Comments on: IBM: four OpenSim regions for $50,000

By: Maria Korolov

Maria Korolov — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:52:00 +0000

Seraph — If you roll out a corporate deployment with full Lotus integration, Vivox voice, corporate directory support — plus have brand-name recognition like IBM’s behind you, as well as their sales and support, then you can probably get something equivalent.

Sales is probably key. IBM has deep sales relationships with most of the large corporate customers out there. It takes a lot of time and money to build and maintain those relationships, and many independent vendors can’t match that.

You’d also need a fairly large team backing you up — large corporate clients are wary of doing business with individuals, especially for important systems like group collaboration. Something might happen to you — you might get sick, go on vacation, get a job offer, or become unvailable for another reason — and then they’d have nowhere to turn for ongoing support. Especially if, like many developers, you have an idiosyncratic working style that makes it hard for others to figure out what you did. Large organizations IBM mandate standard development processes to avoid just those kinds of problems.

Once you do put together an organization — sales, support, legal — then you’d be in an excellent position to compete, at least for mid-sized clients. Other than IBM on the high end and a few one-man shops on the low end, there are few other companies serving this market, in the US especially.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 05:43:00 +0000

Wow. How do I get into this business? I am a software architect and know my way around most aspects of opensim and second life. I can offer as much or more for half the price with ease.

By: SpotOn3D focuses on content protection – Hypergrid Business

SpotOn3D focuses on content protection – Hypergrid Business — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:24:23 +0000

[...] to ReactionGrid’s $875 price for its “Harmony” server software, however, than IBM’s $50,000 price tag for its Lotus Sametime 3D product (not including [...]

By: Hyperica directory launched - Hypergrid Business

Hyperica directory launched - Hypergrid Business — Wed, 05 May 2010 03:39:21 +0000

[...] enough for non-mission-critical applications last year. In fact, IBM released the OpenSim-based Lotus Sametime 3D virtual meeting product last [...]

By: The Maria Awards - Hypergrid Business

The Maria Awards - Hypergrid Business — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:41:20 +0000

[...] Follow-up article with pricing and other details. [...]

By: 3DXplorer: an enterprise virtual world with Web access - Hypergrid Business

3DXplorer: an enterprise virtual world with Web access - Hypergrid Business — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:18:47 +0000

[...] comparison, both Second Life and IBM’s OpenSim-based Sametime Lotus 3D product offer integrated directional voice. That means if you are sitting in a virtual conference [...]

By: Why You Need A Wine Map | Food And Wine

Why You Need A Wine Map | Food And Wine — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:29:59 +0000

[...] IBM: four OpenSim regions for $50000 – Hypergrid Business [...]

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (209.59.181.47) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP (209.59.181.49) and so is spam.

By: Marty Lognstreet

Marty Lognstreet — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:22:48 +0000

They have Vivox voice based on previous stories. I bet that they have a number of assets and other enhancements to justify the price. It is nice to see this hit the mainstream.

By: KnowSense

KnowSense — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:30:06 +0000

IBM Lotus SameTime 3D – 4 Regions of OpenSim for $50k…

An interview on Hypergrid Business reveals the pricing of the new IBM virtual meeting solution based on OpenSim. It’s worth ……

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (216.40.34.103) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP (216.40.34.100) and so is spam.

By: Maria Korolov

Maria Korolov — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:06:11 +0000

The price tag is actually on the low side for enterprise virtual world applications — and it includes full integration with other enterprise products, including collaboration tools and the corporate LDAP directory.

HIring a team of programmers to do this for you can easy cost several times more, especially for large corporations with complex internal systems.

IBM also says they've put a lot of work into hardening the OpenSim version they're using in the package, and also integrated Vivox directional voice — a pricy feature, if you're trying to do this on your own.

A small company, or one that doesn't have high–end integration requirements and has dedicated staff to install and maintain OpenSim can probably get away with just downloading the free version. Another option is to pay a minimal amount for hosting from companies like ReactionGrid and PioneerX, which do the hardening, the installation, and the maintenance and everything else for really low, low prices — regions start at around $25 a month.

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:39:15 +0000

Sure looks like OpenSIM to me. Wonder why IBM/Lotus tried so hard to give credit where credit is due? hmm….not… And that $12,500 per region or $50,000 for 4 regions is totally ridiculous, especially when the source code is free do download. I’m not saying that IBM’s Lotus Sametime 3D does not have value or worth the huge price tag. I’m learning everyday what it takes to assemble and script objects in virtual worlds, it’s not rocket science but it’s not for the faint at heart either. I just think that if I ever decide to pay that much for something like this, it better teleport me there…physically … lol