Gartner Research

Consult the Board: Policies for Instant Messaging Tools

Published: 04 May 2022

Summary

This Consult the Board survey summary features inputs from 20 members regarding their approaches for handling third-party instant messaging (IM) tools in the business environment. It examines members’ policies and security controls for using such tools and highlights the blocked applications.

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Overview

What are members’ policies on the usage of third-party instant messaging (IM) applications in the business environment?

  • Most respondents (15 of 20, or 75%) have policies that permit the use of third-party IM tools either entirely or with limited exceptions.

  • Two-thirds of the above respondents (10 of 15) allow their employees to download third-party IM applications through “either an enterprise application store or public application store.”

  • In terms of security controls, most respondents (5 of 8) have the third-party IM tools “technically connected and controlled as part of a wider multi-channel collaboration solution.”

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