Firms are failing to implement
effective e-mail policies to address compliance and potential
litigation issues.
GFT inboxx, a provider of unified archiving solutions,
commissioned research among 100 senior IT decision makers across
the private sector, and e-mail policies were found wanting.
The survey revealed that 51% of businesses do not set
retention times for e-mails and documents, including 40% for
businesses in the financial services sector, which is heavily
regulated.
In addition, 35% of CIOs and IT directors in the financial
services sector do not see compliance as a key driver for e-mail
management.
The survey also found that 97% of CIOs and IT directors have
been required to search for old e-mails and attachments, but 61%
found this to be an unacceptably time consuming and complicated
process.
"It is interesting, given the current compliance climate, just
how few businesses are exerting control over how long information
is retained," said Juergen Obermann, CEO of GFT inboxx.
"This presents a series of questions: are these organisations
turning a blind eye to regulations - and thereby failing to
implement solutions to adapt to future requirements, or are these
regulations merely hype and do not affect the broad sweep of
organisations they suggest they do?"