Instant Messaging and Emailing

Instant Messaging and Emailing

The technological world is changing every day. A cultural change that is occurring before our eyes is the concept of instant messaging. Ten years ago when the internet began to shape the communicational world, emailing was the leading resource of how businesses exchanged information internally and externally. The tide has turned and recent research has concluded that emailing was down in usage percentage compared to instant messaging.

Instant messaging could be used in a few different ways. The idea of instant messaging are things like text messages over cellular phones, enterprise-messaging systems; some being provided by Microsoft, or using public programs such as Yahoo Messenger or AOL Instant Messenger. This emerging type of messaging is going to set the way for communication in the near future, because of its fast method of connecting people.

According to analyst firm Giga Information Group, 60 percent or more of large companies use some form of instant messaging, but 90 percent of those companies have no formal IT support. While using different instant messaging systems firm's must be aware of many things. Various system costs, viruses, security, maintenance, and other issues that may arise must be monitored closely.

Any business that is well structured and wise would have some sort of storage for holding emails and also instant messages. These firms would also need to account for how much the messaging processes would cost. Richard W. Smith, the IT director at R.W. Smith Brokerage said that "480 GB of archives would cost under $10,000 dollars per year. Other solutions had monthly maintenance costs of $7,500 plus an initial $5,000 set-up fee." These costs could play a major role in a firm's financial stability.

If the firm wanted the instant messaging system to work tactfully they would need to implement a security system, because these instant messaging systems can be infiltrated very easily. A virus could cause detrimental effects to a business' network. Unprofessional employee problems such as profanity, illegal uses of trademarks, or the exposure of trade secrets could also pose as possible problems to the company.

By looking at the different scenarios of instant messaging, it is apparent that instant messaging could have both positive and negative impacts on a business strategy. Some of the positives