IM: Get it sorted now

The need for policy making is no longer something which companies can bring up at annual meetings or even monthly meetings - it is something which they have to remain on top of at all times.

As new technologies come along companies need to be aware of what they can do for their business, where potential problems may lie and what they can do to ensure they are on top of the situation.

Instant messaging has been a slow burner but it is undoubtedly here to stay. Over a couple of years it has become an application which is used in the workplace by almost 60 per cent of respondents to a recent silicon.com survey. It bypasses many of the problems associated with email, it allows you direct access to the person with whom you want to communicate and it allows you to see their presence status. There is none of the hit-and-hope element attached to sending an email and there is none of the spam (with most IM flavours at least) and there is no unwanted contact. You can determine who can contact you and you can decide when you want to be contacted.

In fact 52 per cent of respondents said IM is faster and more efficient that email. So what's the problem?

IM also bypasses much of your company's security. It provides hackers and virus writers a route back to the desktop - taking all that expensive security kit at the perimeter and server level out of the equation and it undermines your company's 'perimeter fence'.

It also throws up serious compliance issues for companies who are nailing down contracts using IM. Thirteen per cent of users are conducting business deals over IM and - given that 90 per cent are still using basic consumer packages - this is a startling figure.

Scandals such as those that rocked WorldCom and Enron highlight the need for full auditable trails of deals and the need to be compliant with trading and accounting standards. If you are allowing your staff to conduct business over a consumer IM package then you are laying yourself open to all manner of legal headaches in the case of a contract dispute.

The bottom line is that this is obviously a technology which can improve things in your office. But more fundamental than that is the need for users to get on top of the problems inherent in the use of the technology.

IM has stolen a march on companies already. Its use has gone largely unnoticed until recently. But companies now need to work out who is using it, what are they using it for and the best way to draw up a policy to cover the acceptable use of IM within the company.