SurfControl, the world`s number one Web and e-mail filtering company, announced the availability of a free online resource to help corporate IT managers quantify the cost of spam and assess the business value of e-mail filtering solutions.
According to a recent study of spam and anti-spam solutions by IDC, a leading global industry analyst firm, the majority of IT managers from the public and private sector view spam as a problem that should be addressed as part of a larger network security solution. However, almost half of public sector respondents reported that they had no budget to address this need. Complicating this problem further, SurfControl has noted that there are few publicly-available tools to measure the financial impact that spam has upon organisations. IDC`s survey was based on responses from over 1 000 IT and business managers.
The interactive ROI Calculator for Anti-Spam Solutions, available though SurfControl, was developed by IDC as part of its recent study. The calculator helps measure the total financial and productivity-related benefits a company can expect to receive on average from an anti-spam solution. In addition to measuring the total cost of spam to the organisation, the calculator provides users with a five-year ROI analysis, an annual payback analysis and the five-year net present value for the anti-spam solution in place. These measurements are based on the number of e-mail users, the set-up and maintenance costs, and the type of commercial anti-spam tool the company has in place.
"Companies must take a proactive approach to identify the right technology solution for their specific needs, and e-mail filtering is no exception," said Wayne Bird, Product Director at Networks Unlimted, local distributor of SurfControl.
"The ROI Calculator gives IT staff a way to measure the financial impact of spam and spam fighting tools. Companies need to take a strategic approach to managing spam and the broader Internet risks associated with e-mail, instant messaging, peer-to-peer file-sharing and now, wireless communications. The ROI Calculator is the first step in that process."
According to IDC`s survey, spam is the vehicle by which other costly threats, like worms and viruses, are introduced to the corporate network. Respondents also said that worms and viruses within spam e-mail, together with the amount of time wasted by e-mail users, represent the top costs associated with spam. Additionally, 75% of respondents said that they expect the spam problem will become worse over the next two years. As a result, IDC predicts in a new White Paper, "What You Can and Should Do About the Rising Cost of Spam", that anti-spam providers will need to integrate multi-layered spam identification and protection capabilities in order to maximise spam control. The White Paper also predicts that a growing number of firms will prefer comprehensive secure content management tools that include anti-virus, firewall, Web filtering and related capabilities to help correlate and analyse emerging blended threat attacks.
"Knowing how much time and money spam costs e-mail users and their organisations is an absolute necessity to convince C-level executives how spam affects the corporation`s bottom line," said Brian Burke, a security analyst at IDC. "The ROI Calculator better equips IT managers to make the financial case for implementing and managing a dynamic, sophisticated spam management program."
In addition to using the ROI Calculator, SurfControl suggests IT managers do the following:
* Establish the scope of the spam problem. Define the types of spam and what it costs the company -- in security, network bandwidth, staff productivity and potential legal liability.
* Select an anti-spam tool that includes multiple layers of protection and technologies, and is scalable to meet future growth and evolving spam problems.
* Develop a well-defined acceptable use policy and educate users on how they can help reduce spam.
* Use a customisable anti-spam tool that can be fine-tuned and offers advanced monitoring and reporting functions to meet new spam threats.
* Track performance and review it quarterly to make sure the anti-spam tool continues to meet your company`s needs.
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