Corporate Metaverse
Advocates reconfigure non-virtual business into digital world
In late October last year, Mark Zuckerberg made an announcement that he would change the name of facebook to the new one. I thought that was bold move. He was joking. But to wipe out the bad image of social media and to rebuild the good one from scratch, he did it. My surprise surfaced to add another question, “How will he promote new face with Meta?”
The impact of name change was huge, encompassing the influence to most segments of Meta’s customers. Metaverse of Meta is basically an entertainment metaverse.
But on November 9th, Microsoft and Nvidia, the world largest corporate software firm and a large maker of graphics processors respectively, disclose their move at the party before their customers that both firms would unveil their vision toward enterprise metaverse. Does metaverse go beyond entertainment and into enterprise?
That is what I read about in a short story of the Economist.
It certainly takes unfold in entertainment business for gamers such as Roblox. But two firms create business, profit-making activity, through transaction of products and services to potential customers. How do we understand that?
First of all, what is enterprise metaverse?
The newspaper describes it as a collection of objects. Corporations will be formed in virtual 3D replicas of all sorts of physiall assets. Microsoft and Nvidia jointly work on creating virtual factory of AB InBev, a beer maker, to better control fermentation process for 200 breweries.
Nvidia found a partner, BMW, to use its own corporate version, Omniverse, to make reconfiguration easier in 3D factories of new cars. All of these attempts are in experimental phase, I suppose.
The second question rises to ask, “Does it really take off in business?” Can they go on to the next phase of making a difference beyond the real factory and lab?
The third, and probably the most frequently asked question, will be, “How do they make profit out of corporate metaverse?” What are they going to sell beyond the existing chips and applications to customers?
These questions remain to be answered. But it is surely evident that two firms, along with their competitions, will spend a good portion of their resource to transform real business into digital world.