Instant messaging has proven to be similar to personal computers , e-mail , and the WWW , in that its adoption for use as a business communications medium was driven primarily by individual employees using consumer software at work , rather than by formal mandate or provisioning by corporate information technology departments . Instant messaging has proven to be similar to personal computers , e-mail , and the World Wide Web , in that its adoption for use as a business communications medium was driven primarily by individual employees using consumer software at work , rather than by formal mandate or provisioning by corporate information technology departments .