MIMEsweeper has been around for a long time. The appliance has a moderate level of features, and is available in four configurations up to a maximum of 3,000 users. This makes it applicable to small- and medium-sized organizations only.
We found documentation extremely weak. MIMEsweeper is provided with a very brief quick start guide, which contains the start-up instructions for the product. Other documentation is available online, but in order to access it one needs to register on the Clearswift website.
Set-up of the product is reasonably straightforward and is guided by the set-up wizard. However, once set-up is done, complete custom policies were difficult to configure. The web-based user interface is disorganized and awkward to use. A positive aspect is the availability of several predefined policies. For many smaller organizations, these policies may be all that is required.
MIMEsweeper deploys as a proxy and can integrate with a firewall. However, when integrated with the firewall, one or more ports in the firewall must be opened. The product observes all web traffic, internal and external, at the gateway. Profile, software and operating system updates are automatic. The product offers URL blocking, content filtering and spyware and anti-virus protection. This is, compared to other similar products of this class, a limited features set.
Support is available by contract only. Available options include: Standard Support and Plus Support. The primary difference between the two packages is availability. Standard Support is available during working hours only. Plus Support is available 24/7 year-round. Even the support website is available largely to Support plan subscribers. This is made clear on the Support website home page: "The majority of the Clearswift Support website is for current Support customers only."
The configuration for up to 250 users is priced at the high end of the pricing spectrum for this type of product. In addition to the high price, most users purchase a support plan. In consideration of MIMEsweeper’s limited feature set and documentation, the cost of ownership of the product is quite high.
