AfterMail and BridgeHead Software announce email and file lifecycle storage management solution

AfterMail and BridgeHead Software today announced a solution that, for the first time, delivers the triple benefits of effective, long-term email and file storage management, compatibility with compliance and governance regulations, and continuous access to the business knowledge contained in email content. The combined software offering constitutes a beginning-to-end email and file lifecycle storage management solution.

AfterMail now integrates with BridgeHeads HT FileStore to enable automated, policy-based migration of storage-heavy attachments from expensive primary disk to lower-cost secondary storage such as JBOD, tape or optical media. This both reduces the storage overhead on the expensive primary disk store and, through properly managed duplication, eliminates the need to repeatedly backup the attachments in the repository.

Until now, when AfterMail processed email messages it stored a single instance of any attachments in a single data repository. Although such single-instancing results in an email store that is significantly smaller in size than the equivalent email system would for the same email messages, it could still become too large and increase the backup requirement.

The file archiving capabilities of BridgeHeads HT FileStore ensure that with AfterMail it is now significantly more capable than other systems that focus solely on email archiving. Unlike such other systems, HT FileStore provides proactive file management for the entire lifecycle, enabling unwanted files to be deleted, or stubs to be left so that archived files can be accessed transparently. It also manages file retention periods, maintains audit trails and can be fully automated or manually operated. Such capabilities help organisations achieve compliance, reduce costs and derive maximum utility from their storage hardware infrastructure.

BridgeHead and AfterMails solution uses familiar applications such as Microsoft Outlook and Windows Explorer to deliver access to archived email and files transparently, and incorporates powerful search capabilities across the email and file archives. Storage management is flexible across a broad range of standard storage technologies.

Rod Drury, chief executive officer of AfterMail, said: Just as our customers require an email archiving solution to capture and consolidate email storage, there are also opportunities to reduce the storage required by files on the file system. Our partnership with BridgeHead enables us to address the email and file archiving needs of most organizations, and then manage this data over the long-term, said. This approach enables us to optimize this valuable data using standard storage technology, using existing infrastructure and not requiring the customer to use any particular technology or manufacturer.

Tony Cotterill, managing director of BridgeHead Software, said: Email is the main structured tool for holding key business information and, as such, is a critical tool for any company. But while this level of dependency confirms email as the killer application, it also creates killer side effects through the storage issues it generates. Todays announcement resolves that issue for business customers by adding lifecycle management to email data; this helps them to be compliant, enables better access to the knowledge often embedded in emails, and automatically protects data through managed duplication.