All organisations which are answerable to the FSA must, by law store all business related emails for a minimum of 6 years, and in some cases indefinitely. This is in order for companies to protect themselves and provide evidence in the case of any disputes which may occur.
In addition to this, businesses are also required under the following acts to provide effective and secure archived storage of email data:
The Data Protection Act
The Freedom of Information Act
The Sarbanes Oxley Act
In response to this, thousands of FSA regulated businesses are looking carefully at their email systems and implementing new technology with the provisions for full compliance with these guidelines. One of the best ways to do this is by signing up to an Microsoft exchange hosting provider who can help to manage and maintain your email system for you, without the hassle and cost of doing it in house.
Exchange hosting’s advanced security and auto-archiving features will ensure that your business is in compliance with all current and future legislation governing email and other forms of communication.
A spokesperson for one of the U.K’s largest suppliers of exchange hosting services had this to say: “We are finding that more and more businesses are realising the benefits of exchange hosting. This an extremely cost-effective solution and removes the responsibility of running an in-house email server which can run into thousands of pounds and requires full time maintenance. In addition to this, it helps businesses to be in compliance with industry and Government guidelines. This could prove vital in the event of any dispute.”
