The popular business drivers for email management have centered on the "you gotta, you'd better, or else" justification. If the volume of email isn't a compelling enough reason to focus on the problem, the compliance age ushered in with the new century, combined with the fear factor of litigation and e-discovery costs, are compelling organizations to seek solutions sooner rather than later in order to mitigate risk and meet growing global compliance mandates.

While the fear factor and governance guidelines are gaining the lion's share of the attention, an equally valuable justification is the ability to integrate an email management strategy with an overall business solution framework in order to control costs and generate competitive advantage. The March 2005 AIIM/Kahn Consulting Industry Watch Study on Electronic Communication Policies and Procedures cited 39% of survey respondents indicating compliance as a decision driver for email management, while improving efficiency was ranked higher at 45%. Embracing a holistic approach to the email challenge isn't just good business; it's often, in fact, simply business in most industry sectors: