Mimecast Launches Archive Search Capability for BlackBerry to Increase Mobile Workforce Productivity
Mimecast, supplier of cloud-based email archiving, continuity and security for Microsoft Exchange and Office 365, recently announced its new email archiving service for BlackBerry smartphones. The new Mimecast service aims to increase mobile workforce productivity by giving users access to their entire personal archive through their standard BlackBerry email interface. Users will be able to search and view their Mimecast personal archive from a BlackBerry handset, copy email from the archive to their inbox, and reply and forward archived messages.
Mimecast’s BlackBerry archive search service is the only solution of its kind that integrates directly with the BlackBerry email application, obviating the need for users to launch another application or go to a web page to find information within their archive. Instead, they can use single click search shortcuts for finding emails with similar subject fields or from the same sender in a similar way to the native BlackBerry search facility. They can also take advantage of more granular search features such as fully flexible date ranges and the ability to specify email components for search, such as attachments, email body or message headers.
“Email is the primary application for the vast majority of business communications nowadays, and users expect to be able to access their live and stored email 24x7, whether at the office, at home, or on the go,” said Barry Gill, product marketing manager at Mimecast. “There is significant demand for mobile email archive search, and we’ve created this offering to satisfy the needs of both IT stakeholders and end users.”
“While the technical and legal aspects of email archiving are the primary drivers for the strong growth this sector has seen over the last couple of years, the importance of the end user experience should not be overlooked," said Sheila Childs, research director at Gartner’s Storage Strategies and Technologies Group. "The ability to access a 10-year historical archive rapidly is not only a basic requirement for compliance, it is also a potentially significant productivity tool, particularly if it is tightly integrated with the interfaces users are familiar with. Naturally, we tend to think of email archiving fitting within desktop clients, but more organizations are beginning to demand that this functionality be extended to mobile device users as well.”
The archive service add-on follows the launch of Mimecast Continuity Services for BlackBerry smartphones in April 2010, which allows enterprise managers to provide uninterrupted email access to users in the event of a Microsoft Exchange outage or BlackBerry Enterprise Server failure. Mimecast is a BlackBerry Alliance Select Member, recognized for promoting the highest level of innovation and contributing to the strength of the market.