Marks & Spencer is one of the UK' leading retailers of clothing, homeware and financial services, and some 15 million people visit a Marks & Spencer store every week. With more than 65,000 employees and 399 locations in the UK, Marks & Spencer has become a major national and international force in the retail sector.
Marks & Spencer has been an enthusiastic user of email since its IT team developed its own email system in 1995. Over the years use of email has grown rapidly, and it is now seen as a mission critical IT service. To ensure ongoing stability and reliability, Marks & Spencer has installed an e-policy management solution, which provides scalability, distribution, aggregation and interoperability. Over 10,000 separate email accounts exist within the organization.
Marks & Spencer' requirements for managing and securing electronic communications have become more demanding as time has progressed, with email traffic growing from 10,000 to 80,000 emails per day on average. Marks & Spencer was an early adopter of email point products having used a succession of products, including Clearswift' Route 400 and MAILsweeper products, since 1995.
However, as email dependency rose, it became clear that the threats posed by email and spam had become more numerous and complex. This led to a requirement for Marks & Spencer' IT security team to update the email usage policy. It was felt that the company needed a sophisticated enterprise-strength solution to meet current and future corporate email security requirements. Having already experienced the benefits of Clearswift' technological innovation, it was natural for Marks & Spencer to look to Clearswift to provide the solution.
Until Marks & Spencer installed MIMEsweeper for SMTP 5.0, it was not fully aware of the extent of its spam problem. Now, MIMEsweeper for SMTP provides Marks & Spencer with high-level functionality, real-time anti-spam facilities, and the ability to accurately predict growth volumes and spot trends. The new version was successfully installed in January 2005 and instantly delivered results. MIMEsweeper for SMTP proactively keeps the systems current with spam and threat updates, actively stopping some 45,000 spam emails per week.
MIMEsweeper for SMTP has delivered real benefits to Marks & Spencer' busy IT team. With 48,000 inbound and 32,000 outbound email messages per day to contend with, it was essential that the email security solution worked in a way that matched the internal needs of the company without adding unnecessary administration.