Over a decade ago I developed, for our small (small enough to not have any IT dept or IT management) office a bespoke extension for Outlook (yes, bad idea, I know) which translated all incoming emails and attachments into the standard file system, decanted into project folders.
It was triggered upon any opening of an Unread email, and required the user to pick a project from a list, and hit OK. Cancelling was an option (for personal emails).
There was a config tab for the admin to define the filename string, by arranging elements like date/time/to/from/subject/.., and any attachments were also placed as files.
A very imperfect approach, but under the circumstances it was a vast improvement over the prior mess of individual mailboxes bestrewn with all manner of project correspondence and files, which made intricate queries about past doings into frustrating spaghettified detanglements.
And ultimately - perhaps like a good deal of IT - at heart was uninformed management, and the reality of ordinary users with little notion of information management.
Over a decade ago I developed, for our small (small enough to not have any IT dept or IT management) office a bespoke extension for Outlook (yes, bad idea, I know) which translated all incoming emails and attachments into the standard file system, decanted into project folders.
It was triggered upon any opening of an Unread email, and required the user to pick a project from a list, and hit OK. Cancelling was an option (for personal emails).
There was a config tab for the admin to define the filename string, by arranging elements like date/time/to/from/subject/.., and any attachments were also placed as files.
A very imperfect approach, but under the circumstances it was a vast improvement over the prior mess of individual mailboxes bestrewn with all manner of project correspondence and files, which made intricate queries about past doings into frustrating spaghettified detanglements.
And ultimately - perhaps like a good deal of IT - at heart was uninformed management, and the reality of ordinary users with little notion of information management.