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New Secure IM Client from NTT Due this Year
An anonymous reader writes "NTT in Japan has developed a new TLS-based
secure instant messaging system that it says will comply with corporate compliance regulations, such as the post-Enron Sarbanes-Oxley Act. There's a PC version, as well as a Java one for i-Mode cell phones."
Our company uses something called Lotus Sametime. Ever heard of it? Me neither until I joined. I've heard of Lotus of course, but not Sametime. Basically it's an AIM-a-like for corporate environments. Now you ask why they use it... because (and this are the only reasons as far as I can see) it has some screensharing / whiteboarding capabilities, its authentication can be tied into your corporate id & password and the directory hooks into LDAP. If there were something available in open source which was comparable, as robust and included a web-based UI for screenshare meetings, I am pretty certain they would consider switching. As there probably isn't, that's your answer.
I don't particularly like Sametime but it does do what it's meant to do, more or less. It's certainly not flashy, is Windows-only and more insidiously requires IE Java to do the screen sharing but it works. I expect that site licences also plays a part in its continuing favour in our org. IMHO a site licence is a great way to chain a company to your tech - once they bought it, they're scared to switch away for fear of losing "value" on the deal.
There is another unwritten advantage of a proprietary IM system. It stops your employees wasting time chatting to all their buddies on AIM, jabber etc. instead of doing work.
http://www.acm.org/classics/sep95/
You have to look at the compiler, the OS, the microcode and the hardware, too.