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Focus: E-mail Lifecycle Management
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What is E-mail Lifecycle Management?
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E-mail lifecycle management consists of strategies and methods for processing, storing, and managing e-mail, from creation to deletion, in accordance with company-specific business processes and statutory regulations. Companies of every kind and size can use e-mail lifecycle management to create effective business processes.
The iQ.Suite from GROUP Technologies is the leading software package for e-mail lifecycle management, and the ideal solution for implementing secure and efficient business processes. With the iQ.Suite, e-mail passes through all the necessary processes on a single platform. These processes include encryption, virus protection, spam and content filtering, classification, and long-term archiving.
E-mail can be controlled and automatically processed throughout its entire lifecycle based on specific rules. Third-party archiving systems can be seamlessly incorporated into the iQ.Suite and used for audit-proof e-mail archiving.
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Who needs E-mail Lifecycle Management?
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Many companies already use security systems for their e-mail. Often, however, they overlook the need to comply with statutory regulations for long-term archiving of electronic correspondence. Companies also frequently use isolated solutions for e-mail security and archival. These solutions may cause multiple copies of e-mail messages to be stored in the system. Locating and retrieving these e-mails is a time-consuming and expensive process.
With e-mail lifecycle management, companies can combine e-mail security and organization throughout the entire e-mail lifecycle, from creation to deletion. E-mail lifecycle management is essential for companies that want to make e-mail an integrated business process for efficient electronic communication. It includes e-mail encryption, virus and spam protection, automatic e-mail classification, and secure archival.
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What benefits does the iQ.Suite offer for E-mail Lifecycle Management?
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The iQ.Suite forms the basis for implementation of e-mail lifecycle management. Every e-mail undergoes various processing steps based upon clearly specified rules (policies). The iQ.Suite ensures that e-mail is organized immediately after transmission or receipt so that it can be retrieved, processed, and stored throughout its prescribed lifecycle. This is done without risk and while keeping individual e-mails in their proper context. All of the checking, classification, and filtering process are ultimately intended for this purpose alone.
With the iQ.Suite, companies are also able to map their entire e-mail lifecycle, and can safely and efficiently integrate electronic correspondence into company-specific business processes. Existing archiving systems can be incorporated into the iQ.Suite and used for e-mail archival. E-mails are archived only once, and are then available for all users simultaneously.
The benefits of this system include:
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- Integrated business processes
- Rapid amortization (ROI)
- Greater cost efficiency
- Higher productivity
- Increased security
- Greater availability
- Scalable architecture
- Easy administration
- Guaranteed legal compliance
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What are the components of E-mail Lifecycle Management?
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E-mail lifecycle management with the iQ.Suite includes all of the monitoring and organizational steps in the e-mail lifecycle:
- E-mail Pre-Processing: This step prepares e-mail for additional processing and transmission. Pre-processing ensures that all incoming e-mails are decrypted and unpacked prior to filtering. Outgoing e-mails can be encrypted, packed, signed, and furnished with a disclaimer as required.
- E-mail Firewall: Protects against dangerous and undesirable e-mail, and prevents the loss of confidential information. Filtering directly follows pre-processing. In the firewall, e-mail is filtered to remove spam and viruses, as well as prohibited images and text content. The iQ.Suite uses CORE (Content Recognition Engine) technology to filter out spam. CORE analyzes e-mail with maximum accuracy, and prevents the accidental deletion of legitimate e-mail.
- E-mail Classification: CORE analyzes, categorizes, and forwards incoming e-mail to the appropriate recipient addresses as needed, depending upon internal company policies. Classification also serves as a basis for additional e-mail processing, e.g. for archiving purposes.
- E-mail Compliance: E-mail can be checked for legal compliance and adherence to internal company regulations, and can be blocked prior to delivery if necessary. After it is released, e-mail can then be delivered, placed into quarantine, forwarded to a third party, or deleted.
- E-mail Archiving: Filtered e-mails are securely archived. External archiving systems can be seamlessly combined with the iQ.Suite to ensure audit-proof archiving. Archiving precedes delivery, and thus prevents user manipulation (deletion or alteration of e-mail).
- E-mail Retrieval: The iQ.Suite automatically supplies the archiving system with important metadata (e-mail headers, processing details, categories) for index generation. E-mail correspondence can be retrieved and restored later through keyword searches.
- E-mail Retention: This component provides long-term storage in storage systems and automatic deletion of e-mails after the appropriate time periods.
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What is the connection between E-mail Lifecycle Management, compliance, and archiving?
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Both long-term storage and subsequent retrieval and deletion of e-mail must comply with statutory regulations. These processes are becoming increasingly critical for companies. Under these rules, companies are required to store e-mail messages for specific periods of time, depending upon the content.
Centralized storage of business-relevant e-mail can be implemented as an entry-level solution or in conjunction with an archiving system. E-mail messages are centrally stored in various user-transparent archives upon delivery. This prevents manipulation by users. The iQ.Suite permits the use of multiple archives, as well as search and retrieval of archived e-mail. Only business-relevant e-mails are archived, and multiple archiving is prevented.
With the iQ.Suite Bridge module, users can transfer archived e-mails into an audit-proof archiving system. This guarantees a fully integrated, secure, and efficient business process, from receipt of the e-mail message up to its audit-proof archival in compliance with statutory regulations and company policies.
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How is e-mail archived with the iQ.Suite?
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Before delivering an e-mail to its recipient, the iQ.Suite checks it for spam and viruses, automatically classifies it, stores it in individual databases, and also encrypts it as necessary, all based upon company-specific rule sets. Archiving occurs prior to delivery in order to prevent manipulation.
iQ.Suite automatically forwards important metadata, such as e-mail headers, processing details, and categories, to the archiving system for automatic index generation. E-mail correspondence can then be retrieved at a later date, e.g. for a tax audit, by using keywords. This guarantees that e-mail is audit-proof as required by law.
Companies frequently store multiple copies of e-mail messages, because different user groups access the same e-mail messages. The iQ.Suite permits e-mail messages to be physically stored in the archiving system only once. This single copy is then available for all users simultaneously.
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What role does e-mail classification play in E-mail Lifecycle Management?
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Classification and categorization of e-mail plays a critical role in content-based handling within business processes, and can be deployed in many areas. Possible applications include automatic organization and context-based archiving of contents, creation of flexible delivery and distribution mechanisms, and automated indexing for e-mail archiving.
Rule sets, an integral feature of the iQ.Suite, are used to classify e-mail. Companies can individualize their business processes based upon internal policies to determine how e-mail should be filtered, classified, forwarded, and archived throughout the e-mail lifecycle.
Content-based forwarding of the classified e-mails ensures that only business-relevant messages are put into long-term storage. Incoming e-mails can also be forwarded to the appropriate recipients as needed. This permits faster processing of customer inquiries, for example.
The rule sets are implemented in the CORE (Content Recognition Engine) technology that is integrated into the iQ.Suite. CORE is a statistical method for automatic e-mail verification and classification. It is based upon Support Vector Machines (SVM), one of the most powerful methods of text recognition. As a self-learning filter, CORE can also distinguish between desirable and undesirable content, such as different types of newsletters.
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How can confidential information be transmitted safely?
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Centralized, server-based encryption makes it possible to set up secure e-mail communication. By checking file contents and attachments, even in encrypted and signed e-mails, the iQ.Suite guarantees continuous, comprehensive security for e-mail content. Incoming e-mail is decrypted on the server before being checked for spam and viruses. Outgoing e-mail can be checked first and then encrypted. This stops confidential information from leaving the company.
Centralized, automated key management on the server or gateway significantly reduces the administrative workload. Existing public key infrastructures (PKIs) can be easily integrated.
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How can delegation management be organized?
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E-mail can be checked, processed, and stored to ensure legal compliance, even during planned and unplanned absences. Specification of delegation rules and absence management ensure that workflows and their associated regulatory checking processes are performed properly.
The iQ.Suite initiates previously defined actions for specific events based upon individual policies, and can activate alternative business processes if necessary; for example, e-mail messages with confidential content can be blocked from transmission to unauthorized employees. Automatic e-mail classification and forwarding also ensures that customer inquiries and other important e-mails reach the appropriate employees and can be handled promptly, even when the recipient is absent.
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