Metaverse Evolution Will Be Phased; Here’s What It Means for Tech Product Strategy

The metaverse won’t be mature before 2030, but its potential to change how individuals and organizations interact with one another and the world is so enormous that technology product and service providers already need a strategy. That´s the reason why Gartner recommends evaluating the opportunities in interaction, content (interoperability) and infrastructure as soon as possible.

Gartner expect three overlapping metaverse phases: emerging, advanced and mature. In developing their strategy, tech product leaders need to evaluate the growth and trajectory of the emerging technologies and trends that enable metaverse experiences at each stage. 

As during other periods of technological advancement (e.g., Industrial Revolution, mainframe era, PC era, mobile era), a new set of technology providers will potentially displace some from the previous era. But every organization will need to target its competitive position in the evolving landscape.

Gartner expects that there will be only one metaverse in the same sense that there’s only one internet. No single company will own, control or develop all the necessary technology or build its own metaverse or the metaverse as a whole. The objective for tech product leaders, then, is to understand the metaverse’s path and, in response, take some key steps, as the following:

• Build metaverse products and solutions by generating a pipeline of innovation based on combinatorial emergent technologies, such as spatial computing, rather than a single “killer app.”

• Identify metaverse-inspired opportunities by analyzing current high-value use cases, such as gaming, wayfinding and navigation apps, and virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences, vis-a-vis your product or service.

• Extend collaboration to support metaverse experiences by proactively engaging with or creating an ecosystem of standards, content and service delivery partners to address developing aspects of the metaverse.

• Prepare for business model transformation by assessing trends, such as superapps, composable pricing and API monetization.

Fuente: Gartner Fecha: 8 abril-2022

Effects in Costa Rica exports

The adoption of technologies and business models associated with the metaverse is still incipient and its implementation is fragmented. Therefore, at this early stage it is crucial that companies are informed and aware of the implications that these new technologies may have on their line of business, so that they can make better decisions on how to participate and invest in the metaverse in a more competitive way.

According to a PROCOMER research, the Costa Rican IT sector that offers services based in 4.0 technologies, such as X-Reality or Blockchain, just to mention a few related to the metaverse and new digital technologies. Specifically, it is estimated that companies linked to the Fourth Industrial Revolution represented in 2021 at least 22% of the total IT business park in Costa Rica. If you are interested in learning more about Costa Rican IT services, let us know at newyork@procomer.com