Archiving for Exchange 2010

By Stephanie Jordan
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A lot of discussion has been circulating around Microsoft Exchange Server 2010’s built-in support for archiving. Microsoft announced that 2010 offers integrated email archiving, retention and discovery capabilities, although the exact features seem to be in dispute. Microsoft offers a list of its key new archiving, retention, and discovery capabilities on its site.

An interesting interchange between David Ferris, of Ferris Research and Julia White, director of Exchange marketing, occurred earlier this month, when Ferris commented that Microsoft had been known to be “overenthusiastic” in its launch marketing copy, offering an example from White’s blog where she wrote: “Speaking of Exchange 2010, It archives and discovers… At a regional healthcare group, they are able to use the integrated archiving, retention and discovery capabilities of 2010 saving them the cost and maintenance of using third-party solutions that resulted in $250,000 they didn’t have to spend – and that was just the first-year savings.’”

Ferris goes on to write: “It’s very hard to see how the retention and archiving features of Exchange 2010 could satisfy the compliance requirements of the health care industry, especially in terms of end-user involvement. Health care compliance rules require tamper resistant email retention, a requirement that Exchange 2010 does not satisfy.” Ferris then pointed to concern that Microsoft field personnel may incorrectly sell Exchange archiving.

In response, White replied: “I do think we have a challenge providing clarity about what Exchange archiving offers, what it doesn’t and how our partners extend / compliment the native capabilities. Anytime you have a nuanced technology stack like this, it can be difficult for general sales people. The last thing I want is customers being oversold and then disappointed – that’s not good for anyone.”

On November 4, Ferris Research offered a Webinar, Microsoft Exchange 2010 and Archiving: An Industry Shakeout, in cooperation with a number of third-party archive vendors. A companion white paper is being made available. Ferris notes that the Exchange 2010 archiving announcement is “shaking the archiving market and the adjacent markets for eDiscovery and compliance. Customers are considering whether to adopt Microsoft’s solution and, if appropriate, whether to migrate away from currently deployed solutions. They are deferring purchases of archiving solutions until Microsoft clarifies its offering.”

Bob Spurzem, a Ferris analyst blogger, as well as a blogger for his own company position as director of product marketing for Mimosa Systems, has written several posts to try to spread the word on his take of what is actually included in the Microsoft offering. In one entry, Beware of the Hidden Costs of Exchange 2010 Archiving, he cautions about understanding fully, before foregoing a third-party archiving offering.

Osterman Research has also been active in trying to clarify what Microsoft is offering and how third-party archiving solutions will continue to be important, despite the enhancements to Exchange 2010. Osterman Research has held two such Webinars, one last week, and an earlier one in October. In his presentation, Michael Osterman, president of Osterman Research, discussed the archiving improvements in Exchange 2010, as well as its limitations. He also offered data from the Osterman Research study, Messaging Archiving Market Trends, 2009-2012.

As we move beyond the launch phase of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, there will be greater clarity around the enhancements in archiving, retention and discovery capabilities, as well as, what role third-party archive vendors will play.

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Eye on Messaging is written by Stephanie Jordan, editor in chief of Messaging News. If you have story ideas or news to share, email her: sjordan [at] messagingnews [dot] com

Published November 16, 2009