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UK businesses ignoring IM communications potential
A significant proportion of UK businesses are neglecting to give proper consideration to the potential of instant messaging (IM) communications.
While IT leaders in organisations of all sizes are currently embracing a range of online communications technologies, such as VoIP and video conferencing, there is still a discrepancy between workers' expectation and companies' actions when it comes to IM, a new study has found.
Of those firms polled by Smoothwall, just 11 per cent said that they currently have in place a policy that allows for the use of IM within the workplace.
In comparison, as many as three quarters of companies have a policy of blocking IM applications, principally due to concerns of putting sensitive data in jeopardy and also of employee time-wasting.
"The fear is understandable, but blocking access completely means missing out on all the benefits that IM tools can bring," Tom Newton, product manager at SmoothWall, told technology website vnunet.com.
The findings were released at the Infosec 2008 IT security conference, which recently took place in London.
Earlier this week, the Financial Services Authority expressed its concern at the high rates of data loss still apparent among UK businesses, particularly those involved in the finance sector.
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