Getting Past the Hype

When IBM held a national conference last October, they estimated saving around $350,000 when they held their October conference in the virtual world ("A Second Chance for Second Life," Wall Street Journal, Aug. 19, 09). IBM is one of several businesses reporting the effectiveness of virtual world technology in ThinkBalm's May 09 Immersive Internet Business Value Study (see link below).

ThinkBalm surveyed 66 businesses and held 15 in-depth interviews in order to grasp a larger picture of current immersive internet business solutions. The results show that businesses are finally getting past the hype and into the practical. Immersive Internet technology once seemed a business risk taken on only by the earliest of early adopters, but now the solid numbers are coming in, and they're impressive.

Ninety-five percent of survey respondents "reported some level of success with their 2008 / 1Q 2009 immersive technology deployments," and 30% of those surveyed recouped initial investment within nine months. The main reasons for client satisfaction with Immersive Internet technology: low cost, innovation, and and real world "presence" only 3-D, virtual world meeting places can provide.

From Cranial Tap's perspective, ThinkBalm's report explains our growing client base. And we're staying ahead of the hype with cutting edge technology, round-the-clock service, and a highly anti-Dilbertian business philosophy of over-delivering on product.

ThinkBalm Immersive Internet Business Value Study, May 09: http://www.thinkbalm.com/reports/.