Treading the email tight rope - why effective email policy management is essential.

40% of businesses (73% among large businesses) have a defined information security policy, including policy on email usage. An impressive figure, recorded in the Price Waterhouse Coopers and DTI 2006 information Security Breaches Survey.

So why is the email policy frequently ignored? Why, despite a wide choice of content checkers and spam filters, do email policy breaches continue to occur? What are the factors that lead organisations to look to PolicyMatter to help manage that email policy?

General requirements of an email policy

the email policy should reflect the overall corporate culture
the email policy should tie into the organisation’s strategic goals
the email policy should be aligned with industry codes of practice and legislation
a good email policy should be written in plain English

So far, so good. Many organisations today are on the second, third or even fourth iteration of their email policy and comfortably meet all the above requirements.
It’s not the email policy in itself where things fall apart. It’s in the shortcomings of traditional policy communication and management approaches

Challenges:

simply posting the email policy to the Intranet gives little record of who has read and agreed to it
burying the email policy in the staff handbook consigns it to a life sitting on a shelf, gathering dust
induction schemes on an employee’s first day frequently leaves staff overwhelmed with information
attaching the policy to an email leaves it liable to be ignored

With all the above, it leaves the email policy owner short in key areas. Unable to ensure staff have read and agreed to the email policy. In the dark as to understanding of policy. No effective measures to manage the inevitable changes needing to be made to the in the course of its email policy lifetime.

Hence PolicyMatter. PolicyMatter ensures staff read the email policy, show they’ve understood it, and lets the managers responsible for the email policy run audit trails tracking acceptance across the organisation. As it evolves, PolicyMatter also minimizes costs across its life cycle by automating changes and re-presenting the email policy on a regular basis if required. And to complete the security loop, PolicyMatter integrates with leading security filters to make sure the email policy is being implemented.

PolicyMatter benefits for effective email policy management

clear, effective email policy presentation
ability to ensure staff read, understand and accept policy
management reporting and audit trails
full, automated life-cycle management of the email policy

PolicyMatter. Email policy communication. Email policy enforcement. Full email policy life-cycle management. To find out more, take a look at our software for managing your email policy.

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