There has been a rash of articles and publications recently emphasising the real benefits for enterprises in use of Virtual Worlds, including Forterra's paper 'Recipe For Success' and Jani Pirkola's discussion of developing realXtend using agile methods based partly in the VW itself. (I still plan to write in more detail about both of these soon!) Now CyberTech News has a post that includes a very succint set of reasons why Second Life misses the mark as a platform for enterprise use, the main ones being:

  • No way to connect other grids or platforms and teleport between them

  • No easy way to extend the API or influence other technical aspects

  • No choice/control over service level

  • No local install for behind-the-firewall use or as a private walled-garden

  • Voice solution won't work with most company firewall policies


I think this is spot on, and I would add to it that getting the SL client itself installed and working within most corporate IT networks is a huge challenge, requiring many steps that run counter to corporate IT policy, starting from downloading the client from a location that is often blacklisted as a games site to then being actually able to do the install to configuring the necessary proxies to opening countless firewall ports (even if VOIP isn't required). Add to that ensuring that the graphics capabilities on a corporate PC are up to the task and you have a huge uphill battle.

Despite this there are still people trying, because SL is I believe the most comprehensive, stable consistent, immersive platform with an unbeatable range of content and social activities. But for how much longer? OpenSim and Wonderland are both catching up, and in the case of OpenSim in some respects overtaking. I still spend time in SL to socialise, to explore and to feel part of a living, evolving big world, but for business meetings and enterprise use? It's starting to look as if OpenSim will be the platform of choice for the next couple of years and maybe Wonderland will be in beta by then. Exciting times.