99% Email Archival Success Rate Achieved with New System

99% Email Archival Success Rate Achieved with New System

Executive Summary

Meridian Wealth Partners faced significant challenges with its legacy email archiving system, resulting in data loss and inefficient eDiscovery processes, jeopardizing regulatory compliance. Golden Door Asset implemented a cloud-based email archiving solution leveraging Proofpoint Enterprise Archive to address these issues. The new system achieved a 99% email archival success rate, reduced eDiscovery costs by 35%, and significantly strengthened Meridian's compliance posture, demonstrating a clear return on investment.

The Challenge

Meridian Wealth Partners, a leading Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firm managing over $750 million in assets, recognized a critical vulnerability in its compliance infrastructure: its legacy email archiving system. The existing system, an on-premise solution nearing its end-of-life, suffered from frequent errors and data loss, resulting in an unacceptable email archival success rate of approximately 88%. This meant that roughly 12% of daily email communications – including critical client correspondence, trade confirmations, and compliance documentation – were at risk of being unarchived or incompletely archived.

The consequences of this data loss were significant. In the heavily regulated financial services industry, RIAs are legally obligated to retain email communications for extended periods, typically 7 years or longer, depending on the specific jurisdiction and type of communication. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in hefty fines, reputational damage, and even legal action. For instance, a single SEC audit could trigger a demand for specific email records related to a particular investment strategy or client interaction. The previous system's unreliability made fulfilling such requests a stressful and time-consuming ordeal.

Furthermore, the archaic eDiscovery process associated with the old system was incredibly inefficient. Searching for specific emails required manual data extraction and review, often involving multiple IT personnel and significant billable hours from outside legal counsel. A typical eDiscovery request related to a client dispute could take upwards of 40 hours of staff time and incur legal fees exceeding $5,000. The outdated system also lacked the advanced search capabilities needed to quickly identify relevant emails, further exacerbating the issue. With an average of 5 eDiscovery requests per quarter, Meridian was spending an estimated $100,000 annually on eDiscovery alone, not including the hidden costs associated with lost productivity. The increasing volume of email traffic (over 200,000 emails per month) and the growing complexity of regulatory requirements demanded a more robust and reliable solution.

The Approach

Golden Door Asset partnered with Meridian to develop and implement a comprehensive email archiving strategy focused on enhancing data integrity, improving eDiscovery efficiency, and strengthening overall compliance. The approach was guided by the following key principles:

• Cloud-Based Architecture: Recognizing the limitations of on-premise solutions, a cloud-based architecture was selected for its scalability, redundancy, and ease of management. This also eliminated the need for Meridian to invest in and maintain costly hardware infrastructure.
• Advanced Archiving Technology: Proofpoint Enterprise Archive was selected for its proven track record in the financial services industry, its robust data backup and recovery capabilities, and its advanced eDiscovery features. Proofpoint offered superior search functionality, including keyword search, Boolean operators, and the ability to search within attachments.
• Customized Retention Policies: Working closely with Meridian's compliance team, Golden Door Asset developed customized retention policies aligned with regulatory requirements and internal business needs. These policies defined the specific retention periods for different types of email communications, ensuring compliance with SEC and FINRA regulations.
• Seamless Integration with Microsoft 365: The solution was designed to seamlessly integrate with Meridian's existing Microsoft 365 environment, minimizing disruption to users and simplifying administration. This integration allowed for automated email archiving, ensuring that all email communications were captured and stored without manual intervention.
• Rigorous Testing and Validation: Before full deployment, the new system underwent rigorous testing and validation to ensure its reliability and accuracy. This included simulating real-world eDiscovery requests to verify the system's search capabilities and data retrieval processes.
• User Training and Support: Golden Door Asset provided comprehensive training to Meridian's IT and compliance teams on how to use the new system effectively. Ongoing support was also provided to address any questions or issues that arose.

The selection of Proofpoint was driven by its compliance-specific features. It offered granular control over retention policies, including the ability to place legal holds on specific emails or accounts, preventing them from being deleted even if they fell outside of the standard retention period. This was crucial for managing potential litigation and regulatory investigations.

The project involved a phased rollout, starting with a pilot program involving a small group of users, followed by a wider deployment to the entire organization. This allowed for continuous monitoring and adjustments to ensure a smooth transition.

Technical Implementation

The technical implementation involved a multi-stage process:

1. Assessment and Planning: Golden Door Asset conducted a thorough assessment of Meridian's existing IT infrastructure and compliance requirements. This included reviewing Meridian's email usage patterns, data storage needs, and regulatory obligations.
2. Proofpoint Enterprise Archive Deployment: Proofpoint Enterprise Archive was deployed in a secure cloud environment. This involved configuring the system to automatically archive all email communications from Meridian's Microsoft 365 environment.
3. Data Migration: Email data from the legacy archiving system was migrated to the new system. This process was carefully managed to ensure data integrity and minimize downtime. Approximately 5 terabytes of historical email data was migrated.
4. Integration with Microsoft 365: The system was integrated with Meridian's Microsoft 365 environment using APIs. This allowed for automated email archiving and seamless user access.
5. Configuration of Retention Policies: Customized retention policies were configured based on Meridian's specific compliance requirements. This included defining retention periods for different types of email communications, such as client correspondence, trade confirmations, and regulatory filings. The default retention period for most emails was set to 7 years, with longer retention periods for certain types of records.
6. Implementation of Legal Hold Capabilities: Legal hold capabilities were configured to allow Meridian to preserve specific emails or accounts in the event of litigation or regulatory investigations. This feature allowed the compliance team to place a hold on relevant data, preventing it from being deleted or altered.
7. User Training: Golden Door Asset provided comprehensive training to Meridian's IT and compliance teams on how to use the new system effectively. This included training on how to perform eDiscovery searches, manage retention policies, and place legal holds.
8. Ongoing Monitoring and Support: Golden Door Asset provided ongoing monitoring and support to ensure the system's reliability and performance. This included proactively identifying and resolving any technical issues.

The solution was also configured to generate detailed audit logs, providing a complete record of all email archiving and eDiscovery activities. This was crucial for demonstrating compliance with regulatory requirements.

The financial calculation of ROI was based on several factors: reduced eDiscovery costs, improved employee productivity, and decreased risk of regulatory fines. The cost of the Proofpoint solution was factored in, along with the initial implementation costs.

Results & ROI

The implementation of the new email archiving system yielded significant improvements for Meridian Wealth Partners:

• Email Archival Success Rate: The email archival success rate increased from 88% to 99%, ensuring that virtually all email communications were captured and stored securely. This reduced the risk of data loss and strengthened Meridian's compliance posture. The 11% increase translated to approximately 22,000 more emails archived successfully per month.
• eDiscovery Cost Reduction: eDiscovery costs were reduced by 35%. This was primarily due to the new system's advanced search capabilities, which allowed Meridian's compliance team to quickly and efficiently identify relevant emails. This reduction in costs saved Meridian approximately $35,000 annually. A typical eDiscovery request now takes only 15 hours of staff time, a significant improvement from the previous 40 hours. Legal fees associated with eDiscovery were also reduced, as less reliance was placed on external counsel.
• Improved Employee Productivity: The new system's ease of use and enhanced search capabilities improved employee productivity. The compliance team was able to spend less time searching for emails and more time focusing on other critical tasks. A conservative estimate puts the productivity gains at 10%, translating to roughly $25,000 in annual savings based on the salaries of the compliance team members.
• Reduced Risk of Regulatory Fines: By ensuring that all email communications were archived and easily accessible, the new system significantly reduced Meridian's risk of regulatory fines. While quantifying this risk is difficult, the potential cost of a regulatory fine could easily exceed $100,000.
• Faster eDiscovery Response Times: The time to respond to eDiscovery requests decreased by 62.5%, from an average of 40 hours to 15 hours. This improved Meridian's ability to respond to regulatory inquiries and legal proceedings in a timely manner.

The overall ROI of the new email archiving system was estimated to be 150% within the first year, taking into account the cost of the solution, the implementation costs, and the quantifiable benefits. This demonstrates the significant value that Golden Door Asset's solution provided to Meridian Wealth Partners.

Key Takeaways

Here are three actionable insights for other RIAs facing similar email archiving challenges:

1. Prioritize Data Integrity: Invest in a reliable email archiving system with a proven track record of data integrity and security. Don't rely on outdated or unreliable solutions that put your compliance at risk.
2. Automate Retention Policies: Implement automated retention policies to ensure that email communications are retained in accordance with regulatory requirements. This will reduce the risk of non-compliance and simplify the archiving process.
3. Embrace Cloud-Based Solutions: Consider cloud-based archiving solutions for their scalability, redundancy, and ease of management. These solutions can eliminate the need for costly on-premise infrastructure and simplify IT administration.

About Golden Door Asset

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