You are here: silicon.com > Software > Security Strategy

Security Strategy

Office email still a waste of time

'Quick, look busy, the boss is coming... '

Tags: email overload, email abuse, email monitoring, email

By Will Sturgeon

Published: 22 November 2005 15:10 GMT

Research out today has reaffirmed something we've all known for some time – that email is a productivity killer in the enterprise.

These results indicate that personal use of corporate email may be higher than employers expect...

According to a survey from Mirapoint, nearly a quarter of all emails in corporate inboxes are personal. Add to that the large volumes of spam and irrelevant work email that users must wade through and it becomes a wonder that anybody has time to work, let alone IM their friends.

Marcel Nienhuis, market analyst at the Radicati Group, said: "These results indicate that personal use of corporate email may be higher than employers expect, representing a potentially significant loss in productivity."

Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they forward jokes, video clips and photos to others within the company.

The survey into the use of business email also revealed some slightly worrying trends regarding the potential for inadvertent data leaks and breaches of compliance regulations.

A quarter of respondents said they forward business emails to their personal email accounts while 62 per cent said they have sent business emails from their personal accounts.

Earlier this year, separate Mirapoint research found that 33 per cent of email in corporate inboxes is spam – leaving just 44 per cent of email as legitimate business mail.

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure

Clive Longbottom Windows 7: Not perfect - but ready for prime time Microsoft's latest OS fixes most of Vista's ills - but still has challenges ahead

Stephen Kleynhans Mind the details with Windows 7 Just because it might work better than Vista, it doesn't mean you can be sloppy


  • Jobs
Operations Manager - Print Management + Digital Print

We are looking for you to have experience and a working knowledge of best-in-class high-volume digital print production methodologies and management ...

Survey Interviewer - Part Time - Leeds-Bradford

Working for one of leading authority's in aviation, we are currently recruiting for a Survey interviewer at Leeds Bradford Airport. To approach air ...

Director of EU Order Management (location in Brno, CZ)

The Opportunity Monster defined an industry more than a decade ago by changing the way people look for jobs and the way employers look for people. ...

Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.





Quick Sitemap Links: