Commentary

Just an Online Minute... IM Spam?

Here's something to ponder. This morning brought the release of "Instant Messaging and Presence Market Trends, 2003-2007, a study showing that while only 26% of organizations to date have standardized on a common Corporate IM solution, as many as 70% are using some form of IM.

The study projects that the worldwide corporate IM market will grow at an explosive rate, led by the North American region, and will reach $344 million by 2007. The study also estimates that the total number of active IM accounts will grow from 590 million in 2003, to reach 1,439 million in 2007. It also reveals that while organizations will be increasingly looking to log, manage and secure corporate IM, they are not willing to pay more than $11.95 on average for it.

In an unrelated release, WebEx Communications, Inc. announced today that Yahoo! will integrate access to WebEx Meeting Center (yes, the company that hired Ru Paul as a spokesperson a few years back) into Yahoo! Messenger Enterprise Edition. By integrating access, customers will be able to escalate from instant messaging sessions into highly interactive WebEx meetings, streamlining both internal and external business communications. According to the release, WebEx will be working closely with Yahoo! to provide corporate customers with tightly integrated access to the WebEx Meeting Center service and WebEx MediaTone network.

These are not the only two Instant Messenger announcements to hit the wires this week, but I'll spare you the rest. A survey released today by silicon.com, however, found that 69% of respondents already receive spam on their mobile phones. I'm just wondering how it will be before IM spam becomes an issue. Discuss.

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