Virtual Worlds ... Evolving?

I came across an interesting article ... Virtual World Gets Another Life ... The interesting thing this article brings out is the fact that virtual worlds seem to be moving towards a scenario where they can be deployed within the organizational perimeter. This is a distinct move away from the initial intent of virtual worlds, but nevertheless, this seems to be an interesting move, because this could help unleash a large part of the potential of virtual worlds.

The article has some interesting examples of how organizations are working towards getting this environment within the firewall. The most interesting being that of Big Blue. However, the larger question would still remain ... To what extent would this be enabled within the firewall, given the misgivings of managers towards virtual worlds.