[Dovecot] What would you tell the CIO in an "ABCs of Email" overview?

[Esther Schindler]

And finally, part 2 is published too!

Let me know if I made any boo-boos.

ABC: An Introduction to E-Mail Technology
E-mail works so quickly and well that its complexity is hidden from end
users. That's a good thing. But IT managers should know the very basics
of how an e-mail message gets from sender to recipient, and what can
delay or prevent its arrival. Read this introduction to the technology
basics and e-mail protocols.
http://www.cio.com/article/169700

Esther Schindler
senior online editor, CIO.com

P.S. I suspect you'd like your management and users to understand this
stuff, so that you don't have to explain it over and over. So if you'd
be so kind as to nudge it up on digg.com (
http://digg.com/software/What_Makes_E_mail_Tick ) or slashdot (
http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=454656 )? I wouldn't mind  
at all.

On Aug 7, 2007, at 11:09 AM, Esther Schindler wrote:

> The article is live... as part 1, anyway.
>
> As you'll soon see, it was impossible to do an ABCs of Email that  
> covered both technology and people issues. So I've split these into  
> two articles. I'll do the "POP vs IMAP" stuff separately... as soon  
> as I recover from this one.
>
> I tried to make this document the one you want to print out and  
> slap on an exec's desk when they do something totally dumb. (This  
> way it's not YOU saying they were clueless.) Feel free to post  
> anywhere you  like... I'm such a slut for pageviews.
>
> Comments and corrections are welcome, particularly if they also  
> include praise. :-)
> ABC: An Introduction to E-mail Management
>
> Helping nontechnical managers calibrate expectations, learn the key  
> issues in e-mail management and identify issues in setting  
> corporate e-mail policies.
> http://www.cio.com/article/128450/ 
> ABC_An_Introduction_to_E_mail_Management
>
> Esther Schindler
> senior online editor, CIO.com
>
>
>
> On May 7, 2007, at 12:37 PM, Esther Schindler wrote:
>
>> One of the key points that came up when I researched and wrote the  
>> "Five Things CIOs Should Know about Fighting Spam" article (http:// 
>> www.cio.com/article/28830) was that they should know the basics of  
>> how email works. Otherwise, said plenty of techies, the CIO won't  
>> have the first idea of what the email admin is complaining about.
>>
>> So I'm going to do my part. I'm going to write an "ABCs of Email"  
>> article (to accompany the many other ABCs articles we have on  
>> CIO.com, at http://www.cio.com/article/40242 ). I'd like your  
>> input on the topics that should be included, keeping in mind the  
>> fact that the target reader is a CIO, IT manager, or someone who  
>> wants to understand the basics, *not* actively get involved in  
>> email management.
>>
>> You don't need to write an essay for me or inundate me with links  
>> (though hey, if you want to make my life easier I shall not  
>> complain). What I'm looking for, primarily, are the categories of  
>> information that I should cover. In other words, if your CIO had  
>> an email ephiphany and asked you to give a half-hour presentation,  
>> what would you include?
>>
>> This won't be an "Expert says..." article nor will it be "Geek on  
>> the street says...." I intend to compile and research the "least  
>> you need to know" for the not-necessarily-techie bosses out there.  
>> And hopefully the end result will be that you have one less dumb  
>> question to deal with in your life.
>>
>> So: any suggestions? (You can reply privately if you prefer.)
>>
>> Esther Schindler
>> senior online editor, CIO.com
>> her blog: http://advice.cio.com/taxonomy/term/34
>>
>
>