"IM is now recognized as an important communication tool and in many organizations, IM complements or even replaces relatively more expensive phone calls as a means of long distance intra and inter-organization communication," said Balaka Baruah Aggarwal, senior research manager -- Emerging Software at Springboard Research. "Consumer instant messaging tools are a key catalyst for organizations that go on to deploy more integrated and advanced communication and collaboration platforms."

Springboard added that IT vendors' increased focus on the enterprise instant messaging market in the recent months has emerged as a key market driver.