Item: Mimecast Advanced Email Security
Rating: 8
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Mimecast Secure Email Gateway is being used by our whole organization, but our end-users typically do not interact with it on a daily basis. We use Mimecast behind the scenes to scan all incoming email and filter out ones that may be considered spam or threatening. We also use it to encrypt any outgoing email. We use this in conjunction with Proofpoint to further protect our end-users from email attacks. We also utilize Mimecast for disaster recovery purposes. In the event of a disaster where we are unable to connect to our on-premise exchange server, we utilize Mimecast to allow our users to log in and see an exact 1:1 copy of their email inbox. This also allows them to send and receive an email if our exchange server is down.

Pros and Cons

Standing up an exact 1:1 copy of email inboxes for DR purposes.
Scanning any incoming email to be filtered for spam/threats.
Automatically encrypting all outgoing email.

Email filtering can be hit or miss. Will incorrectly filter out emails that will go noticed by end-users.
Admin web UI can be confusing and not so intuitive.
Inability to release incorrectly filtered messages to the end-user mailbox.

Return on Investment

Mimecast allows our email DR tests to go very smoothly. It's simple to set up and easy for end-users to use.
As we move towards more cloud bases email systems, the need for this service would drastically go down.

Alternatives Considered

Proofpoint Email Encryption and Proofpoint Targeted Attack Protection for Email

We use both Mimecast alongside Proofpoint in our Organization. As mentioned earlier, if you are looking strictly for a secure email system, something that filters incoming mail and encrypts outgoing mail, I believe Proofpoint does this better. It is easy to use from an admin standpoint, the support is there when something goes wrong, and it integrates really well with programs like Outlook. Mimecast does a fine job as well, but we've run into usability problems from time to time. Although we do utilize the Proofpoint archive, Mimecast does a better job at having a cloud created copy of a user's inbox to be used for archival and DR purposes.

Support Rating

From personal experience, the only time I've had to utilize the support function for Mimecast is in situations where our pre-defined filter was filtering emails incorrectly and users were missing mail. Mimecast support was spotty at times, but it could be due to being in a weird timezone (EST-6). Once I was able to get in contact with a support agent, things were usually pretty smooth. The support agents definitely try their best to help with the problems.

Key Insights

Do you think Mimecast Advanced Email Security delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Mimecast Advanced Email Security's feature set?

Yes

Did Mimecast Advanced Email Security live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Mimecast Advanced Email Security go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Mimecast Advanced Email Security again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Proofpoint Email Encryption, Proofpoint Targeted Attack Protection for Email, CrowdStrike Falcon Endpoint Protection

Likelihood to Recommend

Specifically for our organization, we use Mimecast as a defense for our users. This can seem redundant because we also utilize Proofpoint to do basically the same thing. In my opinion, Proofpoint does seem to do this better, but the needs may differ from other Organizations. What I think Mimecast does really well is email backup. For DR testing purposes, we have to stand up a copy of every user's inbox ready for access at any time. Mimecast is able to handle this really well, and also allows our users to send and receive in the event of a disaster.

Mimecast, Great for DR.

Overall Satisfaction with Mimecast Secure Email Gateway