For regulatory, legal and administrative reasons, archiving mail has become a burning issue for many e-mail administrators, as well as having significant implications for the directors of a firm.

Whether it is for keeping client details without overburdening the existing mail server, keeping a track of electronic transactions to offset potential legal issues in the future or purely trying to give fast, effective access to all users' mail (including mail that stretches deep into company's history) there are now viable solutions available.

There are numerous technical resolutions that address the typical features required in these mail archive systems: www.convera.com, www.ccdatasw.com, www.storagetek.com, www.filetek.com, www.rchive-it.com and finally www.kvsinc.com (above). The latter solution seems to have created considerable interest in the UK and is heavily marketed through various channels elsewhere.

Enterprise Vault is used for managing the archiving, retention and retrieval of e-mail and documents on MS Exchange mail systems. Fundamentally, these technologies allow bulk storage, specific retrieval and audit capabilities. Additionally, and importantly, they may also create an ad hoc knowledge management provision.

Mail files now account for a large proportion of the important, unstructured data and information that is normally codified heuristically into a knowledge management repository or knowledge-based solution. Some of the technologies highlighted above contain rudimentary rules-based engines that allow the codification and presentation of explicit knowledge.

However, the strategic business challenge faced in implementing this type of solution is how to make available the archived mail and documents into a coherent, relevant and timely user experience. Similarly, if an organisation has a knowledge management capability in place it is also necessary to ensure that this archived 'knowledge' is still available through the knowledge management system.

Dr Ian H Harris and Jason Lambert are consultants at Imus Knowledge Based Solutions.