Can Gaming Help SOA and BPM?

IBM today launches

Innov8, a 3D virtual reality game intended to teach business types about SOA and BPM. According to IBM, it will both help align business with ITand reduce an alleged skills shortage.

From the trailer,Innov8 looks more interesting than the average corporate marketing.But is a computer game really the best way to attract non-technicalpeople to technology?

IBM clearly anticipates a lot of skepticism. To convince peoplethat games are a useful teaching tool, it's working with the SeriousGames Initiative, part of DC think tank the Woodrow WilsonInternational Center for Scholars. The initiative itself looksworthwhile, and it's a great site to bookmark for anyone whose bosssays that playing Second Life isn't a worthwhile use of companyresources.

As IBM and the SGI point out, games aren'tjust entertainment, and haven't been since the original FlightSimulator. They're now used in applications as diverse as armyrecruitment, training trauma surgeons and spreading awareness ofglobal warming. So why not SOA and BPM?

One reason is that the virtual environment seems to make an already complex area even more complex. IBM's demo(not the trailer) shows avatars running around a virtual cube farmand using virtual desktop PCs. The whole thing looks unnecessarilyrecursive, and I can't help thinking the 3D avatars don't really addanything.Still, Innov8 isn't aimed at me (or at you.) IBM says it'sintended for MBA students, and is already being used by more than 20schools and colleges as part of the curriculum. I'll be interested tosee what they learn from it.