90% of Virtual World Projects Fail: Lack of Objectives, People Focus to Blame

According to a recent article from Gartner, 90% of "virtual world" projects (such as Second Life, etc.) fail.

In the article, Gartner notes:

"Many were closed down or abandoned by a lack of clear objectives and a limited understanding of the demographics, attitudes and expectations of virtual-world communities... a successful virtual presence starts with people, not physics."

I'd add that these statements are true for most projects in general. But, for a virtual world project, which changes the way people interact (from many cultures, beliefs and perspectives), this is doubly so.

It's hard to ignore the fact that these "virtual worlds" are here to stay. Gartner predicts that, by 2012, 70% of organizations will have set up private virtual worlds.

Also, as more organizations work virtually, due to expansion, mergers, telecommuting, offshoring, and so on, virtual worlds can help create a sense of community. This can also influence the way we induce change in our organizations. A recent study has shown that major changes happen as a result of influence in social networks.

Here's the Gartner article:

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=670507

Here's another perspective from CIO Magazine.

http://www.cio.com/article/358665/Gartner_Ninety_Percent_of_Virtual_Worlds_Projects_Fail

And here's an article on how people are influenced by social networks:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20080602_How_a_social_network_can_effect_change.html.