Post Office Protocol (POP) is an email retrieval standard protocol that allows users to access mailboxes and download messages to a local client computer from a remote mail server.

Importance for Managed Service Providers:

– Facilitating secure email access is an essential service.
– Requires correctly configuring POP settings on mail clients.
– Authenticating user credentials remotely.
– Must maintain POP servers with high availability.

Example:

An MSP would set up POP access for a manufacturing firm’s domain-joined PCs to seamlessly connect employees to corporate email hosted on secure cloud servers monitored and managed 24/7 by the outsourced IT partner.

Working of POP:

– Handshake with POP3 server for user authentication.
– Downloads email headers locally first.
– Fetches mail content in batches.
– Deletes copied mails from server by default.

For sectors relying heavily on email communications like education, legal and digital marketing, POP configuration, security and backups are critical for business continuity.