Google Vault, used for legal holds, has been available for new customers migrating to Google Apps, but not to existing Gmail users. However this is about to change very soon and is going to have a huge impact on a lot of small to medium sized business, education, and government entities that have been rapidly adopting Google Apps.
In a recent discussion last week with Jenni Williams, Channel/Client Relationship Manager for Google, I learned that the processes of setting up a procedure to amend the terms and conditions for Google Apps customers to cover Google Vault is nearly final and the only loose end before the large scale roll out begins.
Ms. Williams said that there are no API’s for Google Vault yet, but this will be an area to watch as eDiscovery kicks into high gear for Google. There are already a number of data management tools such as Google Active Directory Synch – GADS , Google Apps Migration for Microsoft® Exchange - GAMME, which can move ESI related to user identities, email, calendar, and contacts. GAMME can use IMAP to connect with a wide variety of email providers, such as Microsoft® Exchange Server (2000, 2003, 2007 or 2010) or IMAP server (any RFC 3501-compliant IMAP server, including Microsoft® Exchange, Novell Groupwise, Cyrus, Courier, Dovecot, SunMail, Zimbra, and Gmail), or work directly with .PST files.
Both GAMME and GADS also support a command line scripting ability and can be launched in the back ground.
Prior to Google Vault, Google customers had their email routed through Postini for eDiscovery. However, gradually the features of Postini have been migrated into Gmail, and the Google Vault addition will be the final step to begin the process of migrating users away from Postini.
Watch for more developments to pick up in this specialized area.
Jeffrey Goodwin
Founder, eDiscoverySquad, LLC
http://ediscoverysquad.com/about-us
