NEW YORK -- MessageLabs, a leading provider of integrated messaging and web security services to businesses worldwide, today announced the launch of its Enterprise Instant Messenger (EIM) Service. The EIM solution is designed to optimize corporate IM use, and eliminate the risks and concerns arising from traditional instant messaging and file sharing offerings. MessageLabs managed service approach provides organizations with the ability to fully integrate messaging security and management – including IM, email and web - without the need for in-house hardware and software and all the associated, and often unpredictable, costs.

In October 2005, MessageLabs acquired Omnipod and began incorporating its enterprise IM service into the full portfolio of MessageLabs messaging and web security services. The new MessageLabs EIM service addresses the key business issues surrounding IM in the workplace: security, organizational compliance, legal discovery, control, acceptable use, and accountability. In addition, it establishes corporate best practices to mitigate risks associated with unsecured public IM use in the workplace. Analysts estimate that more than 100 million people use IM in the enterprise, a figure which is expected to increase at an annual rate of between 23 to 40 percent over the next four years.

“As IM use in the workplace continues to increase, so too do the number of IM security threats. And worryingly, most IT managers today are largely oblivious to IM use within their businesses as the majority of employees are using an unsecure public IM client such as AOL, MSN or Yahoo! outside of their IT department’s control,” said Jos White, President of Messagelabs. “Increasingly, our clients are looking to us to manage all of their messaging security needs. Our Enterprise Instant Messenger solution incorporates all of the knowledge and experience we’ve gathered through years of proven threat protection and management of email and web traffic. We will continue to invest and develop MessageLabs patented technologies to keep pace with evolving security threats and stay ahead of the expanding messaging needs of today’s businesses.”

MessageLabs suite of managed services ensures the integrity of electronic communications, helping organizations to manage and reduce risk while securing critical infrastructure and business information. By providing secure managed IM communications, the MessageLabs EIM service adds significant value to an enterprise’s existing messaging tools, while giving employees the freedom, flexibility and instant gratification offered by this near ubiquitous communication channel. At present, MessageLabs EIM customers span across all industries from manufacturing and financial services to healthcare and media.

“We chose the MessageLabs EIM Service because it provided better security and worldwide reliability, as well as speed and ease of installation,” said Dale Spencer, Vice President of Information Technology at Aviza Technology, Inc. “Unlike other managed service providers, MessageLabs EIM interoperates with other popular IM platforms while providing a fully secure, private and encrypted channel that blocks the increasing number of IM-related threats while giving us the control we require for compliance with corporate and regulatory policies.”

MessageLabs Ltd.