20 August 2007
Virtual worlds can offer internal comms benefits
But companies advised about legal risks of virtual environments.
A research note from IT advisory company, Gartner, has indicated that virtual worlds such as Second Life present many potential benefits for organizations – from internal meetings to marketing and press events.
However, as Melcrum's research into social media earlier this year showed, organizations must evaluate the risks relating to such applications.
Useful for internal collaboration
Stephen Prentice, Gartner's vice president and director of research (EMEA), said virtual worlds can pose problems to security and corporate image, but shouldn't be automatically written off as time-wasting games.
Virtual worlds can pose problems to security and corporate image.
"Virtual environments can be useful for internal collaboration, but open applications such as Second Life are probably inappropriate for this, for the simple reason that it's difficult or impossible to verify whether the avatar showing up for the meeting is actually the person it claims to be," Prentice said. There are also numerous risks with opening up corporate intranets or collaborating in public internet spaces.
Private virtual worlds
Instead, Gartner recommended companies look into "private" virtual environments, which can be hosted internally and need not penetrate the firewall. Alternatives could be private virtual worlds built using tools such as computing solutions company Sun Microsystems' Java-based Project Wonderland, Prentice said.
Other IT companies such as IBM and Dell and global banking group, ABN AMRO (see Figure 1. below) are already developing their knowledge of virtual worlds, with the view that a more immersive and visual web experience is the direction in which the internet is heading.
Figure 1. ABN-AMRO's reception in Second Life
This view was supported by in-depth research by Gartner published
in July 2007, stating that "by 2011, 80% of active internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises) will have a 'second life', but not necessarily in Second Life."
According to Melcrum's research into social media earlier this year,
only 10% of corporate communicators agree that virtual worlds and the
3D web are relevant to their role.
The Washington Post's website carries the full story on the latest Gartner research note.
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