Secured Email Enterprise v3.2
Product Rating
Features:
Ease of Use:
Performance:
Documentation:
Support:
Value for Money:
Overall Rating:
For: Integratable, simple shared secret email encryption
Against: Client deployment must be done by administrators, weak documentation, only one type of encryption
Verdict: A simple product for the user, but it requires real administrative effort to maintain and deploy.
Unlike many products of this type, it directly integrates into an email client such as Microsoft Outlook and gives the user a choice by providing a "send secure" button that is separate from the usual send button. This software also integrates directly with Microsoft Active Directory which makes user management seamless.
This product is fairly easy to use. Deployment is a little tricky as the server and master database both need to be setup from scratch on their own machine. We found that even with setup wizards, there were a few areas of ambiguity. Once the product is setup, it must be licensed by using the online licensing tool.
This tool is awkward to use at first. However, after working with the product for a while we found using the server side became easier. The client side is fairly simple as well. Once a user has been assigned a license, they can install the client and it integrates itself with Outlook.
We found this product to be average in the way of performance. While the concept of integration is excellent, there are problems. First, this product uses only a pre-shared secret as the basis of encryption/decryption. Second, the client is in the form of an executable that requires an administrator to install. When in a Windows domain, this means an extra administration burden. Third, when an email is received, the receiver needs to also install the client, which could provide the same problem as on the sender side.
Documentation for this product comes in the form of several PDF guides. These guides include an installation guide and manuals for both the admin tool and the client. These guides are both well organized and easy to read. However, there are some places of ambiguity, especially in the area of licensing.
Secured eMail offers phone and email support, as well as a small support area on the website.
At a price starting at $138 per user this product is not a very good value for the money. While it does integrate well with an existing environment, it has several shortfalls and only offers one type of encryption.