Life is hard enough, business is stressful enough, without adding other things to the mix. One of the reasons that so few folks are considered “first adopters” - ie: people who try new technology - is that people like to stick with what they know to avoid confusion or adding anything complex to the mix.

Facebook didn’t become popular overnight, it grew slowly but surely over time - and then one day people woke up and everyone was on Facebook or talking about Facebook and it became essential.

Plus Facebook had an easy concept - you add friends, you login, you communicate with them.

Instant Messaging was the same way - it didn’t grow overnight. AOL IM and similar services grew as people added them, told their friends about it, and suddenly it was an easy way to communicate.

AOL IM is a tremendous resource and it is exceptionally easy to use because you just sign up for an account, download the program, login, and begin chatting it up with people.

Enterprise email didn’t offer the same ease but it is now relatively commonplace. Enterprise Instant Messaging has faced a number of difficulties in terms of adoption, one being that IT departments worry about adding yet another complex network to the solution.

The best part about clients like Brosix, for instance, is that they offer their own hosted networks. That makes setting up a network a snap and makes Brosix worth a look. Check out http://www.brosix.com for more!

Yahoo just launched a highly lauded iPhone Instant Messaging application, this is another positive sign as Yahoo attempts to turn around what used to be one of the leading tech companies in Silicon Valley. Yahoo took a series of wrong turns in the early 2000’s which lead them down the wrong path at the same time that Google soared. Now they are a distant second in search and looking for a magic bullet.

Their iPhone app is no magic bullet but Carol Bartz and her new team have begun to slowly move Yahoo in the right direction.

Yahoo IM on the iPhone is a great tool, but I would suggest avoiding it for enterprise purposes. Like any of the free messaging programs out there it has loopholes and security issues that can be exploited.

Hacker-produced worms have been running rampant in both microblogging and instant messaging programs in recent years and recent days. That is one of the reasons that Brosix Enterprise Messaging offers a great portable product and one of the reasons that I recommend using it over Yahoo IM or the other clients out there.

Brosix has only been around since 2006 and they have built a wonderful product in just a few short years. I recommend checking it out at http://www.brosix.com!

AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo, and MSN Messenger are all great services. I have used them to stay in touch with friends over the years. In recent years a number of developments have bugged me:

1. Spammers have dug in and truly become a nuisance.
2. Spambots exist.
3. In a sense I have more contacts then I need, to the point where I can’t keep up with everyone - or remember everyone.
4. Too many people have my screen name so I have to go “invisible” to get anything done sometimes - unfortunately what that means is I sometimes miss the people I need to speak to while trying to avoid the people who would waste my time.
5. Security. I simply do not trust them for sending files or anything similar.
6. Advertising is quite obnoxious.

I could list more complaints - and I am not bashing the services because I use them extensively due to all of my friends being on them. I would never, however, consider using them for business purposes for all of the reasons I listed above.

Time is valuable during the work day and so I do not want friends - or others - bothering me or distracting me in any way possible. I don’t want to see flashing ads while trying to communicate with a client or deal with spammers.

Perhaps most importantly I want security which is why I use Brosix Enterprise Messaging. Brosix is a small, independent company but they have been winning awards and racking up clients left and right. Their customer service is excellent and perhaps most importantly their networks are completely secure and hosted for you.

That is why I would recommend using Brosix at work and the rest at home if needed.