Good morning, and let me first thank Brian and EuroKom for their kind invitation to officiate at this launch of the Business E-Mail Monitor. EuroKom started here in Dublin twenty-one years ago, as a campus company in UCD, and quickly became the pioneer of e-mail communication in Europe. The company has since gone on to be a leader in the field of e-mail service provision to both the private and the public sector.
The importance of the Internet for the Irish economy cannot be overstated. Within the past few years it has become the principal enabler of economic success – the most important development since the industrial revolution. It brings the world to your keyboard, and offers new opportunities and new horizons for businesses both large and small. Indeed, it is now one of the most vital ingredients for success in any market, and is widely regarded as the greatest-ever enabler of social inclusion and personal development.
The growth of Internet use in recent years has been spectacular. According to recent EU statistics there are 2,060,000 Internet users in Ireland. This represents user growth of 163% in the last four years, and a market penetration, per population, of over 51%.
Businesses have been quick to adopt the new technologies. 86% of all enterprises now have Internet access, and for large enterprises the figure is 100%.
The growth of electronic transactions has, unfortunately, brought an increased threat to the security of ICT systems. Constant vigilance is now essential, and unless the defences are up to the job, the potential for disaster is very real.
The cost of anti-virus and anti-spam measures is a sizable burden on many organisations, and keeping the defences up can be a costly nuisance. The price of security is high, with the need for constant vigilance and continuous updates to systems. Larger organisations will generally be able to absorb the cost of in-house protection systems, but an increasing number are now outsourcing the work to specialist firms such as EuroKom.
There are significant benefits to such outsourcing. Having your systems minded by a professional minder lets you get on with your business, without the need to assign expert staff from within your organisation. In turn, the professionals can concentrate on what they do best, and provide state-of-the-art protection that is tailor-made to the exact requirements of the organisation.
There are other benefits too. Outsourcing the work to an e-mail manager not only ‘cleans’ the messages before they are delivered, but can provide a wealth of information regarding patterns of e-mail usage between an organisation and its customers.
We have ready access to a great deal of data from the rest of the world regarding levels of spam, ‘phishing’ and virus attacks, but until recently we have not had specific information relating to Ireland.
Eurokom have now, for the first time, used their database of over 40,000 business users to produce an accurate measurement of the extent of usage and abuse of e-mail here.
The Business E-mail Monitor is a most welcome and significant weapon in the continuing battle against uninvited guests on our ICT systems, and I am honoured to have been asked to launch it.
Once again, thank you EuroKom, and I wish the new venture every success.
Ends