Accelerating the Enterprise Journey into the Metaverse

The Metaverse is envisioned as an immersive digital universe that is constantly evolving and growing, with limitless possibilities for discovery and engagement. It is the next big step in the evolution of the Internet and Web 3.0 as people’s experiences with computing transform from 2D to 3D. 

The Metaverse will include virtual places and things built by creators and empowered by technologies such as generative AI, 5G and 6G networks, haptics, decentralized blockchain protocols, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and crypto currencies. However, the Metaverse is not a destination today. There are no road signs, URLs, or even a red pill that will take you there. The Metaverse is being created in a continuing evolution and convergence of devices, applications, transactions, and Internet infrastructure.

There’s still a lot of work to make the Metaverse happen. But the good news is it is happening. Right now, extended reality (XR) solutions for the enterprise are already thriving. It will serve as a foundation for much larger and deeper experiences that consumers will know as the Metaverse in the future.  

Enterprise Metaverse 
Enterprise workers are now using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to get things done on the job and create value. XR technologies are enabling workers to reduce training times by 4X while increasing effectiveness through immersive learning. XR workflow applications also help reduce error rates to near zero by giving workers real-time information in digital overlays on head-worn devices as they use or fix machinery and perform other tasks. Learning and workflow XR solutions will be critical technology to help address the broadening skills gaps in workforces around the world.

Enterprises are not only empowering frontline workers with XR solutions, but also helping specialists and business leaders enhance management, ideation, and design. Meetings, as well as research and development projects, are being conducted in immersive virtual spaces for better connectivity between talent dispersed across geographies. XR applications also allow engineers to improve the design of everything from automobiles and the cities they drive through by leveraging 3D models and AI-powered digital twins replicating real-world environments. These applications will help decrease the consumption of costly materials and travel. 

Maybe you haven’t experienced any of this yet. But you will. The XR industry is following the same patterns as other computing form factors before it—the PC and smart phone. In the 80s, office workers tapped and scrolled on PCs long before they invested their own money for a ‘home computer’. Then in the 90s, workers that needed to stay connected were issued cellular phones, their experiences popularized the form factor before smart phones became ubiquitous consumer technology. Now, AR and VR headsets are the latest technology to go through the enterprise crucible before becoming mainstream.

With this industry trend in mind, it must be noted that the XR industry now is not simply a race to offer the best hardware at the best price. It is a much more complicated enterprise procurement exercise focused on getting the right mix of hardware, software, and services from a trusted global supplier. 

Metaverse as a Service (Maas)
This is where Metaverse as a Service comes in. The competition for leading in the enterprise Metaverse all boils down to making it easier to build, deploy and manage enterprise AR and VR solutions at scale. Some firms make a great headset, wonderful. Some firms have a slick platform for 3D meetings and collaboration, fantastic. It’s not enough. We also need to talk about interoperability, manageability, and security. Because if the enterprise customer can’t manage the solution with ease and confidence over the entire lifecycle, then they can’t achieve scalable results with the desired ROI.

What enterprise XR customers need are solutions that are reliable, flexible, able to address the most popular use cases, and help simplify the rolling out of new cutting-edge technology into businesses’ workstreams to do things they’ve never done before.

Amid the current enterprise environment’s focus on digital transformation, technology stacks are getting larger, and workers’ experiences and expectations are highly dynamic. Firms need trusted technology partners, like Lenovo ThinkReality, which can either build upon or vet and collaborate with the best technology.

Enterprise customers need partners that have the means to plan, deploy and manage the technology so solutions that accelerate business today don’t become roadblocks tomorrow. This requires an open solution to always make the best hardware and software components for the use case available to customers. There is a lot of discussion of “whose Metaverse” will win. The fact is “open” always wins.

How do you evaluate your Metaverse-as-a-Service provider? First of all, size matters. Global firms need worldwide support 24/7. Secondly, professionalism matters even more. Fortune 500 firms have little patience for startups that cannot deliver on time and on budget. Finally, knowledge and experience are paramount. Trusted technology partners who have supported and helped manage a lot of enterprise XR deployments will be better positioned to foresee problems and create solutions for customers.

And once a firm is ahead of the competition, the right partner can help keep them there by offering a growing set of solutions and services. Partners should preferably be ones that are open-sourced and flexible, or else the enterprise may find itself stuck in a walled garden of proprietary services from the cloud to applications and hardware, limiting choices and increasing spending.

As firms look to scale into the Metaverse, they need to make sure to qualify the technology partners at their side, as they’ll hopefully be there for the long haul. From hardware and software to the services supporting them, the enterprise needs the technology and team that can scale with the seemingly limitless possibilities of the Metaverse.

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Disclaimer: Disclaimer: This article has been produced on behalf of the brand by HT Brand Studio