Blog: Richard Hackathorn

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Second Life for BI: Initial Thoughts

A year ago, I attended the Second Life Community Convention (SLCC) on a whim. It coincided with a business trip and seems like a fun thing to do. I came away with a collage of fragmented thoughts. The event was a blending of a StarTrek convention with a school reunion. There were hugs everywhere among folks with alternative styles in dress and speech.

This year I returned to SLCC with a focus. Could this virtual world technology have an impact upon our profession in Business Intelligence (BI)? This seems like a ridiculous question, but I believe that it is not. I had the same feeling 15 years ago when the Web was beginning to have an impact on businesses. Remember that the Internet and early Worldwide Web was initially dominated by universities and research institutes. To post a commercial advertisement was against community rules. To send an unsolicited email was the depth of rudeness. Oh, how times have changed!

I wrote an article on Serious Games in Virtual Worlds where I argued that BI will evolve into four levels of serious games. The highest level has a close coupling of the real world of an enterprise with an abstract version in the virtual world. By analyzing, experimenting and planning in the virtual world, appropriate actions could be implemented in the real world toward a goal, such as servicing a customer. IBM has announced that a 24x7 customer center is operational in Second Life, where a real qualified employee will answer questions and discuss problems one-on-one with a customer.

Will virtual world technology, like Second Life, enhance the current two-dimensional Web with increased functionality? Or, will this technology open new opportunities, currently undreamt, for conduct the business of the future?

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