Case Study - Hogenboom’s Bewakingsdienst
Company: Hogenboom’s Bewakingsdienst
Location: Badhoevedorp, Netherlands
Contact: Willem Pot
Industry: Security/Watch guards
Number of employees: 200+
Products in use: GFI MailArchiver™
Quick Read
Dutch security company, Hogenboom's Bewakingsdienst, employs a workforce of over 200 employees and has seen its email usage growing over time. Whilst in the past management used to rely on PST files for their backups, they realized that this option was not reliable and could no longer handle the amount of emails that the company was dealing with. They therefore decided to install GFI MailArchiver software to handle their email archiving solution and ensure that all emails can be searched and recovered in an efficient manner and that no emails can be deleted or lost.
Challenges
The standard method of email archiving for many companies is to use Microsoft Outlook's PST files. While they are adequate for small scale operations with limited email usage, Hogenboom's Bewakingsdienst began to realize as their email load increased that their need to back up email was not only important but they could no longer rely on PST files. As the company size grew and more mailboxes were being created this led to great demands for storage space on the server and more and more PST files being saved across the organization.
"We were facing a growing number of mailboxes with the need to archive the data in these mailboxes. PST files do notoffer a stable solution nor do they provide the right functionality in the long run," said Mr. Willem Pot from the company.
The problem of email storage was one that Hogenboom's Bewakingsdienst had tried to manage prior to seeking a echnology solution but the sheer number of emails that had to be stored soon became to cumbersome to maintain without a proper archiving software. "We've long tried to manage our e-mail via Outlook PST files. After we reached a certain volume, this solution wasn't workable any more."
Implementation
Hogenboom's Bewakingsdienst sought the advice of local ICT-specialists Aster ICT to recommend an email archiving technology that would suit their needs and budget. Since Hogenboom's Bewakingsdienst are not a huge corporation they had specific requests that would be suitable for a medium-sized business both in terms of features as well as price.
"Aster ICT advised us to choose GFI MailArchiver as it provides a high quality cost efficient solution for companies of our size," said Mr. Pot.
Hogenboom's Bewakingsdienst had it installed on their email server to begin archiving their mail and creating a searchable, organized system that is easy to maintain and run. According to the company, one very beneficial feature in GFI MailArchiver is that it does not disrupt or change a user's experience when using email, there is no learning curve involved for the users. Once the archiving solution is implemented it will simply work without user's even noticing that anything has changed.
"Aster ICT integrated GFI MailArchiver on our systems very smoothly and now it runs in the background. There was no need for people to change their procedures or workflows."
Benefits
Since many business dealings are done via email nowadays it is important for Hogenboom's Bewakingsdienst to have records of all its employees' email conversations with clients. Were emails to be saved only on the local computer then these could simply be deleted and any important information along with it. Email archiving keeps a log of all email activity on the server which can only be accessed by certain personnel, thus keeping all company data secure.
"Beside the fact that you don't want emails to be 'lost', you need a solid system, so it's important that you can retrieve emails, even if they have been deleted. When an employee leaves and cleans up his computer, his emails to and from clients should still be traceable," said Mr. Pot. "Important agreements that were discussed via emails can always be found."
Apart from providing solutions at management level, GFI MailArchiver was also the ideal choice from a technology perspective as its archiving system makes it very simple to search for and recover old emails using various search terms and "GFI MailArchiver is able to perform searches on different levels".
Since the implementation of GFI MailArchiver, Hogenboom's Bewakingsdienst have noticed positive changes to the company's email systems and having a proper email archiving system in place has meant greater peace of mind for the IT personnel and management, as well as having saved on time that would have otherwise been spent trying to sort through PST files. "We have seen the benefits of retrieving emails very quickly in comparison to our PST solution."
Target Reached
"The system has proven its value on numerous occasions, where it easily found emails for which we did not know a send or receive date. It's very comforting to know that you can now empty your mailbox safely without having to worry about email losses."
Links
For more information about GFI MailArchiver visit: http://www.gfi.cz/mailarchiver/.
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
July 2009