Cloud Communications

Secure, Easy Hosted Email: GFI's MailEssentials Complete Online

By Mae Kowalke TMCnet Contributor

With an eye on reducing costs, streamlining IT operations, and providing employees with more reliable information and communications systems, many businesses are turning to hosted cloud service providers for things like email.

A hosted service provider takes care of all behind-the-scenes IT functions like infrastructure setup and management, security and storage. The customer pays for these services on a subscription basis, thereby outsourcing their IT needs and often obtaining the added benefit for employees of being able to access applications from any location—including remotely on mobile devices or laptop computers.

Cloud communications provider GFI Software offers just such a hosted solution, for email security. GFI’s MailEssentials Complete Online is an email security and spam filtering service designed for fast, easy deployment and minimal maintenance.

MailEssentials uses robust spam filtering and a sophisticated system of security technologies to block 100 percent of viruses and more than 99 percent of spam before they enter the customer’s network. Even when the mail server is offline, built-in continuity gives the subscriber uninterrupted access to email. An optional archive service securely retains important messages for later retrieval.

The sophistication of this system is apparent in six key features:

1. Redundancy – multiple systems at multiple data centers ensure there is no single point of failure

2. Compatibility – email security, continuity and archiving are available for any email environment

3. Filtering – inbound and outbound filtering keep spam and malicious content from disrupting email service

4. Continuity – even if there’s a network on on-premise email server outage, e-mail service can still be accessed

5. Savings – cuts costs by eliminating capital and maintenance expenditures for hardware or software

6. Archiving – optional service provides off-site email archiving for storage management and regulatory compliance

“The smartest and more intuitive anti-spam filter available,” says MailEssentials user Robert Campos of RC Systems Consulting. “And the built-in continuity can be a lifesaver.

In other company news, GFI recently sat down with TMCnet to discuss why the company was founded and why the cloud communications provider first decided to dabble in the small and medium-sized business (SMB) pool.

“Not all SMEs afford an ever increasing infrastructure with good IT staff, security software or hardware, licensing and renewal costs, and other expenses that come with the on-premise package,” Ed Harnish, vice president of marketing at GFI, told TMCnet. “For very small businesses, the capital outlay often exceeds the budget allocated for IT. At the same time, they cannot do without the technology; no business can survive today without email, and from a security perspective, running a network without antivirus is like leaving the key in the front door for everyone to see.”

“Cloud service providers, particularly those who have experience working in the SMB market, know how difficult it is for start-ups and small businesses to implement technology within their organization,” he added. “Thus they are in a perfect position to address SMBs’ concerns and budget limitations by providing a full package at a very reasonable price.”

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