• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, June 11, 2025

Email remains the top communications channel for businesses despite the growing use of instant messaging (IM) and and a plethora of issues like lack of integration with other systems, according to The State of Business Email 2025, a study by Exclaimer. 

Among the IT leaders surveyed, 89% rank one-to-one email as important, roughly on a par with instant messaging and video. However, 85% say IM is more critical, although 78% say the same about email.  

Of the companies represented, 49% use email for IT and security agents, 36% for internal collaboration and 34% for client or customer communication. Overall, 48% use email for more than half of all communications, versus 43% for tools like Slack, Teams, and Asana. 

The internal teams most reliant on email are: 

• IT — 56% 
• HR and Internal Communications — 37% 
• Customer Success and Finance — 31% 

Meanwhile, IT leaders warn of these email-related threats:

• External threats like phishing, spoofing and spam — 44%
• End-to-end encryption and security — 42%
• Balancing protection with usability — 40% 

And this is partly the fault of the companies themselves. 

“Even with this level of exposure, foundational protections remain uneven,” the study notes. “Only 33% of organizations report having implemented core protocols like DMARC, DKIM, or SPF — technologies designed specifically to protect against impersonation and spoofing.” 

Globally, 76% of IT leaders say up to half of their security incidents are tied to email. On average, they estimate email accounts for 33% of all incidents. That number climbs to 36% in the U.K. and falls to 29% in Australia. 

On another level, IT leaders admit that email is not integrated with:

• Security and compliance stack — 41%
• CRM platforms — 34%
• Instant messaging and collaboration tools — 31%
• HR systems — 29%

The leading email-related drains on time and productivity for IT leaders? They are: 

• Reducing spam and unwanted mail — 37%
• Ensuring security and compliance — 35% 
• Managing and updating email signature — 35%
• Archiving and storage — 34% 
• Integrating email with other tools — 31% 

“We’ve never had more ways to connect and collaborate at work, but email remains the backbone of business communication,” concludes Vicky Wills, CTO of Exclaimer. “As new tools emerge, the challenge for IT leaders isn’t just picking platforms – it’s making sure they’re implemented strategically. That’s how we build communication environments that are clear, connected, and fit for the future.”

Exclaimer surveyed 4,009 IT professionals across four countries: United Kingdom (1,003), United States (1,000), Germany (1,006) and Australia (1,000).