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E-Mail Must Operate
E-Mail Must Operate
E-Mail Must Operate
Osterman Research, Inc. • P.O. Box 1058 • Black Diamond, Washington 98010-1058
Phone: +1 253 630 5839 • Fax: +1 866 842 3274 • info@ostermanresearch.com • www.ostermanresearch.com
Why Email Must Operate 24/7
In a recent Osterman Research survey of email users, the importance of email was underscored by
the following results:
• The average user sends 40 emails and receives 96 emails on a typical workday, or one email
sent or received every 3.5 minutes (assuming an eight-hour workday).
• 74% of all communication sent by a typical user is sent through email.
• 75% of users check their work-related email from home on weekdays, 74% do so on weekends
and 52% do so while on vacation.
• Users feel that 55% of the email they receive is either important or critical.
• 92% of users feel that email is either important or critical in helping them get their work done.
Clearly, then, the importance of email to virtually all users and organizations, coupled with the
growing criticality of the data sent through and stored in these systems, means that email must
remain up and running as close to 24x7 as possible. In short, organizations of every size and
in every industry should have a way to maintain continuity of the email system regardless of the
external or internal influences that might bring it down. Although there are many good continuity
options available, they can be expensive. Further, they require additional IT staff time to architect,
deploy and manage. IT staff time devoted to managing these backup capabilities is time that cannot
be used for projects that might provide more value to an organization.
Summary
Email is absolutely vital to the operation of most organizations and for the productivity of users
who rely on email to get their work done. Consequently, when email is not available for any reason
– even for as little as a few minutes – user productivity suffers, revenue can be lost, prospective
customers can be alienated, and an organization’s reputation can be damaged.
To avoid these consequences, an email continuity service should be deployed to ensure that
email operates as close to 100% of the time as possible. While there are other continuity solutions
available, a hosted email continuity service offers a number of important business advantages. These
include significantly reduced capital expenditures, more predictable costs, minimal impacts on IT
staff time, the ability to scale to very large numbers of users, and reduced system complexity.
To Learn More
For more information about the MessageLabs Email Continuity Service, call 866-460-0000 or visit:
http://www.messagelabs.com/products/email/email_continuity
1
Enterprise Messaging Server Trends, 2008-2011; Osterman Research, Inc.
Messaging in the SMB Market, 2008-2011; Osterman Research, Inc.
Messaging, Web and IM Security Market Trends, 2007-2010; Osterman Research, Inc.
Enterprise Messaging Server Trends, 2007-2010; Osterman Research, Inc.
Enterprise Messaging Market Trends, 2006-2009; Osterman Research, Inc.
2
Enterprise Messaging Server Trends, 2008-2011; Osterman Research, Inc.
3
http://searchdisasterrecovery.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid190_gci1327871,00.htm