Is integration really important in an enterprise virtual world application? Are additional applications really warranted when a virtual world is able to provide a full gamut of user experiences? Sure extra bells and whistles are cool but it all depends what the main purpose of the virtual world is – if too much is added to an environment it can quickly become overwhelming for the user. Kind of like purchasing a new car and going for the full “extra” package with leather seats (heated no less), the GPS, satellite radio, fake wood accents and all of the other upgrades offered. Sure it is nice but is it really necessary? Experience tells us that more than likely half of the added accessories will probably never even be used!
Dusan Writer recently put together a little poll of readers for what they’d like to see in Second Life Enterprise (SLE): Data visualization was at the top of the list, followed by: Sharepoint integration, calendar Integration, PowerPoint posting, blog widgets, Yammer integration, integration with JIVE, and in-world company profiles linked to email. Although these are all ‘nice to haves’ are any of these applications really necessary? Or will they just lead to further user distraction?
By Ed Heinbockel, President and CEO, Visual Purple, LLC
Too often I hear about the lack of enterprise adoption of virtual worlds and why the technology is slow to be accepted in the workplace today. Among some of the reasons I have heard the most talked about have been: 1) Infrastructure Technology Barriers, and 2) Barrier to Adoption/ Learning curve. Of course the firewall and bandwidth issues will always be a problem to address no matter what type of learning/ training application an organization is looking at implementing. As for the second objection of a large learning curve, I believe that is up to the type of virtual application that the corporation is considering adopting. If it is a simpler training-focused virtual world user functionality is not limited- but the user is not given the full range of flying, speaking/ chatting, teleporting, etc. Within a training focused virtual world the user only needs the basic navigation operations (forward, back, left and right) and none of the fancier elements like raising a hand or teleporting. Another complaint is the size of the virtual world. Customized, private and secure worlds are built as big as you need them with room to expand. So size is no longer a factor.
The future of virtual worlds as an enterprise platform offer an organization willing to be on the cutting-edge an opportunity for high return on investment, shorter product development times, more flexibility of the training program, shorter train-up time and lower cost when compared to traditional methods. Let’s break down the barriers to adoption! Virtual worlds can and will be the next big ‘go-to’ for organizations to utilize for training needs…they are too effective and too efficient to not be widely adopted…a new standard in learning and training is upon us!
