According to research from technology service provider Star, e-mail is still regarded as being "very important" to UK business by 82 per cent of respondents to a recent survey into corporate attitudes towards e-mail.
However, this suggests many, if not all, of the remaining 18 per cent of companies surveyed are already exploring avenues away from e-mail - possibly having become disenchanted with spam and the headache of managing storage and security.
This also means that if problems such as spam aren't brought under control e-mail could see a significant exodus of users onto other applications, such as instant messaging (IM), according to some.
Dan Scobie, strategic technology officer at Star, said: "A lot of issues around e-mail have been accentuated by the proliferation of spam, but I don't think it's reached a point where we are really going to see people move away from using e-mail."
However, Scobie agreed that managed e-mail services reaching the market now, such as Star's own On Demand Mail Collaboration service, are finding success because managing e-mail has become too much of a full-time a job and too much of a headache for many companies to handle in-house.
However, he refuted suggestions that even those companies who go alone will be tempted to ditch e-mail in favour of other tools.
"IM does have a lot of potential and should be embraced," said Scobie. "But I think we just need to see some more maturity," he added, citing security concerns over web-based IM applications.
But there are plenty who believe e-mail will eventually be surpassed by IM, especially if enterprise level secure IM services promise a way to cut through the spam and the management headache.
According to research conducted on behalf of secure IM service provider FaceTime, more than a quarter (26 per cent) of London firms believe IM will replace e-mail as the most common communication tool by 2008 - with 38 per cent already allowing staff access to internal and external IM.
Ken Charman, director EMEA at FaceTime, said: "E-mail has been great but the time lag, the management problems, the inefficiency and the way in which people communicate via e-mail means it is no longer as relevant to businesses as it was. Many companies have lost patience with e-mail and are realising now that IM increases productivity."
"You can't be verbose in IM and there isn't the uncertainty as to the availability of the other person," he added. "IM gives you presence."
Charman added: "I see IM allowing companies to reduce their dependence on e-mail."
I dont think that email will be replaced by instant messaging. IM has the exact same problem. Instead of geting spam through your email, imagine every couple of seconds geting a viagra ad through your IM. The solution is closed off mail or IM. If someone is not on your list, you dont revcieve mail. Simple as that. email nd IM are two different things. Theres no point sending some one an instant message if theyre not online, or available. Thats what email os for. And you dont try to have an electronic conversation using email, thats what IM is for. Its like saying that the telephone will replace the mail that comes in your letterbox