Now that you know the options, how do you decide? Start by assessing your enterprise-your needs today and down the road. What is the state of your enterprise regarding spam and virus protection? What do you want to achieve? Consider your business culture and what is needed to maintain employee bliss and productivity. Set priorities. For example, which is more important for your business: control or relieving your IT staff of administrative burdens? Would you rather own a solution or outsource it? What is your budget? How long are you willing to wait for a solution? Once you have clarified your situation, look at which deployment option fits. As mentioned earlier, most industry experts believe that a perimeter solution offers the best protection. Of the perimeter options, software- and hardware-based solutions are administrated in-house. If you want someone else to handle your security, look at managed services.

Then, compare the available solutions and their features within the selected deployment option. To be effective, your solution should have a superior filtering and detection engine that can quickly and easily identify and act upon damaging messages, without producing a high number of false positives. It should also offer:

• Anti-spam to eliminate unwanted mail
• Anti-virus to add another layer of protection
• Connection management to protect against DHAs
• Content management to control undesirable mail
• Attachment management to free up resources
• Disaster recovery to provide continuity during maintenance or emergencies

Compare the specifications and results to learn about a solution's potential. And get to know the company behind the solution. High-quality customer service and proven expertise are essential. The company must be able to respond quickly and effectively to emerging issues and be proactive to handle what spammers are currently devising.

The company must also have a strong foundation for the future, including a growing customer base, to help ensure its survival in the highly competitive market, which will help protect your investment. After gathering all the facts, and answering all the questions in this guide, you should be ready to make a decision about which solution is best for your enterprise. Keep in mind even the best solutions may require some customization. Once you have purchased your solution, move carefully. An in-house or outsourced solution should be introduced in audit mode with filters at the lowest settings. Restrictions should then be gradually increased to determine the optimum level of protection for your organization. There are many excellent e-mail security solutions on the market today. If you have a good idea of what you want, chances are you will find the right solution.