Although cost savings and improved communications are luring enterprises to Skype, the popular voice over IP service may violate security policies, industry experts have warned. Burton Group recommended enterprises assess the risks vs. rewards of Skype as the simplest solution for evaluating its use.

In the analyst firm's report entitled "Debunking the Hype About Skype," senior Burton Group analyst Irwin Lazar pointed out that enterprise use of Skype is growing. Those contacted by the analyst cited significant reduction in long distance and mobile phone costs due to extremely low global long-distance rates, as well as Skype's ability to deliver unified communications service for both internal and external use as primary business drivers to investigate Skype.

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