Monday, February 1, 2010

POP3 vs. IMAP




Both POP3 and IMAP are email protocols that are used in every email transmission in the world. POP3 is the traditional method that has served us well for years, and IMAP is the young pretender, younger, faster better. Which is the best for business?

POP3 is still the most popular protocol because it is established and reliable. It does have inherent flaws though, and that is what it driving development and improvement. Many organizations have millions of emails transmitted every year. With the advent of email compliance, it is now not enough to just process the email and send it to an inbox. They now have to be easily processed, sorted, indexed, delivered, archived and retrieved if necessary.

IMAP is the new kid on the block and is rapidly catching up with POP3 in popularity. Many small to medium businesses use email hosting as a solution because they aren’t big enough, or use email enough to warrant their own mail server. The difference between the two protocols directly affects those businesses.

The biggest difference between the two protocols is how they handle delivered email. POP3 receives the mail from the SMTP server and downloads it to the clients inbox. The mail is then deleted from the server. This means the only intact copy is in the clients inbox. IMAP, among other things keeps a copy of the mail on the server which allows for storage, journaling and a whole host of other features.

In an email hosting environment IMAP allows a client to access their emails from anywhere in the world if they can access the web server. They can also access them from different email clients, a browser or cell phone with the correct software and infrastructure. This allows a lot of freedom, especially for staff who are on the move or out on the road.

In a real life example, say that employee A receives a technical query from a customer in a different time zone. A answers and waits for a reply but doesn’t get one until after they leave for the day. Employee B works late shift, picks up the email trail and can continue to support the customer. All because they can pick up where A left off.

IMAP made that possible because it kept a copy of the email on the server for other employees to see if given the right permissions. POP3 would have downloaded it do employee A’s machine and they would have had to copy everyone else in or handed it over.

In an email hosting environment, POP3 email cannot be backed up, because it is downloaded to the client. Using IMAP allows either the client or the web host to perform regular backups to preserve email data in case of emergency or an E-discovery request.

So while POP3 has served us faithfully for many years, it is time for IMAP to take over the mantle and continue the good work.