Forrester TEI Study Quantifies Benefits of Mimecast

One of the glaring constants in business today is that organizations of all sizes, across all industries, and in all locations continue to face complex and uncertain cybersecurity landscape even after years of addressing the issue through security awareness training, advanced AI-based security solutions, and the combined efforts of the IT team, the C-suite, and the end-user to combat threats.

Recent research by Forrester indicates that 78% of surveyed security decision-makers estimated their organizations have experienced at least one breach in the past 12 months and over half of those organizations estimate the cost of their incident to have exceeded $1 million¹. In addition – no surprise – email is still employees’ most-used application and remains a major inroad for attackers.

Organizations Must Supplement Standard Email Security

Organizations using common cloud email infrastructure providers must turn to a layered approach with security solutions to protect the way they communicate and collaborate every day. In fact, the Forrester TEI study stated that: “Using an enterprise email security solution such as Mimecast in tandem with native email security infrastructure can offer greater efficacy and efficiencies than native-only email security alone while reducing concentration risk and increasing reliability.”² 

The Benefits of Mimecast

Mimecast commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realize by deploying Mimecast.  The purpose of this study is to provide readers with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of Mimecast on their organizations. This study found that Mimecast yielded an ROI of 255% and a net present value of $1.53 million over three years.

For the study, Forrester interviewed seven representatives from six organizations with experience using Mimecast then aggregated the interviewees’ experiences and combined the results into a single composite organization that is a global organization with 2,500 users.

As stated in the study, “Interviewees said that prior to using Mimecast, their organizations typically either used on-premises legacy solutions, other email security solutions, or simply native email security infrastructure. However, prior attempts yielded limited success, leaving them with challenges around email security efficacy, efficiency, and reliability.”

The study also found that following investment in Mimecast technology, the interviewees’ organizations benefitted from “increased security efficacy, improved efficiencies for IT and security teams as well as end-users, and overall business benefits from enhanced security.”

Three Quantified Benefits

Delving a bit into the details of the study, here are three quantified benefits that were identified as three-year, risk-adjusted present value for the composite organization:

• Strengthened security against malicious emails: Mimecast extended the efficacy of the composite organization’s native email platform and blocked 99% or more of inbound malicious and unwanted emails. Over three years, the strengthened security is worth $1,069,760 to the composite organization.
• Improved efficiency of security operations: The composite organization benefited from a 24% time savings addressing email-based attacks and 50% time savings on email platform management. Over three years, this productivity benefit is worth $336,826 to the composite organization.
• Improved efficiency of end-users: The composite organization’s end-users benefited from fewer unwanted and malicious emails in their inboxes, allowing them to use that time for more valuable tasks. Over three years, this productivity benefit is worth $726,671 to the composite organization.

The Bottom Line

Organizations cannot simply rely on the security that comes with their email provider’s products. They must supplement that security with advanced AI-based tools that deliver peace of mind and stop today’s advanced threats. Learn more about how you can build a business case for how Mimecast can benefit your organization by downloading the Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact™ of Mimecast study.

¹ Source: Top Cybersecurity Threats In 2024, Forrester Research, Inc., April 5, 2024.

² Source: The Total Economic Impact of Mimecast, Forrester Research, Inc., July 2024.