Something’s missing from Microsoft’s industrial metaverse approach, industry analyst says

Microsoft seems to have a cozy yet bullish relationship in the Industrial Metaverse.  Microsoft Executive VP and Chief Commercial Officer Judson Althoff told investors last month that three brand categories have emerged in the Metaverse; consumer, commercial, and industrial.  The metaverse is still young but is showing promise in allowing businesses to better engage and become more productive with clients.  Althoff is known for using ioT technologies instead of prototyping products to help reduce energy and waste.

While these were all things businesses should be pursuing, one thing Althoff seemed to leave out, according to Bob Evans at Acceleration Economy, is how businesses can better connect with their customers and deliver a more refined product. What’s the value of sustainability with less energy consumption and product waste if consumers aren’t impressed with the product or service being delivered? Althoff could have been more persuasive with his argument if he addressed “the ability for businesses to deliver to their customers better and more finely tuned products, services, and experiences,” said Evans.

Althoff had this to say in a conversation with Goldman Sachs analyst Kash Rangan when discussing the industrial metaverse.

“To simplify, I look at it in kind of three buckets: there’s the consumer metaverse, and there’ll be a monetization thing there in the consumer metaverse.

“There’s the commercial metaverse, where people will have more engaging and experiential collaboration in the metaverse. And I do think that there’s an opportunity there to bring people from around the world with different perspectives to collaborate.

“But where I actually have the most amount of passion is in this thing I call the industrial metaverse, and we have real tangible outcomes for driving with customers today. And so think of it as combining sets of technologies and IoT capabilities where you come in and create a sensor fabric for any industrial process, any manufacturing environment, any supply chain or logistics scenario.”

While being industrially efficient does carry a level of importance, interlacing that with great experiences with products and services for consumers is also important. Evans says “I’m all for being as efficient as possible with energy usage, and with reducing waste wherever and whenever possible. But those highly desirable outcomes need to be fused with great experiences for customers, and great products and services and outcomes for customers.” He’s looking for a bit more “dazzle” from Althoff. Do you agree?