New corporate accountability regulations are forcing companies to take a tougher approach to recording and monitoring staff e-mails and instant messaging (IM), concludes the latest Storage Index Survey commissioned by Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. and a leading worldwide storage solutions provider.
A vast amount of corporate communication takes place over the Web, such as e-mail and IM, and this type of communication has become legally binding documentation, which can be used in a court of law. Based on the recently released survey of large to medium size enterprises across Europe, outlining the practices that are becoming trends to combat the problem of Net-based communication transparency, Hitachi Data Systems warns that this growing trend in Europe and the United States will make its way to the Middle East in the near future.
John Bentley, sales director, Hitachi Data Systems, Middle East said, “The Middle East market is booming and has become a viable player in the world market. In order to maintain its strength and foundation, complying with regulatory bodies like the WTO and falling in with world legislation in these matters is a must. E-mail and IM monitoring will take root in the Middle East through a chain reaction of requirements. Many companies here are multinational, each one bringing its own corporate policy and culture with it, in turn applying it to partners, customers and a substantial part of its channel.”
Results of the survey indicate that more than half of large and medium-size enterprises (56 percent) now routinely monitor employees’ e-mail messages. A whopping 61 percent also centrally archive all e-mails and are able to retrieve them at the touch of a button. At the same time, more than a third of companies (36 percent) actively monitor IM communications and the vast majority (68 percent) have put in place explicit staff guidelines for both e-mail and IM usage.
“The question is not whether this will become standard corporate policy in the Middle East, but when,” remarked Bentley. “While such measures may be unpopular among workers with more dubious e-mail and IM habits, the introduction of new corporate accountability regulations have led many companies to review their electronic communications policies. This is particularly true in heavily regulated industries such as financial services, where companies face severe penalties for failing to comply with communications auditing requirements.”
