Apps Documentation & Support
In October of 2007, Google first offered Postini Message Security free of charge to eligible Google Apps customers. Since then, Postini has addressed the email management needs for many customers. In January 2012, Google began releasing new versions of Postini's most important features natively in Google Apps. We are confident that these features are more powerful and easier to use than their Postini counterparts, and that they will dramatically simplify email management with Google Apps.
With the release of these native features, Postini GMS is no longer bundled with Google Apps for new customers, and existing Google Apps customers using Postini have been asked to consolidate their email management controls onto the native feature in Google Apps.
With this transition, we are asking Google Apps customers using the Integrated version of Postini GMS to consolidate their settings on the new native features and remove Postini from their mail flow. The Integrated version of Postini GMS is accessed from the Google Admin console and automatically synchronizes users across both systems.
At a later date, we will begin the transition process for customers who are using the Hybrid and Classic versions of GMS. For more information, see The Postini services transition to Google Apps.
Frequently Asked Questions
For answers to technical questions during or after your transition, please see the Technical FAQs in the Transition Guide.
Where can I find step-by-step instructions and general technical guidelines for my transition?For step-by-step instructions and other guidelines, see the Postini Transition to Google Apps Email Security: Administration Guide in the Help Center.
For step-by-step instructions and guidelines on changing your MX records, see Change MX in the transition guide.
It's important that you promptly change your MX records to Google Apps, because by delaying this important step you may experience degraded spam filtering and the unnecessary routing of your mail through Postini before it reaches Google. You will experience the best results -- for both your users and administrators -- after you change your MX records to Google Apps.
Note: Once you have changed your MX records and completed your transition, the passthrough setting will no longer have any effect on your mail flow; and there is no need to make any more changes or clean up your settings in the Postini Admin Console.
There are six basic types of Postini customer:
Google Apps Customers
Postini GMS Integrated - These message security customers purchased Postini bundled with Google Apps. They can access both Postini and the Google Admin console with one login, and users are automatically synchronized between the two systems.
Postini GMD Integrated - These message discovery (archiving) customers initially activated Postini as GMS Integrated customers, and then added archiving on top of GMS.
Postini GMS Hybrid - These Google Apps customers had GMS provisioned, at no extra cost, along with their Apps purchase. They can route to on-premise mail servers and are required to manage their own users. They access Postini and the Google Admin console with separate logins.
Postini GMD Hybrid - These Google Apps customers bought Postini message discovery (archiving) separately from Google Apps. They access Postini and the Google Admin console with separate logins.
Non-Apps Customers
Postini GMS Classic - These are non-Google Apps customers who purchased Postini message security for on-premise mail servers.
Postini GMD Classic - These are non-Google Apps customers who purchased Postini message discovery (archiving) for on-premise mail servers.
By rebuilding Postini features into Google Apps, we are providing a more unified, flexible, and robust experience for administrators, as well as a simpler and improved experience for end users. Google Apps provides a more powerful set of filtering rules, localization, and easy upgrades to other services in the cloud.
To learn about the latest new features as they are released, see Configure email settings for an organizational unit.
Administrators at your company are notified about your transition in advance. Please make sure your contact information is up-to-date if you want to receive follow-up emails.
The changes described on this page only affect Postini Integrated customers. At a later date, we will begin the transition process for customers who are using the Hybrid and Classic versions of GMS. For more information, see The Postini services transition to Google Apps.
For a description and comparison of the different types of Postini customers, see the FAQ above: What type of Postini customer am I?
The changes described on this page only affect Postini Integrated customers. At a later date, we will begin the transition process for customers who are using the Hybrid and Classic versions of GMS. For more information, see The Postini services transition to Google Apps.
For a description and comparison of the different types of Postini customers, see the FAQ above: What type of Postini customer am I?
If your email is already flowing directly to Google Apps (i.e., your MX records point directly to Google Apps rather than to Postini), then no action is required on your part.
If you haven't done so already, it's time to change your MX records to Google Apps. See Change MX records in the Transition Guide.
The most visible change to an end user will be the loss of the Postini Quarantine Summary and Postini Message Center for spam management. Spam will now be managed by Gmail's spam settings and users will access their spam messages directly in their Spam folder in Gmail.
We expect the quality of the spam filtering experience to improve for Apps customers after bypassing Postini and flowing mail directly to Google. (If you haven't done so already, it's time to change your MX records to Google Apps. See Change MX records in the Transition Guide.) Gmail spam detection is amongst the best in the industry and has the benefit of being able to automatically learn a user's individual preferences when that user marks a message as spam or not spam. You should also see lower false positive rates, particularly for intra-domain mail, by changing your MX records and relying on Gmail for spam filtering.
When you reroute your MX records to flow directly to Google, you will automatically begin using Gmail's spam and virus protection instead of Postini's. Gmail's filters offer the following benefits:
- Integrated spam folder in the Gmail interface - Gmail learns about spam from user interaction, so you should encourage your users to mark messages as spam in the Gmail interface.
- Automatic blocking of all executables - As a security measure to prevent potential viruses, Gmail doesn't allow you to send or receive executable files (such as files ending in .exe) that could contain damaging executable code.
- Lower risk of false positives - By relying only on Gmail for spam filtering, you'll experience faster and streamlined intra-domain communication with lower risk of false positives.
Gmail does not provide spam sensitivity controls; however, spam filtering with Gmail is a learning and interactive system that is simpler for users, and after tuning it yields better results. By marking messages as spam in Gmail -- and by removing other messages from the spam folder -- users provide specific information to our filters about their mail preferences, and we customize the filters accordingly.
All Gmail users receive an equal level of spam and virus protection. The personalized aggressiveness filters used in Postini were developed early in Postini's history when the spam landscape was much different than today, and when Postini's algorithms were much more primitive. While it may appear that these settings give greater customization to individual users, Gmail spam filtering actually provides an improved level of customization.
Quarantine Summary reports will no longer be available. Users can now access and review all messages that were classified as spam at any time by simply opening their Spam label located inside their Gmail web client in the left navigation menu. If the user decides the message is not spam, they can select the message and click the Not spam button. The message is then instantly moved to their Gmail Inbox.
The link to the Postini Administration Console has been removed from the Google Admin console for GMS Integrated customers.
To access the Postini Administration Console and the Transition tab:
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Sign in to the Google Admin console.
- On the dashboard, scroll down to the Your Google apps section, and click Postini Services console.
- Click System Administration to open the Postini Administration Console.
The Transition tab is located near the upper-right corner of the window.
