The tools available to monitor the websites that your employees visit and the email that they are send and receive are fairly mature and many companies are taking full advantage of them today. But until recently, the ability to monitor employees' time has been hampered by available technology. That's about to change, though, as companies pressure vendors to provide integrated tools and services to monitor employee activity across multiple protocols. Rather than spying on employees, companies are positioning the use of these tools as a way to more accurately view how network resources are being used. Other benefits include the ability to track which employees are using instant messaging, at what time and for what purpose. With that capability, companies can determine who is exceeding the acceptable threshold for personal use. For many CIOs, deciding how much to monitor is a balancing act between practicality and privacy. To determine how far to go, ask yourself what the business imperative is for monitoring and whether it will require a fundamental change in the way your business units operate.

Read more about monitoring employees:
- read the article at SearchCIO

ALSO:
- read this on how real-time monitoring is taking off