That was one of two that I recommended. The other is Exchange 2010 or Exchange 2010 with Microsoft Archiver Server. The Barracuda is a lot less expensive, but is very basic, not so well-thought-out. The Microsoft one would be integrated, much better querying, but far more expensive, and far and away more work to set up because it is so flexible. Because it is so flexible, it makes few assumptions, until you define the policies. For a big company it would be perfect. I advised this, but he still wants quotes on both because the Microsoft route provides the better long-range path for remote offices, which I also need to handle, but while he is small, it's even more expensive for that, and we don't know that VPN won't be adequate. While Barracuda is very basic, I did really beat them up and it does appear to be able to withstand the challenge of being compliant in this case. With Barracuda, the users will no doubt keep much of their old e-mails in archives for convenience sake. With Microsoft there would be no need to. Either way is not a big deal. IMO, he simply needs a compliant archiver to meet regulatory requirements, and for legal challenge.
You cannot auto-delete after the time specified by the statute of limitations. That applies to criminal cases, which is not the real threat. The real threat is the SEC LOVES fines. It can be $50,000 per occurrence.
It's 5 years after you no longer do any business with the client, which could be forever.
At this point in his business, I'm quite certain he will go with the Barracuda because he is growing, and he isn't that big yet. My advice was that he would be better off preserving capital now, and buying twice if necessary, than jeopardize growth. This business is also hooked to the stock market. In fact, except for a couple customers that actually make more money in times like these, my clients have their hatches battened down. They don't want to expand, but some have had to because so many of their competitors have gone out of business. In our conversations, they say it would be unwise to make any decisions that require commitment until the outcome of the next election is known, or is a virtual certainty. In the mean time, they are only buying what is necessary to "float the boat". Most could close their doors and live in grand style forever. They are in business because they like what they do. For the manufacturers, they say the outcome of the next election determines what the equation will be between people, automation, and determines if and where they invest. One took ME to dinner last Tuesday, instead of the other way around, and said, "If they think they are going to hit me for 40% on income, I'm going to prove to them that capital is liquid, and can be moved."
The core of my business is consulting and my own commercial web interests. The web hosting customers are consulting customers who don't want to deal with it. The way all of this impacts us is we spend more time maintaining IT equipment that would normally have been replaced instead of selling and installing capital equipment. Asset depreciation is real.
