Johannesburg, 12 Feb 2015
By the time you finish reading this sentence over 204 million e-mails will have been sent around the world. A recent study from the leading microprocessor manufacturer Intel explains this is what happens on the internet each minute. It also predicts that by 2015, the number of devices connected to the Internet will be double the world population - that is two devices for every person on the planet.
Let the statistics sink in for a moment. That is almost 408 million e-mails sent by now and more connected devices than there are human beings.
Core to this information and communication transformation is e-mail. It sits at the centre of every organisation - private, public, big and small. It is an increasingly vital part of the networked daily life of every employee, citizen and person.
The world generates a great deal of e-mail. That means we send, receive and save a great deal of data. This isn't showing any signs of slowing down. On the contrary it continues to accelerate. This is creating a challenge for all organisations as they look for more cost effective and efficient ways to store, secure and manage this data. These same organisations are turning to the cloud to store this growing e-mail store.
Transformative insight
E-mail has evolved from a one-to-one communications tool to one that records transactions, supplies documentation and facilitates business objectives. Vast amounts of critical data is shared via e-mail within organisations and with external stakeholders, suppliers and clients. As e-mail sits at the centre of every business transaction or communication it stands to reason that we will also want to save, protect and even analyse it effectively.
Cloud platforms will soon have analytical tools that are able to determine patterns and provide feedback about how and what data is processed and utilised. Businesses will gain insight into e-mail content and attachments, to whom and how e-mail traffic is directed, and what times of the day traffic fluctuates. This intelligence will enable streamlined processes and smarter decisions for the effective management of the company.
Unified platforms
Despite the need for unified communications, fragmentation and data compliance issues are caused by critical compliance data sitting on multiple platforms - such as across servers, e-mail, hard disks, cloud storage, and file shares. This makes it hard to trace and store.
Not only do fragmented platforms result in higher running costs and less control over where data moves, but they're set to be impacted by the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI).
POPI demands that businesses responsibly manage the processing of information, and this will result in more organisations seeking out unified platform solutions. A single e-mail platform with the right tools will make data storage and accessibility more streamlined and easier to manage. As a bonus, businesses won't need to consistently worry whether an application is compatible with another or not, since it's an all-in-one solution.
With the International Data Corporation (IDC) predicting rapid and continued growth of major cloud data centres around the globe, businesses can expect improved mobility, archiving and security functions of mail in the cloud.
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