Printer Friendly Version

Not too long ago it seemed like instant messaging (IM) satisfied only the need to be social with others who were online at the same time you were. While it was a fun, cheap way to idle away time on the Internet, it didn't seem particularly relevant within the walls of the enterprise. Well, those times have changed as the popularity of instant messaging is booming and has become ubiquitous in even the most conservative of organizations.

Gartner predicted 90 percent of businesses would use instant messaging by 2004. What that means now that we're in 2005 is that IM is becoming a standard in the enterprise, with as many as 65 million workers using it. That number is expected to grow to 350 million by 2005.

Technically speaking, messaging falls within the category of groupware applications or those tools that help people work collectively together when they are located remotely. With all the other communication and groupware tools out there (e-mail, collaborative workspaces, voicemail, etc.) why do we need another one? Well, messaging offers one key feature the others do not. That biggest draw is the real-time nature of the messaging interaction and the ability to identify whether the person you need to connect with is currently online.

Instant messaging originated back in 1996 when a company by the name of Mirabilis introduced the first instant messaging program called ICQ. Similar to the more well-known AOL buddy list/instant messaging program, as well as generations of instant messaging programs to follow, ICQ allowed you to create a list of family, friends, and colleagues ("buddies") and then have the tool notify you when one of these people came online. You could then have a real-time chat one-on-one with one of your buddies.

The premise for instant messaging within the enterprise is similar. That is, having the ability to create a list of people you commonly work with ("buddies") so you could know when they are online and be able to chat with them real-time when needed. It is a fast and inexpensive way to communicate with people who are located elsewhere. Because you know whether they are online you save time and the inevitable lag of responses to e-mail or voicemail. However, the downside to the tool is that it can become yet another interruption and distraction to focusing on your work.

So you've decided to bring messaging to your groupware offerings, what do you need to consider and be concerned about? First and foremost, security comes to mind. Because you can send attachments within the messaging environment, all the normal challenges of security and virus protection apply. In fact, I knew instant messaging had really "arrived" last week when my company's instant messaging system was the victim of a virus attack that shut down the system (which services more than 50,000 users) for more than a day.

Some questions you will need to be able to answer as you evaluate and implement your instant messaging system are:

• What will instant messaging be used for?
• What level of control do you wish to have over your employee's messaging activities? Will activity be logged? Will you archive the logs?
• How will users be managed? Who will manage them?
• How will you manage security and compliance with applicable regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act?
• Will messaging integrate with your existing virus protection?
• What level of support staff will you need to manage the messaging technology and how easy will it be to administer and maintain?
• To what degree will it impact bandwidth and performance?

The other key decision that will impact all of the above is: who controls the messaging server? Currently there are several options for hosting a messaging server.

• Use a public messaging tool and allow employees to communicate over the Internet. (It goes without saying that the security implications with this choice are huge.)

• Contract with a third party to host your messaging server with access permitted only to users you specify.

• Host the messaging server within your organization as part of your existing communications server or on a dedicated instant messaging server.

Part of the challenge with choosing a solution lies in the fact that there is not currently a standard protocol for instant messaging. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has a working group dedicated to developing an instant messaging and presence protocol (IMPP). As you might infer from this, the instant messaging tools from different vendors lack interoperability.

Some of the major players providing enterprise level instant messaging services include:

• Sun Java System Messaging Server
• IBM Lotus Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing
• Microsoft Office Live Communications Server
• Jabber (the open source solution)

Last but not least, you will need to define an acceptable use policy for messaging. Whether you roll it into your existing information technology policies or create a new one, you will need to define what is and is not appropriate use of the tool. Keep in mind the technical details, such as the fact that IM communications are not encrypted and travel as clear text across the network, as well as the security implications of attachments alluded to above.

As important as your written policy is the culture you create around the use of the tool. When our company first introduced the tool many people feared it would be used by management to monitor when you were online and when you were away. (A "Big Brother is watching" mindset.) In order for the tool to be a help and not a hindrance, people need to not be afraid to log off of the tool or set their status to "busy" when they don't want to be interrupted and need to focus on their work. Otherwise you'll simply create an environment of distracted and paranoid employees who cannot tend to their job.

If you're trying to get your arms around the nuts and bolts of how instant messaging works and delve deeper into solutions and things to consider, the following resources may be helpful to you:

• EarthWeb's Instant Messaging Planet
• How Stuff Works
• Controlling Your IM Environment