FT.com / Companies / IT - IBM ventures into 3D virtual world
IBM ventures into 3D virtual world
By Chris Nuttall in San Francisco
Published: April 3 2008 01:06 | Last updated: April 3 2008 01:06
IBM and Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, are to develop an enterprise-class virtual world to convince companies of the value of communicating through avatars and 3D environments.
The corporate world has been put off virtual worlds such as Second Life by a lack of security, control and stability. There have been sporadic incidents of residents staging terrorist-style attacks on in-world retailers and realtors with virtual bombs and flying genitalia.
The joint project between Linden Lab and IBM will put parts of Second Life’s “Grid” platform behind IBM’s company firewall for greater security and will host it on IBM Bladecenter servers for increased operational scale and stability.
This “first” for Second Life is aimed at creating a packaged product that businesses can deploy quickly. IBM and Linden’s efforts are an attempt to capitalise on a growing corporate demand for more bespoke virtual worlds and puts them in competition with developers including 500 Mirrors, Qwaq and Multiverse.
“The internet, not just Second Life, is the Wild West once you get beyond the corporate firewall,” says Neil Katz, chief technology officer of IBM’s Digital Convergence business.
“We are responding to what our customers have been asking for: they see the value in Second Life but are very concerned about security and want [internal] conversations to stay behind the firewall.”
Ginsu Yoon, head of business affairs at Linden Lab, says: “This is going to be a great test of the Second Life infrastructure in terms of its commercial deployment.”
IBM has staged meetings and demonstrations in Second Life for some time and Sam Palmisano, chief executive, has his own avatar. Last September, Italian IBM workers staged a virtual strike in Second Life over a pay cut.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Showing posts with label IBM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IBM. Show all posts
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Monday, January 21, 2008
FT.com / Companies / IT - IBM to vie with Microsoft for business market
FT.com / Companies / IT - IBM to vie with Microsoft for business market
IBM to vie with Microsoft for business market
By Richard Waters
Published: January 21 2008 16:48 | Last updated: January 21 2008 16:48
IBM is to take another stab at breaking into one of Microsoft’s core markets, with the announcement on Monday of new software initiatives aimed at small businesses.
Slowing growth in the “enterprise” market of big companies and governments has prompted a number of tech giants to look down-market in search of new opportunities. Most notable is SAP, which is trying to break out of its traditional large-company market with its Business By Design line of online services. Quoting research firm IDC, IBM said the IT market for small businesses is worth $400bn a year.
However, the push takes these companies into head-on competition with Microsoft in one of its most entrenched markets, thanks to the near-ubiquitous use of its desktop software and an established network of partners who sell and support its products.
IBM’s plans include a line of server software products for the smallest businesses, or those with between five and 100 employees, a type of customer that IBM has never targeted before.
They also involve a series of “software-as-a-service” (Saas) offerings for slightly bigger companies. With Saas, a tech company takes over a computing function on behalf of a customer and delivers the results over the internet as a service, usually in return for a monthly fee.
IBM has used a series of acquisitions to support its push into the small business market. Last Friday, it announced the purchase of Net Integrations Technologies, a 60-person company in Toronto, whose software will sit at the heart of the new small business server. Other acquisitions have included WebDialogs, a web conferencing concern, whose software is to be embedded in the new Saas initiative.
Known as IBM Lotus Foundations, IBM’s server line will build on the company’s email and collaboration software business. Though no pricing was disclosed, IBM said it would set the level below Microsoft’s Small Business Server, its own entry-level server product for small businesses. The first product to be announced includes a package of basics such as email, data back-up and recovery and office productivity tools.
The small-business software push follows IBM’s announcement last year of a package of productivity applications, known as Lotus Symphony, that directly challenge Microsoft’s Office suite.
With Symphony, IBM hopes to create a “front end” interface through which users can access its other software tools.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
IBM to vie with Microsoft for business market
By Richard Waters
Published: January 21 2008 16:48 | Last updated: January 21 2008 16:48
IBM is to take another stab at breaking into one of Microsoft’s core markets, with the announcement on Monday of new software initiatives aimed at small businesses.
Slowing growth in the “enterprise” market of big companies and governments has prompted a number of tech giants to look down-market in search of new opportunities. Most notable is SAP, which is trying to break out of its traditional large-company market with its Business By Design line of online services. Quoting research firm IDC, IBM said the IT market for small businesses is worth $400bn a year.
However, the push takes these companies into head-on competition with Microsoft in one of its most entrenched markets, thanks to the near-ubiquitous use of its desktop software and an established network of partners who sell and support its products.
IBM’s plans include a line of server software products for the smallest businesses, or those with between five and 100 employees, a type of customer that IBM has never targeted before.
They also involve a series of “software-as-a-service” (Saas) offerings for slightly bigger companies. With Saas, a tech company takes over a computing function on behalf of a customer and delivers the results over the internet as a service, usually in return for a monthly fee.
IBM has used a series of acquisitions to support its push into the small business market. Last Friday, it announced the purchase of Net Integrations Technologies, a 60-person company in Toronto, whose software will sit at the heart of the new small business server. Other acquisitions have included WebDialogs, a web conferencing concern, whose software is to be embedded in the new Saas initiative.
Known as IBM Lotus Foundations, IBM’s server line will build on the company’s email and collaboration software business. Though no pricing was disclosed, IBM said it would set the level below Microsoft’s Small Business Server, its own entry-level server product for small businesses. The first product to be announced includes a package of basics such as email, data back-up and recovery and office productivity tools.
The small-business software push follows IBM’s announcement last year of a package of productivity applications, known as Lotus Symphony, that directly challenge Microsoft’s Office suite.
With Symphony, IBM hopes to create a “front end” interface through which users can access its other software tools.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
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