Re: OT: Email distribution services

[William Rentfrow]

Joe -

There are a LOT of self-hosted auto-responders out there.  The advantage to 
these (especially when sending internally) is that you're using an internal 
mailbox to send, so you won't get flagged as Spam.

Also, the comment below makes sense.  Our main customers have email 
distribution lists that range from small teams to the entire enterprise and 
they all have a full SMTP address.  We just use that for the notification.

B.

From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) 
[mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Grooms, Frederick W
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2013 9:35 AM
To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG
Subject: Re: OT: Email distribution services

**
Since you probably have an email server in house already, are these lists of 
users already defined in groups in there?   If so then you just need to 
reference the email addresses of these groups.

Fred

From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) 
[mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Joe Castleman
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2013 9:27 AM
To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG
Subject: Re: OT: Email distribution services

**
Thanks for the responses.  There are various reasons why mgmt doesn't want to 
handle this in-house, although I am fairly certain that's what we'll end up 
doing (along the lines of what Ken suggested).  I need to present the options, 
though, so thanks David for the Mailgun recommendation, and to Steve for the 
caveats.

Joe


-Original Message-
On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 5:52 PM, Steve Kallestad  wrote:
** I've been down that rabbit hole and the potential problems are an enormous 
headache.

The problem with using a commercial service to handle your mailing list is that 
you're very dependent on not only their infrastructure, but their reputation as 
well.

All it takes is one of their *other* customers to end up on a spammer list for 
your messages to have problems with delivery.  Not to mention your own 
messaging setup could trigger auto-flagging of that company as a spammer.

If you can avoid it, you're better off handling things internally with whatever 
infrastructure you have in place.  Otherwise you run the danger of learning way 
more about email delivery than anybody should ever really know.

If you have to go external, choose a service that will leverage your own 
companies hostnames for delivery.  
(autonotifications.yourcompany.com<http://autonotifications.yourcompany.com> 
rather than mail.biglistprovider.com<http://mail.biglistprovider.com>) so that 
when you do end up having users with flagged messages you can whitelist without 
having to whitelist a plethora of other companies at the same time.

And if you do that, you want to make sure you use SPF/DomainKeys/DKIM/SenderID 
again to ensure that your whitelisting is valid.

It really is a simple thing that you want.  Unfortunately, spammers have really 
mucked things up for the rest of us.

Sorry - I don't have a recommended provider.  I just had to throw my 2 cents in.

Steve

-Original Message-
On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 2:23 PM, Joe Castleman  wrote:
**
Howdy,

I flagged this as off-topic since it really isn't a Remedy question per se, 
though it does involve a Remedy system.

We need to send different kinds of notifications from ARS to various 
distribution lists.  We would rather not build up these lists within ARS 
(mainly because many of the recipients don't have Remedy access; also so I 
won't have to be the one maintaining the distribution groups; and finally so 
ARS would only have to send one message to 1-5 recipients instead of 487).  So 
we were thinking about setting up a separate server running Mailman, Listserv 
or similar, and maintain the distribution lists on that platform.

However, management said, "why worry ourselves with more infrastructure?" and 
suggested looking into a commercial distribution service.  For example, when 
Pottery Barn/Gap/whatever sends out a weekly marketing email, at the end of the 
email it says "Powered by MegaSpammer" or some such.  Trouble is, these seem 
tailored to sending out feature-laden emails (as opposed to the plain text we 
need to send out), and to one particular distribution list.

So, I'm back to looking for something like Mailman or Listserv, but paying 
someone else to take care of it (all we'd have to do is configure our mailing 
lists and send our messages).  Can anyone recommend something like this?  
(Alternately we're thinking of getting a virtual server on the cloud somewhere 
like AWS, then installing Mailman on it, but then we'd still be on the hook for 
maintaining Mailman, and management prefers that we wouldn't even have to do 
that.)

I wouldn't be surprised if I've overlooked something really obvious, but so far 
all I'm finding are the "Powered by SpamRockets" with the fancy HTML templates 
etc.

Thanks,

I'm Joe Castleman


__

Re: OT: Email distribution services

[Joe Castleman]

Thanks for the responses.  There are various reasons why mgmt doesn't want
to handle this in-house, although I am fairly certain that's what we'll end
up doing (along the lines of what Ken suggested).  I need to present the
options, though, so thanks David for the Mailgun recommendation, and to
Steve for the caveats.

Joe


On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 5:52 PM, Steve Kallestad  wrote:

> ** I've been down that rabbit hole and the potential problems are an
> enormous headache.
>
> The problem with using a commercial service to handle your mailing list is
> that you're very dependent on not only their infrastructure, but their
> reputation as well.
>
> All it takes is one of their *other* customers to end up on a spammer list
> for your messages to have problems with delivery.  Not to mention your own
> messaging setup could trigger auto-flagging of that company as a spammer.
>
> If you can avoid it, you're better off handling things internally with
> whatever infrastructure you have in place.  Otherwise you run the danger of
> learning way more about email delivery than anybody should ever really know.
>
> If you have to go external, choose a service that will leverage your own
> companies hostnames for delivery.  (autonotifications.yourcompany.comrather 
> than
> mail.biglistprovider.com) so that when you do end up having users with
> flagged messages you can whitelist without having to whitelist a plethora
> of other companies at the same time.
>
> And if you do that, you want to make sure you use
> SPF/DomainKeys/DKIM/SenderID again to ensure that your whitelisting is
> valid.
>
> It really is a simple thing that you want.  Unfortunately, spammers have
> really mucked things up for the rest of us.
>
> Sorry - I don't have a recommended provider.  I just had to throw my 2
> cents in.
>
> Steve
>
> On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 2:23 PM, Joe Castleman wrote:
>
>> **
>> Howdy,
>>
>> I flagged this as off-topic since it really isn't a Remedy question per
>> se, though it does involve a Remedy system.
>>
>> We need to send different kinds of notifications from ARS to various
>> distribution lists.  We would rather not build up these lists within ARS
>> (mainly because many of the recipients don't have Remedy access; also so I
>> won't have to be the one maintaining the distribution groups; and finally
>> so ARS would only have to send one message to 1-5 recipients instead of
>> 487).  So we were thinking about setting up a separate server running
>> Mailman, Listserv or similar, and maintain the distribution lists on that
>> platform.
>>
>> However, management said, "why worry ourselves with more infrastructure?"
>> and suggested looking into a commercial distribution service.  For example,
>> when Pottery Barn/Gap/whatever sends out a weekly marketing email, at the
>> end of the email it says "Powered by MegaSpammer" or some such.  Trouble
>> is, these seem tailored to sending out feature-laden emails (as opposed to
>> the plain text we need to send out), and to one particular distribution
>> list.
>>
>> So, I'm back to looking for something like Mailman or Listserv, but
>> paying someone else to take care of it (all we'd have to do is configure
>> our mailing lists and send our messages).  Can anyone recommend something
>> like this?  (Alternately we're thinking of getting a virtual server on the
>> cloud somewhere like AWS, then installing Mailman on it, but then we'd
>> still be on the hook for maintaining Mailman, and management prefers that
>> we wouldn't even have to do that.)
>>
>> I wouldn't be surprised if I've overlooked something really obvious, but
>> so far all I'm finding are the "Powered by SpamRockets" with the fancy HTML
>> templates etc.
>>
>>  Thanks,
>>
>> I'm Joe Castleman
>> _ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" and have been for 20 years_
>>
>
> _ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" and have been for 20 years_
>

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Re: OT: Email distribution services

[Steve Kallestad]

I've been down that rabbit hole and the potential problems are an enormous
headache.

The problem with using a commercial service to handle your mailing list is
that you're very dependent on not only their infrastructure, but their
reputation as well.

All it takes is one of their *other* customers to end up on a spammer list
for your messages to have problems with delivery.  Not to mention your own
messaging setup could trigger auto-flagging of that company as a spammer.

If you can avoid it, you're better off handling things internally with
whatever infrastructure you have in place.  Otherwise you run the danger of
learning way more about email delivery than anybody should ever really know.

If you have to go external, choose a service that will leverage your own
companies hostnames for delivery.
(autonotifications.yourcompany.comrather than
mail.biglistprovider.com) so that when you do end up having users with
flagged messages you can whitelist without having to whitelist a plethora
of other companies at the same time.

And if you do that, you want to make sure you use
SPF/DomainKeys/DKIM/SenderID again to ensure that your whitelisting is
valid.

It really is a simple thing that you want.  Unfortunately, spammers have
really mucked things up for the rest of us.

Sorry - I don't have a recommended provider.  I just had to throw my 2
cents in.

Steve

On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 2:23 PM, Joe Castleman wrote:

> **
> Howdy,
>
> I flagged this as off-topic since it really isn't a Remedy question per
> se, though it does involve a Remedy system.
>
> We need to send different kinds of notifications from ARS to various
> distribution lists.  We would rather not build up these lists within ARS
> (mainly because many of the recipients don't have Remedy access; also so I
> won't have to be the one maintaining the distribution groups; and finally
> so ARS would only have to send one message to 1-5 recipients instead of
> 487).  So we were thinking about setting up a separate server running
> Mailman, Listserv or similar, and maintain the distribution lists on that
> platform.
>
> However, management said, "why worry ourselves with more infrastructure?"
> and suggested looking into a commercial distribution service.  For example,
> when Pottery Barn/Gap/whatever sends out a weekly marketing email, at the
> end of the email it says "Powered by MegaSpammer" or some such.  Trouble
> is, these seem tailored to sending out feature-laden emails (as opposed to
> the plain text we need to send out), and to one particular distribution
> list.
>
> So, I'm back to looking for something like Mailman or Listserv, but paying
> someone else to take care of it (all we'd have to do is configure our
> mailing lists and send our messages).  Can anyone recommend something like
> this?  (Alternately we're thinking of getting a virtual server on the cloud
> somewhere like AWS, then installing Mailman on it, but then we'd still be
> on the hook for maintaining Mailman, and management prefers that we
> wouldn't even have to do that.)
>
> I wouldn't be surprised if I've overlooked something really obvious, but
> so far all I'm finding are the "Powered by SpamRockets" with the fancy HTML
> templates etc.
>
> Thanks,
>
> I'm Joe Castleman
> _ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" and have been for 20 years_

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Re: Email distribution services

[Cecil, Ken]

We set up distribution lists on our corporate email system then just set Remedy 
to email the notification to the smtp address of the distribution list.

Example:   
dl-sap-ugrent-issue-not...@company.com<mailto:dl-sap-ugrent-issue-not...@company.com>

The members of the dl for our notifications are managed by the Service Desk.



Ken.

From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) 
[mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Joe Castleman
Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2013 5:24 PM
To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG
Subject: OT: Email distribution services

**
Howdy,

I flagged this as off-topic since it really isn't a Remedy question per se, 
though it does involve a Remedy system.

We need to send different kinds of notifications from ARS to various 
distribution lists.  We would rather not build up these lists within ARS 
(mainly because many of the recipients don't have Remedy access; also so I 
won't have to be the one maintaining the distribution groups; and finally so 
ARS would only have to send one message to 1-5 recipients instead of 487).  So 
we were thinking about setting up a separate server running Mailman, Listserv 
or similar, and maintain the distribution lists on that platform.

However, management said, "why worry ourselves with more infrastructure?" and 
suggested looking into a commercial distribution service.  For example, when 
Pottery Barn/Gap/whatever sends out a weekly marketing email, at the end of the 
email it says "Powered by MegaSpammer" or some such.  Trouble is, these seem 
tailored to sending out feature-laden emails (as opposed to the plain text we 
need to send out), and to one particular distribution list.

So, I'm back to looking for something like Mailman or Listserv, but paying 
someone else to take care of it (all we'd have to do is configure our mailing 
lists and send our messages).  Can anyone recommend something like this?  
(Alternately we're thinking of getting a virtual server on the cloud somewhere 
like AWS, then installing Mailman on it, but then we'd still be on the hook for 
maintaining Mailman, and management prefers that we wouldn't even have to do 
that.)

I wouldn't be surprised if I've overlooked something really obvious, but so far 
all I'm finding are the "Powered by SpamRockets" with the fancy HTML templates 
etc.

Thanks,

I'm Joe Castleman
_ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" and have been for 20 years_



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Re: OT: Email distribution services

[David Ferguson]

Take a look at mailgun.net and their concept of mailing lists.  It's an
enterprise quality service, affordable, and easy to setup/use.

thanks,

David

On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 5:23 PM, Joe Castleman wrote:

> **
> Howdy,
>
> I flagged this as off-topic since it really isn't a Remedy question per
> se, though it does involve a Remedy system.
>
> We need to send different kinds of notifications from ARS to various
> distribution lists.  We would rather not build up these lists within ARS
> (mainly because many of the recipients don't have Remedy access; also so I
> won't have to be the one maintaining the distribution groups; and finally
> so ARS would only have to send one message to 1-5 recipients instead of
> 487).  So we were thinking about setting up a separate server running
> Mailman, Listserv or similar, and maintain the distribution lists on that
> platform.
>
> However, management said, "why worry ourselves with more infrastructure?"
> and suggested looking into a commercial distribution service.  For example,
> when Pottery Barn/Gap/whatever sends out a weekly marketing email, at the
> end of the email it says "Powered by MegaSpammer" or some such.  Trouble
> is, these seem tailored to sending out feature-laden emails (as opposed to
> the plain text we need to send out), and to one particular distribution
> list.
>
> So, I'm back to looking for something like Mailman or Listserv, but paying
> someone else to take care of it (all we'd have to do is configure our
> mailing lists and send our messages).  Can anyone recommend something like
> this?  (Alternately we're thinking of getting a virtual server on the cloud
> somewhere like AWS, then installing Mailman on it, but then we'd still be
> on the hook for maintaining Mailman, and management prefers that we
> wouldn't even have to do that.)
>
> I wouldn't be surprised if I've overlooked something really obvious, but
> so far all I'm finding are the "Powered by SpamRockets" with the fancy HTML
> templates etc.
>
>  Thanks,
>
> I'm Joe Castleman
> _ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" and have been for 20 years_




-- 


  *David A. Ferguson
*Yurbi® - Bring Your Data to Life *
*
Work: 571-354-0515
Fax: 702-974-2704
Email: david.fergu...@5kfish.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davferg
http://www.twitter.com/davferg5000

5000fish, Inc. 
2850 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway
Suite 200
Henderson, NV 89052



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OT: Email distribution services

[Joe Castleman]

Howdy,

I flagged this as off-topic since it really isn't a Remedy question per se,
though it does involve a Remedy system.

We need to send different kinds of notifications from ARS to various
distribution lists.  We would rather not build up these lists within ARS
(mainly because many of the recipients don't have Remedy access; also so I
won't have to be the one maintaining the distribution groups; and finally
so ARS would only have to send one message to 1-5 recipients instead of
487).  So we were thinking about setting up a separate server running
Mailman, Listserv or similar, and maintain the distribution lists on that
platform.

However, management said, "why worry ourselves with more infrastructure?"
and suggested looking into a commercial distribution service.  For example,
when Pottery Barn/Gap/whatever sends out a weekly marketing email, at the
end of the email it says "Powered by MegaSpammer" or some such.  Trouble
is, these seem tailored to sending out feature-laden emails (as opposed to
the plain text we need to send out), and to one particular distribution
list.

So, I'm back to looking for something like Mailman or Listserv, but paying
someone else to take care of it (all we'd have to do is configure our
mailing lists and send our messages).  Can anyone recommend something like
this?  (Alternately we're thinking of getting a virtual server on the cloud
somewhere like AWS, then installing Mailman on it, but then we'd still be
on the hook for maintaining Mailman, and management prefers that we
wouldn't even have to do that.)

I wouldn't be surprised if I've overlooked something really obvious, but so
far all I'm finding are the "Powered by SpamRockets" with the fancy HTML
templates etc.

Thanks,

I'm Joe Castleman

___
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