It’s amazing how true this is.

A supoena sent to Google asks for the entire contents of a gmail account used by the founder of AmeriDebt. The subpoena asks for not only current e-mail but also deleted e-mail:

“All documents concerning all Gmail accounts of Baker…for the period from Jan. 1, 2003, to present, including but not limited to all e-mails and messages stored in all mailboxes, folders, in-boxes, sent items and deleted items, and all links to related Web pages contained in such e-mail messages.”

I usually recommend gmail as the mail service of choice for non-technical friends. This is a prime example of why I also suggest people run their own server if they can.

Assuming the trend what the trade rags say is true, I think that firms are rethinking the idea of outsourcing internal IT operations. Cost is certainly a factor. Within an organization the external cost principle is at play - the user generating a cost by calling an outsourced help desk is not responsible for paying for it - which makes it difficult to control.

It’s difficult to control the cost of a service that doesn’t have simple interface between the two businesses involved. A service that is used by everyone in a firm can’t have a simple interface because it’s there’s too many parties onvolved. As a result extra controls must be put in place (usually by the the service provider), which add to the overhead costs allocated to each transaction.