M86 MailMarshal SMTP

The MailMarshal SMTP gateway is a software-based solution that protects inbound and outbound email messages using common threat management and encryption capabilities. The software is typically installed on a Windows operating system (Windows 2003 for our tests) and uses MS SQL Server as its backend database. The solution operates in a gateway mode, supporting downstream MTA and SMTP architectures. 

Setup for MailMarshal was fairly easy and the presentation of the administration console is available either as a web interface or directly on the server itself as a client/server console. Overall, we felt the administrative interface options were average at best. There are several disparate component applications to use, such as the console, Configurator, server manager and synchronization tool. M86 would have done well to combine all the features into one interface as administrative tasks feels pieced together at times.

Overall the features provided are decent. There are some good fundamental aspects of native email security and content management, but more advanced and demanding organizations may have to piece together additional licenses and additional products outside of the native MailMarshal functionality. For example, email encryption is provided only at the gateway level using SMTP over TLS, so you will need to purchase additional modules for more granular message-based encryption. Additionally, anti-virus is not included, although MailMarshal does integrate with many popular scanners. Spambot protection for anti-spam is a nice touch, but for more robust protection, IP Reputation filtering is an additional license that is not part of the native bundle. The solution does have good administrative features, such as LDAP integration, reporting, monitoring, alerts and updates from the console itself. The content analysis features provide some nice pre-built dictionaries to capture data leakage as well. Policy creation and application is very straightforward. Out of the box however, it feels like the native solution is a bit lacking on its own legs and needs additional components to come together.  

Documentation for the software is adequate and the M86 website provides good support information for its customers, including online portals, documentation and other areas.

Basic support offers access to a customer knowledge base, but does not cover support or maintenance. Essential Care (eight hours a day/five days a week) and Premium Care (24/7) support levels are available and their fees are directly related to the number of users purchased.