KEY POINTS:
Businesses looking to leap into the virtual realm should tread carefully, warns research firm Gartner.
Any company that is sensitive to brand issues should exercise particular caution in uncontrolled virtual worlds like Second Life.
Gartner analysts pushed more heavily moderated alternatives like There, Kaneve and Activeworlds.
"The risks enterprises face as a result of their involvement in virtual worlds are real and can be significant," said VP and senior analyst Steve Prentice.
"When planning enterprise activities in virtual worlds, an enterprise's awareness of the risks, as well as a reasoned and objective analysis of them, will enable it to objectively evaluate the overall situation and offset risks against often-nebulous benefits."
He said the virtual realm should not be ignored, as it did produce potential opportunities and benefits, but there were several areas to be wary of.
Actually verifying the identities of people within the game was one area that was potentially dangerous.
Inside virtual worlds like Second Life, people are represented by avatars, or computer-generated renditions of themselves.
Gartner said the ease at which avatars could be created meant that having multiple personalities was common, and confirming who an avatar actually represented was difficult, if not impossible.
A lack of security was also a massive problem, and analysts recommended that no commercially sensitive or confidential information should be exchanged in Second Life or similar worlds, and even within social networking sites.
Despite Gartner's issues with the virtual realm, many businesses have invested in Second Life, and there are plenty of glowing references for getting involved.
