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> Business Unit Setup Pros and Cons of Using Zahara’s Inbuilt Email Service vs. Your Own SMTP

Pros and Cons of Using Zahara’s Inbuilt Email Service vs. Your Own SMTP

When deciding between Zahara’s inbuilt email service and an externally provided email service such as Office365 or Gmail for your approval and send to supplier workflow steps, it’s essential to consider the advantages and limitations of each option. Below is a balanced overview to help you make an informed decision.

Advantages of Zahara's Inbuilt Email Service

  1. Ease of Setup: The inbuilt email service requires minimal configuration, making it quick and straightforward to set up, reducing the likelihood of configuration errors.
  2. Reliability: With a high trust score of 98%, Zahara’s inbuilt service ensures dependable email delivery, minimising issues and maintaining consistent performance.
  3. Comprehensive Auditing and Logging: Email activity is fully audited and logged within Zahara, providing detailed traceability and simplifying issue resolution.
  4. Dedicated Support: Any challenges related to the inbuilt service are fully supported by Zahara’s team, ensuring prompt resolution without reliance on your own IT resources.
  5. Efficient Reply Handling: You can specify a custom return address (e.g., purchasing@yourcompany.com), ensuring that all replies are directed to a monitored email address, eliminating the risk of losing responses in an unmanned inbox.

Limitations of Zahara's Inbuilt Email Service

  1. Lack of Sent Items Integration: Emails sent via Zahara’s inbuilt service will not appear in your organisation’s mailbox Sent Items, which may impact internal record-keeping or auditing processes.

Advantages of Using You Own SMTP

  1. Sent Items Synchronisation: Emails sent through your own SMTP are automatically stored in your organisation’s Sent Items folder, ensuring a comprehensive record of all outgoing communications.
  2. IT Oversight and Control: Your IT team retains full control over email flow, enabling them to monitor, troubleshoot, and enforce organisation-specific security policies (within reasons).

Limitations of Using Office365 SMTP

  1. Increased Complexity and IT Dependency: Configuration and troubleshooting of your own SMTP require IT intervention, particularly for issues like authentication errors, port settings, or two-factor authentication (2FA). This can increase the workload for the IT team.
  2. Higher Risk of Configuration Errors: External SMTP setups are more prone to errors, such as incorrect port or SSL settings, or missing app passwords. These issues can lead to intermittent email failures and delays in resolution.
  3. Limited Zahara Auditing: Emails sent through your own SMTP do not benefit from Zahara’s detailed internal logging, making it harder to track and resolve email-related issues directly within Zahara.

Conclusion

Choosing between Zahara’s inbuilt email service and Office365 SMTP depends on your organisation’s priorities. If ease of setup, reliability, and full integration with Zahara’s logging and support are critical, the inbuilt service is an excellent choice. Conversely, if maintaining a centralised Sent Items history and ensuring IT control are paramount, your own SMTP may be a better fit.

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