Mirapoint’s M50 integrated email and email security appliance has been designed for the SME market, and includes redundant RAID disks and battery-backed cache to ensure data is not lost if there is a loss of power.
Although email is used by the vast majority of organizations, both large and small, it can still be difficult for a smaller company, with limited resources, to implement the email system so that all of its capabilities are utilized. It can also be difficult for them to implement the security products required to protect the email system, and the organization, from viruses and spam.
Mirapoint has recognized the problems faced by smaller organizations with the introduction of the M50. For smaller organizations in unregulated industries that do not wish to retain emails in the long-term this will provide an adequate email management solution. However, for companies wishing to retain emails, Mirapoint also has an email archive in its portfolio. At present this is not included with the M50 appliance.
One of the criticisms leveled at the corporate email vendors in the past has been a lack of email management functionality such as basic anti-virus and anti-spam features, forcing organizations to buy point products for these functions. With the M50, Mirapoint is addressing this weakness.
In its portfolio Mirapoint has had all of the email management elements required by a majority of organizations for some time and these can be mixed and matched to create a complete email management solution, but with this appliance it is beginning to consolidate these point products into a single solution.
Email is just another form of unstructured information that must be managed, and the type of vendor in the best position to do this is represented by the content management vendors that specialize in the management of unstructured information. In addition, comprehensive email management solutions should incorporate the corporate email system as well as all of the pieces required to manage email including security, archiving, and at least basic policy management.
Of the major corporate email vendors, IBM already has a comprehensive content management solution, and an email archiving capability. Microsoft is also moving more heavily into the content management space, and Oracle is embracing content management. Content management vendors, such as Documentum and Open Text, are moving into email management through the acquisition of niche pure-play email archiving vendors, and Symantec is combining email security and archiving.
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As a smaller email system vendor, Mirapoint is moving onto the radar of these larger vendors, and it will be interesting to see which one realizes the importance of owning the email system first, and steps in and acquires Mirapoint.
Source: OpinionWire by Butler Group (www.butlergroup.com)
