More companies are using instant messaging (IM) than ever. Osterman Research looks at the number of companies using IM every March and September, and last month set the record, with 50% of organizations using IM for business purposes. In March, 44% of companies were taking advantage of IM. When Osterman began surveying in 2001, only 21% of companies were leveraging IM.

This despite serious reservations on the parts of companies. These include security of information sent over instant messages (important to 64% of respondents), too much personal use (61%) and the potential for infection by viruses (60%). The fact that IT doesn’t roll out IM in many companies—employees just use existing tools like AIM and Yahoo’s instant messenger—leads many of those repsonsible for networks view it skeptically. Consequently, IM traffic is being blocked by 33% of organizations, the highest percentage since Osterman began its IM survey. According to Michael Osterman, “We attribute this to the growing concerns about the potential for consumer IM being a conduit for malware, as well as the growing number of IM detection and blocking tools that are available from a variety of vendors.”

Osterman’s Web site has more survey results.