USER ACTIVITY - (TIP: give users a tool and they will use it - make sure you can measure what they are doing and put policies in place to control it)

1. Can you say who your heaviest users are internally and to the internet?
YES/NO

2. Do you know who they send to and what they access?
YES/NO

3. Can you determine how large the files are that they are sending and receiving?
YES/NO

4. Is their behavior within your Acceptable Usage Policy?
YES/NO

SERVER ACTIVITY - (TIP: one of the key measurements is to understand what is happening on your servers and how quickly it is growing so you are not blind-sided by unexpected growth)

5. Can you measure how much internet and messaging traffic goes through your servers?
YES/NO

6. Can you plot the growth for traffic through these servers?
YES/NO

7. Are you able to benchmark current messaging and internet activity?
YES/NO

8. Can you forecast how long the current configurations will be able to handle the growth?
YES/NO

9. Can you calculate how you should load balance this traffic to ensure you are getting the most out of your current investment?
YES/NO

PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY - (TIP: performance is one of the key elements users remember. Make sure you can accurately measure it and explain problems)

10. Can you measure the availability of your messaging and internet applications?
YES/NO

11. Can you define the key measurements?
YES/NO

12. Can you measure performance of your messaging and internet applications?
YES/NO

13. Are you able to report messaging and internet performance to senior management and users?
YES/NO

14. Are you able to explain outages?
YES/NO

ALERTS - (TIP: make sure your support people know of problems before your users do)

15. Can you quickly and accurately inform the right person when part of the system slows down or stops completely?
YES/NO

16. Do you have tools to identify the problem and rectify it without a major impact on service?
YES/NO

SECURITY - (TIP: with the advent of the Internet, users now have the ability to send just about anything to anyone. Scary isn't it!)

17. Does your system prevent a user from sending email to an unauthorized source such as a competitor or recruiter?
YES/NO

18. Are you able to prevent users from exposing you to legal problems as a result of them sending inappropriate or confidential email?
YES/NO

19. Can you protect your system from external threats like viruses, mailbombs and junkmail?
YES/NO

COST CONTROL - (TIP: these systems cost real money but most users expect it for free. You need a way to account for the use in proportion with its usage - at least to illustrate it has a real cost to the business)

20. Do you have a mechanism to account for the cost of messaging and internet usage based on user activity and volumes?
YES/NO

Click here to determine how you scored