We released this study today based on a series of discussions and events across the US with senior information security and IT professionals in collaboration with The Roundtable Network. 

Pam is a great person to work with and if you are interested in getting the chance to have face-to-face interactions with your target prospects, her roundtable events can’t be beaten.  They are a great lead source, but the conversations will educate you on the operational realities of the problems you seek to solve – great stuff!

The goal of this study was not to prepare a self-serving piece of "research" designed to reinforce all the ills that our products magically fix.  Rather, it was to put together a snapshot of what people responsible for information security are dealing with and what they see coming down the road for the future.  There are several areas where we are relevant, but some issues don’t have the consensus in place yet to justify a technology investment.

Two things rang loud and clear from these gatherings:

1. There is a content deluge due to growing volumes of electronic documents that must be retained, stored and made accessible for retrieval

2. There is a security deficiency caused by ever worsening end-user habits as it relates to the use and misuse of enterprise messaging tools

The study goes on to dig into the areas of e-discovery, information safeguards, understanding how people currently communicate, messaging technologies, and archiving/retention approaches as well as how to navigate the organizational aspects of implementing a solid program.

We distilled five key trends from the conversations:

1. Information security and IT have to build expertise in records retention, electronic discovery and legal matters to better manage legal requests and compliance.

2. The end-user is essential; how employees use available technology and their awareness of authorized usage is more of a concern than the underlying technology itself.

3. The next generation of employees will enter the workforce with personal laptops, mobile devices and software instead of having them provided by the company, creating a new level of control and security issues that IT departments must be prepared to meet.

4. Email is not going to be displaced by another mechanism of communication, but it will be augmented; enterprise messaging will expand to include instant messaging (IM), text messaging and other forms of Internet-based communication and collaboration.

5. Companies must have the organizational will to embrace governance issues and be proactive in addressing them, versus treating them as bad news to be avoided.

I also did a short podcast intro to the report that you can listen to here.  The link to the report takes you through a registration form, so if you’re interested in a getting a copy without having to register send me an email and I’ll shoot you a copy.