Internet Research Group (IRG) recently released a research paper, “A Messaging Fabric: Case for a Messaging Infrastructure Layer,” which we found to offer great insight on a topic we’ve been discussing for years – messaging infrastructure. As a provider of reliable and secure email and messaging infrastructures, you can imagine how pleased we were to learn IRG was interested in uncovering the details involved in message processing efficiency. The 27-page report made so many great points that we figured one post wouldn’t do it justice. So, consider this post one of four; we hope you’ll take some time to read and comment.
Messaging Fabric: What is it? What are the benefits?
IRG describes Messaging Fabric as a formalized layer of messaging middleware, above and beyond what is found in an e-mail product such as Microsoft Exchange. They make a case for highlighting this emerging product area because the use of email has drastically changed over the years. From the increase in message volume to the increased focus on security and regulatory compliance, email functionality has certainly evolved from its’ first role as simply a reliable way to deliver messages to recipients within and outside of a business. Email is a much more important element for how corporations do business today and as mail volume and processing complexity increase, the need for specialized mail infrastructure (A.K.A. Messaging Fabric) will continue to be of value to large organizations.
The benefits of having a strong layer of messaging fabric within an organization’s email infrastructure, as outlined by IRG, include: flexibility, agility, scalability, efficiency, the ability to implement mail enabled applications, and better compliance management. But what does that mean? From increasing an organization’s ability to “change mail processing flows and adding new elements,” to providing a “larger framework which can apply policies and proper message handling,” it goes without saying that the benefits described in the research paper each have valid points and make sense. Based on what we hear from customers on a daily basis, the benefits they experience from having a strong email backbone, on top of the benefits IRG uncovered in their research , include: improving overall message processing performance, reducing potential for loss of sensitive data, future proofing messaging infrastructure to support multiple mail systems, and giving them substantial CAPEX and OPEX cost savings.
Our thoughts:
As you might have guessed, we’re certainly on the same page as IRG when it comes to our take on email infrastructure/messaging fabric. Mail volume and processing complexity are two factors that are driving the evolution of email and they aren’t going away. We agree that in order for companies to prepare themselves and mange a new level of complexity in their email infrastructure, an agile and intelligent email backbone is a must.
Stay tuned for our next post on the IRG paper: Four Rules of Messaging Fabric. In the meantime, we’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Feel free to comment and join in on the discussion.