Key Performance Indicators - the Steak and the Sizzle

People new to the concept of virtual environments often wonder why companies like HP, Cisco, Intel, AT&T, Siemens, Novartis, DuPont, and Pfizer use them. The simplest answer is this: measurement of key performance indicators.

While Internet marketing techniques have vastly improved the measurement of communications activities, there is still room for interpretation, the data is generally not immediately available to those who need it most, and it's sometimes difficult to correlate the measured behavior with the desired activity. Not so with a properly deployed virtual environment.

That's because while they have all of the functionality of a rich media Web site (and more), virtual environments are designed specifically to provide you with data that helps you achieve your business objectives. Standard Web sites are tasked with investor relations, job postings, maps/directions, providing equal time to all business units, etc., but your virtual environment is yours, will measure what you require, and is there for you to evolve and change.

Cisco has created dozens of virtual environments, each designed to cater to a division's or initiative's business requirements. HP has also created many dozens of virtual experiences, some highly secure internal events, some pure BtoC. Oracle communicates with user groups, Intel conducts sales conferences, DuPont runs promotional campaigns. You get the idea.

The point is this: the power of the Web to reach a broad yet targeted audience, and to measure the interaction that results, is only real if it actually takes place. A virtual environment is the easiest, most cost effective way to create a measurable destination.