IT managers should begin experimenting withSecond Lifein business today as the
collaboration tool is expected to become as popular as e-mail
within five years, a report has said.
Virtual worlds offer businesses the chance to
work with customers much closer than currently available
collaboration software.
Developers can release near-final designs of products to a
limited group of external users and solicit feedback before
starting manufacturing, for example.
This can become important for architects, engineers and product
designers, who use Cad models or visualisation systems to explore
or create projects, said Forrester.
The Getting Work Done in Virtual Worlds report from Forrester
argues that businesses should begin following the example of
Starwood Hotels, which used Second Life to trial new rooms, and
Princeton University, which has used it to manage dispersed teams
working on a single project.
The report found that businesses are still
reluctant to embrace virtual worlds and view them as a
frivolous application. Virtual worlds can use large amounts of
bandwidth, which is likely to hang and require reboots, said
Forrester.
To minimise challenges, Forrester recommends that companies
begin experimenting with a virtual worlds with low-level
applications and with clearly defined
usage policies.