A NEW APPROACH TO MEETING
WORKERS’ DIVERSE MESSAGING NEEDS
MESSAGING HAS MOVED BEYOND SIMPLY BEING SECURITY TAKES CENTER STAGE
a way to exchange email. Today, it enables employees Messagingsecurityincreasinglyconcernsmanagersasthesystems
within an organization to work on projects together and pro- EHFRPH WKH XQGHUO\LQJ HQDEOHUV IRU FROODERUDWLRQ )LUVW VHFXULQJ
vides the same level of collaboration to outsiders, including thesecollaborative messaging solutionsisincreasingly morechal-business partners, clients and customers. lenging, thanks to the growth and evolution of cyber-threats.
Because of this usage shift, companies make major invest- Second, much of the information within messaging systems must
ments to equip their workers with messaging systems that in- now be archived and protected to meet compliance mandates such
FOXGH HPDLO FDOHQGDUV ¿OH VKDULQJ DQG UHDOĥWLPH FRPPXQLFD- DV 6DUEDQHVĥ2[OH\ )LQDOO\ HPDLO SRWHQWLDOO\ H[SRVHV FRPSDQLHV
tion (RTC) tools like instant messaging, whiteboards and con- to legal liability through employee misuse and the disclosure of
ferencing solutions. WUDGH VHFUHWV FRQ¿GHQWLDO RU SULYDWH LQIRUPDWLRQ
+RZHYHU WKH VWDɱ WLPH DQG FRVWV WR VXSSRUW XVHUV DQG PDLQ- This is where using a hybrid messaging solution such as Mi-
tain messaging systems are growing due to constantly chang- rapoint’s can help.
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as companies become more decentralized. As a result, many class messaging without the need to download a client on a user’s
companies are re-evaluating their messaging strategies to see 3& DQG RɱHUV PDLO VXSSRUW IRU PRELOH GHYLFHV VXFK DV WKH %ODFN-
if there are ways to control costs, simplify management, and Berry. The Mirapoint RazorGate appliance provides anti-spam
ensure secure and compliant operations. DQG DQWLĥ YLUXV SURWHFWLRQ DORQJ ZLWK FRQWHQW ¿OWHULQJ
Mirapoint’s RazorGate with embedded LDAP (lightweight
SEGMENTING USERS INTO TWO GROUPS directory access protocol) provides more security by verifying,
One factor that immediately jumps out is that not all users RXWVLGH WKH ¿UHZDOO WKH UHFLSLHQW¶V DGGUHVV RI DQ LQFRPLQJ PHV-
have the same requirements. In fact, users can be segmented sage. This eliminates the need for the messaging system to query
into two groups: power users and moderate to light users. WKH FRUSRUDWH GLUHFWRU\ LQVLGH WKH ¿UHZDOO HOLPLQDWLQJ D VLJQL¿-
The power users need full access to software like Microsoft
Exchange or IBM Lotus Notes, which support the commu- use to access usernames and passwords, according to IDC.
nications methods they utilize, including three or more of Additionally, the Mirapoint email archiving appliance helps
HPDLO FDOHQGDU ,0 ¿OH VKDULQJ XQL¿HG FRPPXQLFDWLRQV companies meet their archiving and compliance requirements. And
video and whiteboarding. the Mirapoint Messaging Reporter gives managers the tools to auto-
The moderate users, sometimes including remote work- PDWLFDOO\ DJJUHJDWH DQG DQDO\]H VHFXULW\ DQG PHVVDJLQJ WUDɷF GDWD
ers, have more modest communications needs, requiring only 2WKHU EHQH¿WV RI WKH 0LUDSRLQW DSSOLDQFHV LQFOXGH WKH 0L-
HPDLO FDOHQGDUV LQVWDQW PHVVDJLQJ DQG SHUKDSV ¿OHĥVKDULQJ rapoint Operating System (MOS), a hardened OS that has never
capabilities. This category of users can more easily and more beenhacked, andcarriergradereliability, whichensures99.999%
FRVWĥHɱHFWLYHO\ EH VXSSRU WHG E\ :HEĥEDVHG PHVVDJLQJ availability with redundant RAID protection.
In such situations, some companies are adopting a hybrid All of these features make Mirapoint’s solutions a good
messaging approach: those who need full-featured messaging match for today’s business environments. In particular, as more
and collaborative applications get client software and access to HPSOR\HHV ZRUN IURP UHPRWH RɷFHV RU IURP WKH URDG WKH QHHG
an application running on a dedicated server, while the remain- for messaging and collaboration applications is likely to grow. In-
LQJ HPSOR\HHV JHW :HEĥEDVHG PHVVDJLQJ DFFRXQWV creasingly, companies are concerned about the cost of providing
+\EULG PHVVDJLQJ HQDEOHV GLɱHUHQW HPDLO V\VWHPV WR FRH[- full-blown messaging solutions when many of their employees
ist seamlessly, so corporations can provide knowledge workers simply require access to email, calendars and instant messaging.
with a feature-rich corporate email platform, while supporting As such, some companies are now opting for a hybrid messag-
PRVW RWKHU XVHUV ZLWK D FRVWĥHɱHFWLYH PHVVDJLQJ VROXWLRQ ing approach where power users get full access to software like
7KHUH DUH VHYHUDO EHQH¿WV ZLWK WKLV DSSURDFK )LUVW XVHUV Microsoft Exchange or IBM Lotus Notes and others are more
in remote sites do not need as much IT support since there FRVWĥHɱHFWLYHO\ VXSSRUWHG E\ :HEĥEDVHG PHVVDJLQJ Q
is no need for an onsite server to run the messaging or col-
laborative applications. Second, desktop support is simpli-
¿HG VLQFH XVHUV RQO\ QHHG D :HE EURZVHU QR W D PHVVDJLQJ
client. And third, collaboration can more easily be extended
to partners, clients and customers since all they need is a
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MESSAGING NETWORKS” HOSTED ON MAY 22, 2007, 2 PM EASTERN,
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