Zix Email Encryption - What would we do without it?
Updated April 08, 2020
Zix Email Encryption - What would we do without it?
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Zix Email Encryption (ZixEncrypt)
Zix is currently being used across the whole organization. It allows us, a health care organization, a means of securing our communications to ensure that users do not send PHI in an insecure manner. The system currently enforces encryption based on a number of policies. Some policies enforce automatic encryption, where others allow users to encrypt on demand. We are currently using Zix's cloud hosted offering, but we had a Zix server in-house for years.
- Policies are set to manage the encryption, so it is mostly hands off. You can set them and forget them.
- Zix has great support. If you need to understand why something was or was not encrypted, they can assist.
- The hosted dashboard gives you report options, so you can search the logs on your own. This gives you the ability to do your own research and see what is going on. You can also have reports emailed to you on a schedule.
- Zix to Zix emails (Zix customer to Zix customer) are automatically encrypted. Otherwise, recipients need to use the Zix web portal to receive the email.
- Currently, the hosted dashboard does not allow me to touch or manage the policies at all. When I migrated from onsite to hosted, they pulled in my existing policies and added them to the general policies. If I need anything adjusted, I can call support and they will adjust for me.
- Zix does not offer any other products other than encryption. I was hoping to have one vendor for spam and encryption, but was not willing to leave Zix for Proofpoint.
- Zix has given us more peace of mind when it comes to email security. We know that if the user forgets to send a message securely, that the built in policies should catch and encrypt the message anyway.
- Due to the nature of the product and our industry, the organization realizes the benefit Zix brings to the table and its necessity.
- Due to the nature of how Zix works and their wide customer base, adoption has been wonderful. Most messages are always encrypted so there is no fumbling with an encryption portal.
Zix was already in place when I got here. We have had the product for years. When I wanted to review the implementation, Zix told me I could migrate to their cloud offering for no extra charge. I prefer to have this type of service in the cloud due to maintenance. My issue used to be as follows: if we had an issue with Exchange, the mail would get spooled in Zix until the issue was resolved. Moving to the Zix cloud allows messages to be spooled in our SPAM/continuity provider, where we can take action on those messages until Exchange is back to normal.
Using Zix Email Encryption (ZixEncrypt)
500 - As a hospital, we have staff from all aspects of a business. We have users from the business department, finance department, Information technology, administration, as well as clinical staff.
2 - We have Anyone is capable of supporting Zix. The support Zix provides is great. If you are not an experienced mail admin, Zix will assist in the setup of the system. When a problem or issue arises, simply call support and they are there to help. Most organizations IT staff wear many hats. Zix support helps fill in the gaps where staff might not possess the all the skills yet.
- clinical staff sending emails containing phi to other providers, ensuring it is secured
- finance department staff sending confidential financial data to outside consultants, ensuring it is secured
- it staff sending credentials to users outside the organization, ensuring it is secured
- Zix Mobile - a better way to keep email secure on a mobile device
Evaluating Zix Email Encryption (ZixEncrypt) and Competitors
Not Sure
First, I would come up with the criteria to rate the vendors against. As an organization, we would need to have a checklist built of the features we would expect the product to be able to achieve. Once we had a checklist, I would come up with the top three vendors in the space, and evaluate them against one another. The top vendor to meet all the organizations needs would be the winner.
Zix Email Encryption (ZixEncrypt) Implementation
- Implemented in-house
Change management was minimal - We migrated from Zix on-site to Zix cloud. Change management was minimal. I needed to change my MX records to point to the new location in the cloud. Support was able to watch for traffic flow, and I needed to ensure that the mail was being allowed from the new location through the firewall. The changeover was fairly simple.
- Ensuring that the mail flow was accurate was an issue, going from Zix to Spam to us
Zix Email Encryption (ZixEncrypt) Support
Pros | Cons |
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Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Not Sure
Originally we had an onsite Zix appliance. Zix support was very helpful in determining a mail flow issue when I had decreased visibility. They helped me determine that my mail server was having issues that were causing mail to be rejected and spooled in Zix. Thanks to Zix, I did not lose that email. Once the server was fixed, Zix released the mail automatically and we were back in business.
Using Zix Email Encryption (ZixEncrypt)
Pros | Cons |
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Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Secure email is a snap with a pre-configured keyword added to the subject
- Reports are easy to generate through the system dashboard