What is Enterprise IM? Efficient communications are a necessary ingredient for any successful corporation. Over the past decade traditional paper-oriented communication through memos and documents has been replaced by the widespread use of email within businesses. The growing popularity of Instant Messaging for personal use has created interest by corporations to apply the same technology for improving business communications. The emergence of Enterprise Instant Messaging promises a revolution in communications within corporations and between businesses. Unlike public instant messaging networks that are geared for entertainment purposes, the Enterprise Instant Messenger (EIM) must conform to a higher standard in several critical areas.
Secure - provides the means to control, limit access to, and protect vital communications and data transported through the network Stable - operates reliably regardless of the demands placed on it by the network environment or users Efficient - uses the minimum amount of system and network resources required without taking important resources away from other mission-critical applications Feature Rich - offers an effective and useful feature set that has an impact on achieving mission-related objectives Compatible - does not require changes to existing systems to implement Scalable - meets the demands of a changing corporate environment Simple - is easily learned and effectively utilized by the intended users Cost-Effective - to deploy and maintain initially, and in the long-term		Enterprise-IM Factoids IM usage in the workplace increased by 110% over the last year 90% of businesses will use instant messaging by 2004 Corporate IM is expected to replace 65% of email usage by 2004 Sources Enterprise-IM Quotation "...IM is used routinely by millions of workers to expedite or facilitate all sorts of business transactions." Gartner Group

With over 125 million users of unsecured public network services in the workplace, infiltration of Instant Messaging into the Enterprise is already a reality. Widespread adoption of secure enterprise instant messaging systems for business is inevitable and happening now. Some of the inherent rationale for this organic evolution toward EIM can be abstracted as follows:

Real-time communication and file transfers with colleagues, suppliers and customers enhance business relationships Costs associated with long-distance phone and fax usage, travel, overnight deliveries and email attachments are dramatically reduced Accurate records of all conversations & file transfers through the network are stored for the end user and administrator Achieves complete control over out-of-control unsecured IM usage, reducing corporate security violations Ability to allow or prohibit employees to use IM inside or outside the network, and enforce the use of professional screen names Protects against snooping and denial of service attacks that are possible when staff uses public messaging services Enhances customer/client services and collaborative information management efforts across dispersed organizations Better control over how intellectual property and sensitive information is communicated inside and outside the organization Increased accountability for users by mapping screen names with corporate employee Ids or other permissions-based systems