Ben Worthen posted a blog entry at The Wall Street Journal yesterday on a problem with Wall Street traders using instant messaging. They were going to have to cease using their Thomson Reuter’s IM service without a compliance system in place.
The SEC requires that IM messages are monitored and retained in order to maintain compliance. Apparently the software that Thomson Reuters was using could no longer be used due to a dispute over the licensing. A new system is in place now and the crisis was averted.
It is interesting to think about the branching out of compliance for other systems outside of email. Instant Messaging used to be considered a very risky tool and many have delayed or avoided deploying it in their organization. Since most public instant messaging systems are not controlled or governed it is easier for insider information to be exposed to the public without the company’s knowledge.
Instant Messaging system adoption is increasing rapidly. College students today rely on texting and IM technologies for things like communicating with their friends and collaborating on school projects. As they move into the corporate world they want to continue to use the communication tools that are familiar to them. It only seems natural to them to use instant messaging instead of the phone to collaborate on a project they have to complete as a team.
Microsoft is also pushing the adoption of IM. With Microsoft’s Office Communication Server, Instant Messaging is becoming more integrated into phone and email communication. More companies are seeing corporate instant messaging as a business tool rather than a way to communicate with your wife that you will be late coming home from work (Sorry honey, I will be late tonight). As this adoption continues companies struggle with what that means for compliance.
The SEC is clear on what it means for financial institutions as Ben states in his blog. Financial companies need to monitor and save instant messaging discussions. This is where I believe that archiving can help. Instant messaging archiving is growing need for companies deploying these instant messaging solutions. An effective archiving solution should store these discussions and index them so they can be monitored and discovery requests can be fulfilled. As the demand increases archiving vendors will be called upon to meet this need.
Ben’s blog post: http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/07/29/did-traders-almost-have-to-stop-sending-instant-messages/
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Instant Messaging Archiving, Email Archiving, Thomson Reuters, Compliance, Texting, Wall Street, Office Communication Server
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