C2C Makes E-Mail Archiving Palatable for Business Users

C2C Systems, which makes e-mail, file and messaging management archiving software, Dec. 16 released a new version of its ArchiveOne enterprise storage package that has been simplified so it can be used effectively by non-IT staff.

In deploying ArchiveOne v6, business users in departments such as legal, compliance or human resources can handle duties such as retention, discovery and preservation of files -- on or off-premises -- without involving IT, thanks to a new easier-to-use interface.

This is unusual in the data archiving realm, because routing live data and files for archiving requires more steps and procedures than simple backup.

Unlike other archival packages, ArchiveOne does not have to commit data to the archive before it can be searched or placed on legal hold. This eliminates the risks of retaining unnecessary information which may later take up valuable storage space and become a problem, CEO Dave Hunt told eWEEK.

"Our customers tell us they want easy-to-use, policy-based retention management and disposition, legal hold and early case assessment, in a cost-effective manner," Hunt said. "ArchiveOne selectively retains information based upon different criteria, regardless of the location or state of the data.

"The new version 6 has the ability to permit knowledge workers to handle the tasks in an intuitive style familiar to the job function and in a manner which will not overburden the IT department."

In C2C's scheme, the traditional boundaries of archiving are changed. Retention management and e-discovery no longer are considered subsets of email archiving, so an enterprise can create its own approach to discovery, retention management and email archiving.

"We are all well aware of the IT benefits that archiving delivers to an organization," said Brian Babineau, Senior Consulting Analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group.

"What has yet to be maximized are the business benefits of enforcing retention policies as new requirements emerge or immediately satisfying legal hold requests. These tasks are often left for IT to do because they own the archive system. C2C eliminates this delay empowering critical line of business users, who are impacted by compliance and discovery policy changes, to make the modifications in real time."

C2C Systems, based in Westborough, Mass. and founded in 1992, currently has about 4 million software users and is archiving more than 40 petabytes of content, Hunt said.