What is the future of email? That question seems to resurface every few years, typically coinciding with cyclical spikes in overall spam volume. Here are some articles on this topic that were published just a few years ago and are interesting to read in retrospect:

The Future of E-Mail - March 24, 2003
The Future of Email - November 3, 2003

We are currently seeing yet another spike in spam traffic mainly due to the propagation of image-based spam messages that have a higher success rate by eluding Bayesian based filters.

ZDNet posted an entry in their “Between the Lines” blog yesterday, asking the question: “Does email have a future?” The article is reflecting on a newly published IDC study that examines how email will be used for personal and business purposes over the coming years. While I have not had a chance to read the entire IDC study yet, the folks at ZDNet seem to get a much stronger message than I was able to obtain from the short synopsis of the report. The blog entry opens with the headline: “The days of email as a mission-critical application appear to be limited, according to an IDC report.”

I don’t agree with that prediction, but find that the study is simply highlighting some of the key issues that must be addressed:

• Email is one core component of an emerging unified messaging solution set
• Deploying an effective multi-layered spam defense is critical
• Email must become accessible through ubiquitous wireless devices

So will email matter in five years? Absolutely!

Email has its rightful place as a mission critical asynchronous corporate communication tool. Next gen real-time, collaborative solutions will complement email and if properly used reduce some of the load. To some extent this is already becoming reality through the convergence of corporate email and IM.

Technorati Tags: Future of email, IDC, spam, unified messaging

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