A few days back, Dennis discussed the need for Just One Version of the Truth – the need for sanity in knowing where the facts that matter are stored, reliably, always, definitively.

Along that same vein, here’s another culprit: email.  Information stored in an email system is a disaster waiting to happen, a virtual sword of Damocles: how often does something slip and you later find the email that was supposed to alert you to the hazardous material recall–with the “obvious” subject sorry I missed you at lunch?   How long have you spent searching through emails knowing one of the replies to a reply by somebody had the piece of information you need?

Email has clearly been asked to do more than that for which it was designed.  Check out articles like The Death of Email by 2018 for additional perspective (even though, years after 2018, email is still widely being used).

Sure, email is great, and will be around for years yet.  After all, fax machines remained in offices way past their heyday.  Fax machines used to be a critical centerpiece in every office, but now?  Similarly, someday email will fade out of its current role. Email should only be a way to transmit and deliver; the storage and organization of that information has to be left to a collaborative system, capable of providing intelligence, structure and retrieval to all interested parties.  A system like the Spitfire Project Management System uses email (and other means) to flow documents and notifications in, out, and back into the system–always keeping the authoritative, single version of the truth ready when and wherever you need it!

Is email alone getting the job done for you?