A large number of insurance industry firms and other businesses have no idea what's in their e-mail systems or how to manage them, a survey has found.
The poll by Q.Know Technologies Inc., a Reston, Va.-based information management software provider, found that 47 percent of the respondents viewed the volume of e-mail information as a "major problem" and they believe their systems contain information "we may not even know exists."
Sixty-five percent said they were not certain necessary information could be located, according to the poll of 240 business users, 40 percent of whom were from the insurance industry.
Of those polled, 50 percent said that 40-to-80 percent of the daily e-mail they receive is vital to their operations. But according to 58 percent of respondents, the most pressing e-mail issue for companies is storage.
Fifty-seven percent said the top issue was too much information, while 56 percent listed finding specific information, 29 percent said finding complete information and 27 percent said locating information to comply with regulatory requirements or requests.
Among poll respondents, 98 percent listed communication as the top use for e-mail. This was followed by storage, 85 percent; filing, 68 percent; collaboration, 57 percent; and records management, 30 percent.
In addition to the poll, Q.Know has produced a white paper on the problem of e-mail overload, outlining goals for system management.
Among the problems noted by the paper are e-mail system crashes caused by users keeping too much information and moving it around in "pack rat fashion," making it inaccessible.
The company said some firms duplicate and move all e-mails to storage, making them unavailable to staff who may need them.
It also noted misleading subject headings that turn searches for e-mails needed for business, audits or disclosure into time-consuming fishing expeditions.
Q.Know's entire paper and survey are online at www.q.know.com
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