So many concerns today about our precious information. Who has legal rights to what? How am I going to get my email history if the lawyers get involved? Can they get my information before I can? Can I get my log files too? Information is too precious to not know the answers to these questions.
This is the biggest reason I am a proponent of managing your own email system in house whenever possible. If the computer is in your office (or office building), you know where that information is.
The cost vs. bennefit for doing this is complicated and as Leah pointed out, often times doesn't make sense for the small business. The cost of consultants to set this up and maintain the system is often times high, keeping up with the best hardware on the market is also a daunting task. But what happens if you invest your time and money in a less expensive hosted email solution? Who is running the email hosting, really? Have you done your homework? Is your data being stored in a high end datacenter or is it being stored in someone's basement?
Of course I am fully biased on this issue as I work with email and web software every day, as well as have access to both hardware and bandwidth. To me this only drives my point home. If your information is important to you, you need to step up and be accountable. Find the kid in the mail room that is spending a couple hours a day playing Zork on company time, give it the latest linux distro and see how it goes! OK, this may be the opposite end of the spectrum.....
My point is do your homework and find the right solution for your business. To not think about how your going to get your information if you need it is irresponsible. For many a hosted solution is going to be the best solution. I just think if you can manage your email system on your own and still sleep at night, it is worth serious consideration.
Thanks for listening.
