Why does email matter?
Previously content with a simple messaging service, business managers and users are increasingly asking questions about the functionality of the email system that supports them. Questions like "How can email be better integrated with our CRM system?" and "How can I best get access to email when out and about?" are being heard more frequently. At the same time, those in "The Business" are becoming even less tolerant of downtime and performance issues. Against this background, this short report considers the reasons behind the evolution of user demand and their relevance to email related investment decisions, particularly the migration to Microsoft Exchange 2003.
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Author/s:
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Clive Longbottom |
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Created:
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01/06/2005
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Filename:
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Why does email matter.pdf
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Report Commissioned by:
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- Email has become a fundamental part of some key business processes
Most of us probably knew this already in an abstract sense, but the importance of email to key business processes was brought into sharp focus by a recent survey of 1826 IT and business professionals. Two thirds of respondents, including 1102 SMBs, told us that email was critical to the sales process, with a further quarter saying it was important. Indeed, feedback from business managers suggests that around 25% of all sales transactions on average are executed over email. The picture is similar for the customer service process where again, over 90% rated email as critical or important.
- Email criticality is reflected in the business impact of downtime
Over a quarter of respondents said the sales side of their business would be significantly impacted within an hour if email went down, whilst a day?s downtime would have a significant negative impact on over three quarters of organisations. And things are no different with regard to customer service where the majority, for example, could not tolerate half a day's email downtime without customer satisfaction being impacted significantly.
- Email criticality is further corroborated by IT support prioritisation practices
In case there was any remaining doubt over the importance of email, it is interesting to note that 70% of organisations expect IT to respond within 10 minutes when an email availability problem occurs. In fact, 42% said an email down situation was considered top priority, requiring an immediate response by the IT department.
- The role of email as a business process enabler is highlighted by migration drivers
When we look at the benefits organisations are looking for when migrating to a more up-to-date email platform, all types of respondent in our survey highlighted improved robustness and performance as being important. Business managers in particular, put the same level of emphasis on better integration of email systems with other important applications, improved support for mobile working and more general enhancements in end user functionality. Fortunately, such aspirations are not without foundation as business managers from the Exchange 2003 user community confirmed that such benefits were real.
- But the prospect of migration brings some real challenges with it
Apart from the obvious issue of maintaining service levels during the migration process, lack of time to perform the migration and challenges keeping costs under control were also flagged up as potential issues by respondents. Use of third parties, particularly those offering package migration services, represents a possible way of tackling the issues of time and cost control. The generally positive experiences amongst respondents who have used the professional services approach in the past confirm this as a viable and potentially attractive option.
