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The internet has enhanced the operations of the majority of organisations, we know that. It is however a double edged sword, with the second side of the sword getting sharper as time goes on. If we look back ten years ago, the majority of people didn’t have a PC at home; basically most staff members only knew how to use the internet for business purposes. Now the large majority of people have the internet in their homes, they chat to friends, download music and videos, shop, gamble, date, and the list goes on.

The issue now lies with the fact that the internet habits of staff outside of work are now clear and present inside of their day to day working environment. This is an issue for business, why?

Lack of productivity

Your employees’ browsing the internet during work time costs your business money. The average employee spends 15 minutes of time browsing the internet during working time (excluding breaks) for non-business related purposes. This may not seem much but that's 10 hours a day for a 40 computer based employee company.

This doesn’t take into account your users chatting to friends and family on instant messenger applications such as MSN messenger, Yahoo messenger or Skype. These tools may be valuable for business but must also be controlled.

If you just say that your employees are simply on the minimum wage then it's costing £1070 per week just on browsing time alone for a 40 user organisation, without taking into account loss of productivity thus loss of potential earnings. The potential for a return on your investment in an employee internet management system should be clear from the start.

Security risks

An employee browsing potentially dangerous websites without control can open your business to an array of security risks, such as viruses, trojans, spyware, the list goes on. This is because non-work related websites are a major feed of dangerous exploits into the network.

Your risk also grows as uncontrolled internet access also allows employees to send information in and out of your organisation without control. This can be intentionally via webmail or web messenger applications, such as MSN messenger, Yahoo messenger or Skype. Or it can be unintentionally through spyware, phishing or other vulnerabilities.

Legal liability

If you have copyrighted information, such as software, music, videos, even photo's on your business network, your business could be legally for it. Even if an employee downloaded it onto the network without your knowledge or permission, the business, basically the directors could be legally liable.

Uncontrolled internet access does unfortunately leave the door open to a whole host of legal issues. An acceptable use policy for your IT will go some way in helping. An effective employee internet management system will take that further and go a long way to controlling the issue.

Waste of bandwidth

Your internet connections are typically a main artery for your business, the main communication line between your business, its customers, and its suppliers. If your employees are downloading non-work related files, listening to music, watching the news then they are clogging this artery and delaying your communications and slowing up business related browsing.

It all sounds like doom and gloom really, but you may not have all the issues I've stated. It's not a thing to panic about but I do believe you should be aware of the issues and take measures to control it.

There are a vast array of Employee Internet Management systems on the market, some more effective than others, some cheaper and some more expensive than others. The ROI is usually pretty easy to measure and all vendors should offer a free trial to help you gauge the issues within your environment.

If you already have some kind of Employee Internet Management system then you may want to just check that it gives you or your IT management the correct amount of control.

If you have any questions or require any further information then as always just call or email.