Transvault Affirms Microsoft’s Position That Office 365 Is A One-Stop-Shop For Email Compliance
New white paper backs Microsoft’s holistic approach to achieving compliance in Office 365…
Clevedon, United Kingdom – (January 12, 2016) – Transvault, the leading developer of archive migration solutions today released a new white paper that supports Microsoft’s claim that Office 365 delivers a one-stop-shop for regulatory compliance. Making Office 365 One-Stop-Shop for Email Records Compliance, a Transvault Voice White Paper, is a direct result of several years of extensive research, and experience with over 1,100 customer email archive migration projects completed, and many more underway through their network of services focused partners. The document concludes that beyond mere compliance, a properly migrated archive can safeguard a business from potential future litigation or governance issues that may arise from not taking legacy email data into account during the migration process.
Barney Haye, founder and chief executive officer for Transvault stated, “Data governance is more than the marketing term that is often linked to promotional hype or fearmongering. It’s a primary responsibility that any business that has sensitive legacy data within an archive should be aware of. Companies need to see preparedness for eDiscovery as a priority and that the safeguarding of all data is the only preemptive defense.”
For widespread adoption of Cloud services such as Microsoft Office 365 to occur within heavily regulated industries and governance-focused enterprises – the service providers must be able to prove they are responsible and practiced data custodians (see Transvault Blog on new “Safe Harbor” rulings). They must provide the necessary project capability and scope to safeguard future corporate messaging repositories in fully discoverable formats. The savvy email administrator will understand that this encompasses many different aspects of their project such as; mailbox storage, archive storage, legal hold, journaling, search/eDiscovery, reporting – the list goes on and on.
“Microsoft Exchange (in its online form, part of the Office 365 SaaS platform) has an interesting relationship with compliance features, and over the course of its history has evolved significantly -from lacking any significant features to providing the full complement of features most organizations need in a modern business environment”, commented Steve Goodman, a Microsoft honored, most valued professional (MVP).
Goodman, holding multiple certifications in Exchange Server and being actively involved in the messaging community, authored the foreword for the white paper and has some excellent insights into what consideration businesses should make before and/or during a “move entirely across to Microsoft Office 365.”
Tony Redmond, a further Microsoft MVP and commentator, recently blogged about …”how Exchange Online satisfies SEC rule 17a-4”. “A great deal is made of retention policies, the ability to move items into archive mailboxes, and in-place holds, all of which are important parts of the Exchange Online compliance suite. The rest of Office 365 is not quite as well equipped as Exchange Online is, but the gradual built out of the Compliance Center is under way and its effect is being felt in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business”, wrote Redmond for windowsitpro.com.
Regarding the value inherent in this newly authored white paper by Transvault, Haye concludes, “Our research team have worked diligently to produce this helpful manifesto on compliance and we hope it provides an important framework around how Microsoft Office 365 meets email compliance and good data governance requirements. Armed with this resource, those tasked with investigating Cloud propositions should have all the ammunition they need to convince business decision makers of Microsoft’s virtues. Yes there are still difficulties and risks to weigh up, but by undertaking a proper migration to one-stop-shop services like Office 365, there are also multiple business advantages to be unlocked.”
Haye has also blogged in response to Tony Redmond’s assertions – Microsoft Office 365 Claims SEC 17a-4 Compliance – is this really a small detail? – and he adds real weight to the idea that mass adoption of the cloud amongst the financial services industry cannot be far off.
Media Contact:
Liam Neate – liam.neate@transvault.com