Second Life is introducing a behind the firewall service for enterprise customers, another sign that the very definition of collaboration is changing as more companies seek ways to do their work in virtual environments.
In addition, Second Life will unveil a marketplace in the first quarter of 2010 where people may purchase templates and other 3D environments for their Second Life Enterprise world.
]]> We hear so much about how "people," are at the center of a world where social technologies have an increasingly important role. The reality is that the very definitions of time and place are changing in the enterprise and what it means to be present as a person is becoming increasingly abstract. We see this with the advent of augmented reality, which provides ways to layer our physical world with digital markers. In a 3D world, the applications for business allow for an "always on," world where people may have meetings, go sailing in a virtual sea and use 3D objects for training and other purposes.The Second Life Enterprise environment provides users an added layer of security and the ability to scale an avatar community. Servers are installed in a company's data center, providing the 3D experience. The service can support up to 800 concurrent avatars. Second Life is made up of regions. Second Life Enterprise has the capacity for eight regions that also run concurrently.
The security component is a must for most large enterprises. Second Life Enterprise provides LDAP integration for creating and authenticating accounts.
According to Second Life, the marketplace will include collaboration tools and features that fit in a 3D world. This may include environments for meetings, events and training. Users may purchase business avatars and business oriented environments.
Second Life Enterprise will eventually provide the capability to integrate collaborative applications, meaning if a company wanted to integrate Sharepoint they could do so.
The Second Life platform compares to a service like Proton Media. Proton Media has a number of integrations already in place, including its fit with Sharepoint.
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