A few weeks ago, Gartner recognized companies that are doing well by publishing a report called "Magic Quadrant For E-Mail Security Boundaries." In that report, Gartner gave Google high marks. Google took the time to issue a press release and pat itself on the back.This type of press release cracks me up. A magazine, online publication, or group of analysts convenes and makes some determinations about how the companies in their given field of expertise perform. In other words, they churn out awards, or "best of..." articles, or develop a "magic quadrant", as Gartner has seen fit to do.

In its latest report, Gartner placed Google in the "Leaders Quadrant" of its imagined geometrical shape. Google is very happy to report that Gartner defines Quadrant leaders as "performing well today, have a clear vision of market direction, and are actively building competencies to sustain their leadership position in the market. [They also] offer a comprehensive and proficient range of e-mail security functionality, and show evidence of superior vision and execution for current and anticipated customer requirements."

That's quite a mouthful.

Google is pleased by this recognition. Despite that its privacy policies of other products have been an issue for the company in the past, e-mail is one thing Google says it does well. Google writes, "Since the integration of the Postini e-mail security product line in 2007 into Google's Enterprise Apps, Google has continued to innovate these products with functionality for our customers, including a new early detection quarantine that uses our own heuristics to detect new virus strains before virus signatures are available. We have also added new content filter types, policy prioritization for messages that trigger more than one policy, and new policy engine interface features."

Google forgets to mention that Gmail's security features must be manually turned on. Sign-in is always done securely, but if you always want to have secure e-mail, you have to go into your account settings and flip the switch. For Google to truly have a "superior vision," it should make all e-mail totally secure from the get-go. Instead of forcing people to opt in, the default setting should provide the most secure e-mail that Google is capable of providing. If there are users who don't want secure e-mail, fine, let them opt out.

That's not to say I am unhappy with Gmail. On the contrary, it does everything that I need an e-mail program to do. And for that, I thank Google.