Industry news

Virtual worlds offer benefits, says Gartner

Once benefits have been proved many firms will find virtual worlds can lead to innovation and enable a competitive advantage over rivals, one analyst has said.

Gartner revealed organisations that invest in virtual-world projects will see savings in the long-term.

Steve Prentice, the analyst's vice president, said: "We believe that the internal deployment of virtual worlds offers most enterprises significant benefits in cost savings and improved productivity."

The firm has suggested steps to help IT chiefs encourage their firms to invest in the sector, which include suggesting the use of virtual worlds in training to replicate specific environments for role plays.

It also advises the recommendation of using the technology as a key factor in keeping staff morale up by providing social collaboration among staff through a recreated environment to help with the cohesion of the workforce.

The analyst is currently inviting firms to nominate themselves for its inaugural Master Data Management Excellence award.

Companies have up until September 5th to put themselves forward for the award.