Do you use email?

The answer to this question naturally is yes from all companies and organizations. However, the next question, »How?« is anything but mundane. The trouble is that most companies still use and file emails in a random, unstructured and manual manner – even 15 years after emails became a part of company communication.

It has escaped the attention of the managements in many companies that vital information is embedded in emails. It is paramount to address the problem because companies may face serious penalties or miss business opportunities if this behaviour continues.

Companies have put a lot of effort in streamlining the ordinary work processes, which typically are imbedded in advanced and automated production- and finance systems. Emails, on the other hand, are filed in relatively arbitary folders with the users and email servers: and everything is done by hand.

The users create folders and copy the emails themselves. We probably all can recall a situation where we have placed an email in a ‘wrong’ folder and how time consuming it was to find it. Equivalently, it is an almost impossible task to get a general view of several employees’ communication with a certain customer.

Inbox overflow
Another typical situation occurs when a user receives the standard “your inbox is full”- message. Emails have to be deleted – but which rules for deletion apply? Too often, the largest emails and the ones with attachments are deleted.
This is parallel to telling the employees to get rid of the their filing cabinets because they were taking up valuable office space.

Companies and organizations have to consider the importance of the contents of the emails with the same seriousness as finacial key figures, customer relations and – equally important – business contracts. Usually, contracts are written on paper, whereas changes and addendums are negotiated via email.

The key to success is to merge the email handling with the IT systems and to automate the filing process. Naturally, this means that companies have to implement business logic with respect to the handling of emails: The sooner the better – because increasing demands from government and business partners require email reliability from you. The EU are currently in the process of passing a strict version of the Sarbanes-Oxley law. And lately, court rulings have used email correspondance to rule against companies.

Lost opportunities
The above indicates that companies may loose business opportunities because inefficient collaboration between IT systems. However, by including email management in the business logic, companies will experience their users can work together in a more efficient and intelligent manner. The employees also will see new possibilities once the emails have been organized and systematized.
This is a wake-up call for all companies: email management is paramount. Early adopters will gain substantional advantages to reap the market.