A recent report from Burton Group, "Instant Messaging:
It's Not Just Idle Chatter," has highlighted the necessity of
creating policies to govern the use of
instant messaging (IM) within a company.
Whether companies view IM as a worker productivity booster or a
security threat, many workers are using it with or without
permission on corporate networks.
In a recent report from Burton Group, "Instant Messaging: It's
Not Just Idle Chatter," current trends of IM communications in the
enterprise are highlighted: including the necessity of creating
policies to govern the use of IM within a company.
In addition, according to Burton Group analyst Diana Kelley,
enterprises that do not intend to implement instant messaging
should still create a policy that outlines the reasons for
disallowing the use of IM on the corporate network.
Equally important in creating policies regarding IM, companies
need to prepare the logistics of enforcing these policies --
whether that means utilising network analytics tools, archiving, or
using IT staff to patrol the network for violations.
"It is important to understand what an enterprise wants their
specific approach to instant messaging to be and to create a policy
that they will employ with IM use -- even if an enterprise chooses
not to utilise IM in the workplace," Kelley said.
Financial institutions -- early adopters in the field of IM
communications -- continue to lead the charge in employing best
practices of IM use in the workplace, including enforcement of
strong
usage policies.
Many other early adopters of the technology indicate that
presence is a major driver in implementation and continued use of
IM. For help desk facilities, CRM centers and many hospitals, IM
and presence allow staff to efficiently locate the correct and
available person for situations that require an immediate
response.
Because IM can return an immediate response and illustrate a
person's availability, many companies are convinced that it is a
business tool that can and does improve worker productivity. In
vertical fields such as hospitals, IM allows staff to immediately
find an available doctor or nurse whose specialisation is suited
for a specific emergency rather than wasting valuable time waiting
for returned calls or emails to determine whether a doctor is
available.
Yet deciding whether to use a public or private IM service is an
issue that continues to delay deployment in some cases. Issues of
security, archiving and management control must be considered when
making the choice between enterprise instant messaging (EIM), such
as IBM's Sametime, and public IM services, such as AOL Instant
Messaging and MSN Messenger.
The Burton Group report indicates that security issues are
complicated and require enterprises to give consideration to how
much control is necessary for the security of their business.
"When using a public instant messaging service," Kelley said,
"use of security gateways and reflection of conversations between
internal users can help to diminish the amount of internal
conversations making it onto the external network and into a public
IM's server archives, though these measures are not 100%
certain."
Instant messaging in the corporate environment will continue to
expand as the incoming workforce settles in. Many new employees are
dependent on the use of IM to finish projects. Also, these workers
are often more comfortable using IM instead of email to stay in
contact with project members and fellow workers. Many enterprises
will have to rethink the use of IM in the workplace as these
workers begin to make their mark on the business or industry.
Kelley reiterated that enterprises need to be mindful that IM is
now in the enterprise and is an important part of the way many
employees work -- and that people are using it for more than just
making lunch plans.