'You can manage security policies for IM using the directory information. Whether it is groups or user information in the directory, IM Manager integrates with it. It also integrates with antivirus and threat protection systems from Symantec.'

The main drivers for managing IM are security, compliance and archiving, said Weiner. 'IM Manager provides the capability to log and archive all of your IM traffic, all of your users' conversations,' he said. '[The information] can actually be archived to a third party storage, as retention storage for compliance purposes.'

Many people see IM as an informal, real time way to talk to friends. But there is a concern that the efficiency of IM could be reduced by staff spending too much time using IM, or using it to talk to friends, he said.

'If you look at email 15 years ago there were similar concerns, and now it has become the primary form of communication inside corporations.'