Deleting emails actually costs resources
Purging your inbox of outdated emails is a common practice, especially among users with a limited space capacity or those who simply don't enjoy looking at hundreds of emails regarding last year's bake sale. However, among businesses, old emails are not only important, but are usually necessary in order to comply with internal policies and external regulations.
Accidentally deleting an old email can cause serious problems for companies, and IT departments spend countless resources attempting to recover them if they were vital for future business.
Finding old emails
The practice of deleting nonessential emails is typically viewed as necessary by those who want to find the more important communications or documents quicker. Furthermore, if there is a email archiving practice in place without any searchability, finding older emails can be a real nightmare. Not only do you have to narrow your browsing to a certain time-period, but the subject of the email you are looking for is essential.
For example, if someone has an important contract buried within a thread between themselves and a client, finding that thread can be incredibly laborious, especially if the original email subject was ambiguous, such as "hey," or "follow-up."
Even with an archiving system in place, utilizing proper email ettiquette can alleviate these problems. Always start a new email thread when the subject changes or an important document is being sent as an attachment.
However, without hosted archiving, many emails fall through the cracks or are accidentally lost, creating serious consequences for employees and executives.
Resources
Recent research by GFI found that less than one-third of SMB's in the US have a system in place for archiving and storing emails, even though 88 percent of respondents see the benefits of implementing one. The problem with not utilizing an archiving practice is the tendency for employees to expend IT resources when there's an issue finding specific data.
Sixty-nine percent of businesses claimed that employees have asked for assistance recovering lost or deleted emails, reducing the amount of time the department has to solve tech issues or implement new programs and policies that can improve a business' efficiency.
If emails are constantly saved, hosted externally and backed-up, employees can continue managing emails as they see fit, and if they ever need to access an old email, they can enter the email archive and find it on their own, reducing dependence on the IT department.
Lost, deleted and corrupted emails can cost a company time, energy and money, and businesses are now doing more to make sure information won't just disappear from their servers.
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