Metaverse will become a “big force” within the next three years and it will be a helpful tool for Indian IT companies in processes like employee onboarding and training , Krishnan Ramanujam, President and Head of Business & Technology Services at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), said. It will also help the entertainment and gaming industry, he said.
Ramanujam, who also serves as the vice-chairman of non-profit organisation National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), also predicted that Metaverse will be a big driver of revenue growth for companies in three-to-five years.
The TCS President said that the company is planning to put together proof of concept (POC) — a demonstration of a product, service or solution — which enables consumers to go inside stores in the Metaverse and have the experience of a real store.
“Before the COVID pandemic, people were apprehensive of Cloud storage. They were not sure of its security. However, a nudge to go digital due to the COVID outbreak helped people in changing this outlook. Similarly, Metaverse can take off quickly if pandemic restrictions are imposed again. In my opinion, Metaverse is three years away before it becomes a big force,” said Ramanujam.
However, he maintained that Metaverse probably accounts for a very small portion of the $350 billion IT industry revenue forecast.
Recently, N Ganapathy Subramaniam, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of TCS, had said that the company has “been piloting and investing” in Metaverse. “Metaverse coupled with 5G and 6G technologies is going to revolutionise the way we do business,” he said.
Besides TCS, its rivals Infosys and HCL are also working on embedding various technologies to tap the Metaverse market. As per global investment bank Goldman Sachs, Metaverse is estimated to provide an $8 trillion opportunity and help IT companies expand their offerings to deep tech like Artificial Intelligence, data analytics, and augmented/virtual reality.
First Published:
IST
