Is there any point in running SSL and encryption for email?

Solution 1:

Using SSL lets the users talk to the mail server securely, so they don't, for example, compromise their password.

Encrypted email allows the message to be safe from prying eyes as it transits various mail servers on the way to its destination. It also makes it so that the owner of the recipient's mail server can't read the message.

So yes, both server their purposes.

Solution 2:

SSL protects the message and the protocols (e.g. the password used for auth) on the wire. SSL also protects against spoofing. I.e. makes sure that when you hink you are connected to mail.somedomain.com, you really are conected to mail.somedmomain.com. Encryption protects the message (but not the protocol) on the wire, as well as protecting the message on storage. E.g. in your mail box so someone with acess to your server or desktop can't read it without the key.

So they are complementary technologies, IMO