What’s the advantage of on-premise logs?

On-premise logging keeps all email transaction records on your own infrastructure. This provides advantages over relying solely on ESP-hosted logs.

Complete data access:

Every field, every transaction, unlimited queries

No API rate limits or access restrictions

Raw SMTP transcripts if needed

Data in formats you control

Custom retention:

Keep logs as long as you need (ESPs often have limits)

Compliance requirements met your way

Historical analysis without data expiration concerns

Integration flexibility:

Feed into your own analytics systems

Correlate with application logs, CRM data, other systems

Custom alerting and monitoring

Whatever analysis tools you prefer

Independence:

Not affected by ESP policy changes

Data survives ESP migration

No vendor access to your detailed logs

Compliance and security:

Data stays in your security perimeter

Full audit trail under your control

Meet data residency requirements

Implement your own access controls

Tradeoffs:

Storage costs and management

Need infrastructure for log processing

Must build your own analysis tools or integrate commercial ones

Responsibility for retention, backup, security