Taking a Second Look at Second Life

Taking a Second Look at Second Life^®

Second Life rolls out Enterprise Beta Product for Corporate Clients

Linden Lab recently announced the creation of their new Second Life Enterprise Beta (SLE), a $55,000 hardware appliance that enterprises can have installed into their data centers within about 30 minutes. The product gives corporate clients the look and feel of working within an immersive environment combined with the security and control a standard intranet provides behind a corporate firewall. Since the product is stand alone and completely disconnect from Second Life’s main grid it provides all of the depth and creativity of working within a Second Life world (or “prim”) without the security concerns; so sensitive information is always protected.

The high price tag (the basic cost doesn’t include any bells and whistles like customized avatars or corporate branding) may have some CFO’s scratching their heads; yet with the continued spike in travel expenses plus wasted hours in the air, the ability to host detail-rich conferences between clients and staff from anywhere around the world from a central Enterprise hub has CEO’s taking a second look at this dynamic, virtual tool.

Conference calls will be replaced by detail-rich, online collaboration where participants can interact via their avatars and use chat or voice to workshare, discuss presentations and team build. SLE comes standard with great features such as Quicktime video streaming, 3 standard collaboration tools and the ability to support 800 concurrent users at any given time.

Companies like me-Interactive^TM, an interactive agency specializing in online development and branding, are working to bring even more customized Enterprise collaborative tools to the standard package. me-Interactive President, Steve Haak, is pleased with SLE’s dynamic design. “The companies we’ve been talking with that want SLE are blown away with what we’re now able to offer. Before the thought of building from scratch in SL was just too much for most of them to consider and it didn’t always make sense if you weren’t selling a product that required heavy brand strategy and marketing. Now they can see the use for SLE to help reduce their internal costs by saving time, money and finding out if it can co-exist with their pre-existing Enterprise resources. It’s also a great stepping stone towards launching brands on Second Life’s main grid”.

Permissible Social Networking?

Until now most corporations have had to lock out access to any form of social networking from work but SLE finally gives companies the chance to capitalize on the inherent nature of it’s employees desire to socialize. Meeting around the “water cooler” will take on new meaning as customized avatars bring employees closer together within SLE’s common areas while allowing departments to interact on a deeper level. SLE allows for a completely customized experience with virtual offices that mimic real life bringing a company’s corporate culture to the forefront. These environments become inviting, micro-cultures where employees truly become a part of company life with diversity and interaction becoming key components.

Companies like Beta Technologies, a Gold Solutions Developer of Second Life content, are working with clients to enrich their SLE experiences by providing branded content as well as virtual on-site SLE Assistants that help new users acclimate to the SLE environment, departments schedule social events and staff organize fundraisers.

Alternatives to SLE‘s Steep Price Tag

On November 6th, 2009, Beta Technologies’ Beta Business Park become the first business-oriented Community Gateway providing a unique community for businesses and the people who own, operate, and work at them. This business-to-people (B2P) community offers a different way to use Second Life for companies that can’t afford the jump to SLE. B2P provides a coherent territory dedicated to businesses and their clients, allowing easy connections between people, as well as convenient shared costs of common facilities.

Jeff Bush, in Beta’s New York office, is excited for what both options have to offer. “We understand not every client is an IMB, New Media Consortium or Northrop Grumman so they might not have a budget for the SLE package”. Bush believes that, “..thankfully the Beta Business Park is a great alternative to taking on the entire cost of having your own company Second Life world built from scratch. It also provides an automatic community of like-minded business owners you can learn and draw support from. Second Life is vast, and without the right tools it can be intimidating for new business owners that know there’s a lot to gain from building community and brand recognition here but don’t know where to start. We’re here to make that transition as smooth and painless as possible.”

Cost Benefits

In the end SLE can save medium and large corporations on a few levels from staff travel expenses to retaining key staff. In Leigh Branham’s book The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave, “feeling unrecognized or devalued” ranks at number 5 and it’s been found that employees will often take lower paying jobs if they feel they are being appreciated and respected more at work. A more inclusive experience at work leads to happier employees less likely to jump ship; saving time and money on training new hires. Just those reasons alone make the initial outlay seem like a small price to pay to keep your organization running more smoothly and effectively.

Screen shots courtesy of Beta Technologies