organizations that don’t use hosted or managed messaging cite a variety of reasons for not doing so. However, three reasons for not using hosted or managed messaging stand out above the rest:
* 82% of decision makers told us that they want to maintain control of their e-mail environment.
* 68% told us that in-house management is more flexible than outsourcing.
* 63% told us that they are concerned about the security of their data in the hands of a third party.
These concerns, then, lead to some obvious questions. Do you lose control of your e-mail environment when you host it? Do you lose flexibility? Is your data less secure if it’s not behind your own firewall?
Those are certainly valid questions and represent fears that need to be addressed by vendors of hosted and managed messaging services, particularly given the absolutely critical nature of e-mail and the growing importance of retaining e-mail data for long periods. Further, e-mail contains a growing proportion of confidential and sensitive business information, making its security increasingly critical. Add to this the fact that unified communications will increasingly become part of these service offerings and the concerns about hosted and managed messaging are sure to grow.
What can hosted and managed messaging providers do about this? The most important thing they can do is provide a solid track record of providing customers with control over their messaging environment, flexibility in how the system and users are managed, and high levels of security.
To address these issues and others, we will be hosting a Webinar Oct. 3, sponsored by USA.NET. You can sign up for this no-charge event here.
LIVE CHAT TOMORROW
Enterprise messaging demystified with Michael Osterman: 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. EDT, Wed., Sept. 19. Text chat live with popular newsletter columnist and consultant who will answer your questions on e-mail, enterprise search, instant messaging and unified communications, and anything else you want to ask.
