Messaging is tougher for smaller organizations

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: MICHAEL OSTERMAN ON MESSAGING
08/11/05
Today's focus: Messaging is tougher for smaller organizations

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Survey respondents rate their problems in managing messaging
  systems
* Links related to Messaging
* Featured reader resource
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CYBERSLACKING - IT COSTS

To the tune of $178 billion annually, according to a recent
study. Employees, at work, are reading the news, checking
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more than you might realize. How much time? Click here for more:
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=109864
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Today's focus: Messaging is tougher for smaller organizations

By Michael Osterman

If you're in charge of providing messaging services for a
Fortune 500 company, you have a tough job juggling growing
storage requirements, compliance issues, regulations, spam,
spyware and lots of other vexing issues that threaten your
messaging systems every day. However, if you're in charge of
messaging for a much smaller company, you probably face worse
problems.

In a recent survey we conducted, we asked decision-makers to
rate the problems they face in managing their messaging systems.
In David Letterman style, here are the top-10 problems we found:

10. Users working at home creating security problems.
9. E-mail fraud other than phishing.
8. Employees sending/receiving inappropriate content.
7. Phishing attacks.
6. Security/privacy/confidentiality of messages sent by users.
5. Viruses/worms/Trojans impacting our network, systems, etc.
4. Supporting traveling/field/remote users.
3. Inadequate e-mail archiving.
2. The amount of spam received.
1. Growth in e-mail storage requirements.

However, when we divided the survey audience into organizations
with up to 2,500 employees and those with more than 2,500
employees, we found that for nine out of the 10 problems listed
above, smaller organizations rated their problems as worse than
did larger organizations. In some cases, the difference was
substantial: for example, while 59% of larger organizations
consider growth in e-mail storage requirements to be a serious
or very serious problem, 76% of smaller organizations feel this
way.

Why the difference? I believe that the key problem for smaller
organizations is that their cost of messaging management is
higher on a per user basis. This is because labor represents a
larger share of the cost of messaging management for smaller
organizations, and smaller organizations simply pay more for
software, hardware and other messaging systems because they buy
in smaller volumes.

For example, a 10,000-user company might be able to afford one
full-time IT staff member at $70,000 per year to solve a
specific problem; if a 1,000-user company dedicated one-half as
much labor to the same problem, their labor cost to solve this
problem would be five times higher on a per-user basis. The
bottom line is that smaller organizations just can't afford to
devote more resources to solve problems, hence, their problems
are more serious.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this issue - please drop me a
line at <mailto:michael@ostermanresearch.com>

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Microsoft open source exec: Not the loneliest guy in Redmond
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmsg4901>

2. EMC announces surveillance management application
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/080905-emc.html?t5>

3. DKIM fights phishing and e-mail forgery
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmsg4902>

4. Microsoft fixes Print Spooler, Plug and Play flaw
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmsg4903>

5. Sprint, Nextel expect to finish merger Friday
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmsg4904>
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Michael Osterman

Michael D. Osterman is the principal of Osterman Research
<http://www.ostermanresearch.com/>, a market research firm that
helps organizations understand the markets for messaging,
directory and related products and services. He can be reached
by clicking here <mailto:michael@ostermanresearch.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by WiredRed
Web Conferencing

Share desktop, apps, PowerPoint and multiparty video. Secure
connections with SSL and optionally, your own PKI. Easy admin
with user, feature and QoS controls. Software or service: easy 5
minute server install, or one phone call hosted service
activation. Free trial.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=109827
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ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the Messaging newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/gwm/index.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE
HARD WORK, GOOD PAY

According to Network World's 2005 Salary Survey, network
professionals are enjoying substantial increases in pay,
especially at the highest- and lowest-tier job titles. But are
those increases coming with higher titles, more work or both?
Find out if compensation alone is keeping network professionals
happy in their careers - or is something else? Click here:
<http://www.networkworld.com/you/2005/072505-salary-survey.html>
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