Instant Messaging: Going CorporateInstant Messaging: Going Corporate

Not having a handle on the information that flows into and out of the company is a frightening situation for any IT manager. But that's the challenge presented to IT departments when employees download consumer-grade instant-messaging applications and share corporate information with internal and external sources.

Unlike corporate E-mail, which is password-protected and archived, administered, and managed by a company's IT department, consumer IM apps reside on the user's hard drive and are not safeguarded by a corporate firewall. IT managers can't screen or monitor the information that's being transmitted. Some companies don't want to expend internal technical support resources to troubleshoot IM problems, such as the application's interference with another app's performance.

The drawbacks to using consumer IM applications in the workplace can give IT managers and staffers a real headache, but users have discovered the benefits of detecting when someone is online and communicating with that person instantly. IM is changing the way people work and communicate. Navi Radjou, a senior analyst with Forrester Research who advises financial-services clients about using instant messaging, says brokerages and insurance firms are willing to spend the time and money to find IM apps that reduce security risks. "The benefits of IM as a corporate communications tool are mind boggling," he says. "It improves performance and efficiency and helps multiple parties to communicate in real time."

That workflow change isn't lost on software developers. IM is influencing instant-messaging vendors to develop applications that specifically address the needs of corporate users.

IM In Pinstripes
Corporate Yahoo, which develops Internet portals for 26 major corporations, is developing a "business messenger," which will include some features from Yahoo Messenger. However, the application will also address corporate security concerns, says Jeff Pedigo, chief product strategist for corporate Yahoo. "Corporations have requirements for IM that we don't provide on our consumer messenger," he says, such as "data security and the ability to synch your IM directory with your corporate directory."

Although Yahoo's corporate IM is still in the development stages, Pedigo says it's considering both a server based messenger that companies could operate behind their firewall and a hosted service to include peer-to-peer message encryption.

This summer, Lotus introduced IM software for mobile business users. Sametime Everyplace 1.0 lets business users detect which "buddies" or colleagues are logged into the Lotus instant-messaging network, and allows them to exchange instant messages via wireless phones, PDAs, or other mobile devices.

But don't expect it to take off in a hurry. Lotus expects slow adoption of wireless IM software by corporations this year. That's because many companies haven't standardized on their wireless policies, says Jim Pouliopoulos, a marketing executive with Lotus Mobile Communications. He is optimistic, however, that employees will be persistent about getting their companies to support the mobile devices and IM applications of their choice. "In the next few years, we will see the model shift from employees bringing in devices, to enterprises saying to employees 'you can select from these phones and PDAs, and we'll integrate them with the infrastructure,'" Pouliopoulos says.

Realizing the importance of IM in the workplace, Microsoft, which has its own consumer messaging service, MSN Messenger, plans to incorporate IM into the upcoming version of its operating system Windows XP. If and when businesses upgrade to Windows XP, employees will immediately have access to an instant-messaging application; they won't need to download AIM or Yahoo Messenger. This Microsoft tactic is seen, by some, as a way to get around AOL's unwillingness to interoperate and to steal AOL's position as the IM market leader.

Toward IM Interoperability
Microsoft and Yahoo have been urging America Online--which has over 100 million IM subscribers--to foster interoperability, which until now has been a problem. Because AOL has used different messaging protocols, MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger subscribers haven't been able to communicate with AOL IM users. But America Online has been reluctant to open its network to other subscribers.

However, as a condition of AOL's January merger with media giant Time Warner, the Federal Communications Commission mandated that the company show efforts to open up its instant-messaging networks to competitors. AOL filed a report with the FCC in late July stating that it's testing the viability of creating a unified IM language. Such a language would permit subscribers of different IM services to chat across networks. AOL says it's technically very hard to develop a common language, and the fact that cross communication on IM networks is unprecedented makes it even more difficult to achieve.

But perhaps AOL can learn a thing or two about interoperability from some of the smaller instant-messaging vendors: For instance, FaceTime Communications offers software that allows call-center operators to communicate with customers using any of the major IM services. And there's Jabber Inc., which sells its IM system to Internet service providers who then sell the service to consumers.

Amica Mutual Insurance Company of Lincoln, R.I., which insures automobiles, recently began using instant messaging from FaceTime Communications on its Web site to do claims reporting and provide interactive customer service. Because FaceTime's software interoperates with AOL, MSN, and Yahoo consumer messenger services, customers of the insurance company can chat with customer service reps using their own personal IM screen name. Customer service reps can initiate a chat with another party instantly to expedite the customer's issue. Communicating with customers via instant messaging also allows the customer to reach out to customer service without having to go to a new page on the service provider's Web site.

With the millions of IM subscribers out there, advertisers and corporations are trying to find ways to market and sell to a virtually untapped market. A customer's screen name, the equivalent of an E-mail address, presents companies with a unique opportunity to market services and products to customers via IM. Mindset Interactive Inc., a software and marketing company, has developed a software application that lets advertisers send an instant message to consumers while they shop online. Consumers have to opt-in to receive pop-up promotional instant messages from advertisers working with Mindset. This opens up a new wave of security and privacy concerns--not just for IT departments, but for employees as well.

Whether through the back door or introduced as a new communications tool by a progressive IT manager, instant messaging is making its way onto corporate desktops as a quick and easy way for employees to share information internally. Instant-messaging vendors, aware of their unintentional entry into corporate environments, are trying to extend the functions of their popular consumer services to the enterprise by addressing security and file sharing issues.