RU ready for IM? To take advantage of instant messaging's benefits and overcome its challenges, organizations must implement processes and technologies to manage it effectively.

• Author: Wilkins, Jesse

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Instant messaging, or "IM," is considered a dirty word in many organizations--when it is considered at all--and for good reason. As IM usage continues to grow, IM clients provide yet another vector through which organizations can be infected with viruses and spyware. In addition, employees may spend excessive time sending instant messages rather than completing assigned duties. And they may be using IM to circumvent many information technology rules and proscriptions.

IM Explained

IM applications share similar functionality. A user accesses a web-based application or downloads a client, creates an account, and logs in. Once the user is logged in, the IM system notes his/her "presence" and updates the system to reflect the user's current status. As the user's status changes--for example, from "available" to "on the phone"--the updated status is pushed out to other users on the system that have the user listed in their contacts.

This presence information is one of the most compelling aspects of IM long-term; as applications become presence-aware, real-time collaboration becomes much simpler to set up: just look for who is currently available and set up an ad hoc collaborative session on the fly. Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat are among the applications that support this functionality today, with many more software vendors examining the possibilities presence could bring to their applications.

Sending messages is simple. Just type the message, hit "send," and the message is transmitted in real time to the intended recipient. Sending photos or other files is just as easy, and some clients include the ability to share files using drag and drop. The interfaces are fairly clean and simple.

In many organizations, IM is not implemented by the IT staff; rather, individual users download and install public chat clients from MSN, Yahoo!, AOL, ICQ, Google, and many others. According to a survey from the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute, 50 percent of workers are downloading and installing free IM tools--but only 31 percent of organizations have a policy on IM in place.

However, IM can also be a tremendous boon to an organization. From enabling collaboration to easing the strain of the overloaded e-mail inbox, IM can significantly increase employee productivity--if it is managed effectively.

The Four Phases of IM

IM usage in organizations can be described in four phases:

1. Ignorance: The organization does not know about IM, doesn't think its employees know about IM, and to the extent it thinks about IM at all, it considers it a tool teenagers use to waste time. This is perhaps the most dangerous phase because of the potential for unwary IM users to introduce viruses and other malware into the organization.

2. Denial: The organization deter mines that IM is present and for bids its further use for a number of reasons, including its potential for spyware and viruses, the amount of time employees waste using it, and, at more highly regulated organizations, the problems it presents for regulatory compliance.

3. Acceptance: This phase is characterized by efforts to take control of IM usage through policies and procedures. Organizations may also try to standardize on a single network and client version and begin investigating enterprise messaging solutions.

4. Optimization: This phase is far off for most organizations. It involves integrating IM into existing business processes and even optimizing processes around IM functionality. Part of the challenge is that enterprise IM is relatively new, and the functionality is not well-integrated into other information management solutions. This is slowly starting to...