Here are some of our key findings from our semiannual survey of instant messaging usage.
* Instant messaging use is definitely growing. Our survey found that among large organizations (more than 1,000 e-mail users), 44% are currently using instant messaging for business applications, up from 33% six months earlier. The percentage of organizations in which instant messaging is used for any purpose - even unofficial, personal use - has held steady at 84%.
* The number of users of instant messaging within organizations is also increasing. Among large organizations that use instant messaging, 15% of e-mail users also use instant messaging; our previous survey found that 10% of e-mail users were also instant-messaging users. Interestingly, small organizations (up to 100 e-mail users) have a much higher penetration of instant-messaging usage among their e-mail users than midsized and large organizations. This indicates that instant messaging is very often used as a point solution in larger enterprises, implemented by a department or function to solve a specific business problem instead of being rolled out by IT across the enterprise.
* IT attitudes toward instant messaging are improving, albeit slightly. Our previous survey found that only 30% of IT organizations supported the deployment and/or use of instant messaging and that 24% opposed it. However, in the current survey, 34% of organizations now support instant messaging, while the percentage opposing instant messaging has dropped to 19%. The difference in these numbers, while in the range of sampling error, at least indicates that a significant percentage of IT departments are supportive of instant-messaging deployment.
* The leading instant messaging clients in use among organizations have remained unchanged since our last survey. AOL Instant Messenger, Microsoft MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger are the top three. Among those organizations that have established a corporate instant messaging standard, Lotus Sametime is the standard, at more than 70% of these organizations.
You can obtain more details on the results of the survey at:
RELATED LINKS
Network World, 09/23/02
Michael D. Osterman is the principal of Osterman Research, a market research firm that helps organizations understand the markets for messaging, directory and related products and services. He can be reached by clicking here.
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