It has been a year since Mark Zuckerberg laid out his vision of the metaverse. So this month’s update at Meta’s developers event was a significant milestone.
In launching Meta’s most advanced virtual reality headset the the Quest Pro, it is becoming even clearer that the opportunities for progressing extended reality technologies lie more in the enterprise than the consumer space. The new headset offers powerful mixed reality capabilities so digital content can be viewed overlaid on the real world.
At the launch, Gartner analyst Tuong Nguyen was reported as saying the high launch price made it a device more suited to “high-end, enthusiast and potentially enterprise users” than mass-market.
Perhaps of more significance than its price is how Meta accompanied the launch with evidence of how it is working hard to bring enterprise applications into the metaverse. Microsoft 365 will be available on Quest Pro, as will Teams and Zoom.
I am not surprised that analysts see the new Meta VR headset better suited to enterprise applications. The projections for the take-off of extended reality are much more about commercial than consumer applications, and in fields like collaboration, training, support and design.
The growth in extended reality does provide an opportunity for the channel because these implementations comprise many spinning parts from hardware to software to support. The channel can help package up extended reality solutions that address customer needs whether its enhanced collaboration, virtual training, or the more complex solutions in the industrial or design space. For some resellers, this market offers first mover advantage too, especially when they can overlay their vertical expertise onto these new technologies.
But how the channel addresses this market does require a clear strategic vision and a distribution model that’s designed to facilitate extended reality solution development and deployment.
As a global solutions aggregator, TD SYNNEX is working with an ecosystem of extended reality hardware and software vendors, accessories, services and partners to help grow the market.
Firstly, resellers need to have access to all the key hardware platforms which are supporting the growth that we have seen to date. As well as Facebook, these comprise Google with its Glass hardware, Microsoft HoloLens, HP’s headset range and more recently Lenovo’s ThinkReality VRX headset which is purposely designed for the enterprise. Secondly, the fuel for future growth lies in how a reseller can draw on ISVs who complement the hardware and will allow them to go after horizontal solutions. Thirdly, access to services like configuration and financing that help get extended reality projects off the ground and resolve any objections about cost and risk.
Whether it’s called the metaverse or extended reality, the practical applications of VR, AR and mixed reality are going to become better know and more widely applied across all kinds of industries and sectors. The channel can play a pivotal role here when they can aggregate the right hardware, software, and services to create unique solutions through TD SYNNEX for their customers.
Article submitted by Luc Van Huystee, VP Mobile Europe, TD SYNNEX
