Firms are putting their customer information at risk due to an over-reliance on e-mail, according to a new study.
Research fro Cobweb Solutions has found that over two-thirds of businesses now rely on e-mail to retain their customer information, putting the viability of this data at risk should their e-mail networks fail.
Storing information in e-mails also makes it less retrievable and harder to manage, the report argues, which can potentially damage client relationships.
What’s more, the survey found that half of respondents struggle with escalating email volumes and over a quarter are being increasingly inundated with viruses and spam, which could cause networks to fail.
“Companies are stuck between a rock and a hard-place,” said Michael Frisby, business development director at Cobweb Solutions. “People use email to store customer information, which is adding to the pressure on servers and mailboxes that are already straining at the seams.
“As e-mail volumes continue to grow the risk of failure also increases. While we were pleased to see that 73% of those we questioned have a written policy governing employee use of email in place, ensuring that email data is backed up in the event of a problem is clearly crucial.”
