6. Technologies and practice of strategic innovation management of global firms

6.5. Features of organizing and managing virtual enterprises

Virtual enterprises are one of the new organizational forms of enterprises. The development of new forms of organization and management of an enterprise was largely influenced by such trends in the development of modern markets as the globalization of markets, the growing importance of product quality, its price and degree of consumer satisfaction, the increasing importance of sustainable relationships with consumers (individual customers), as well as the growing importance of the degree application of new information and communication technologies.

As you know, in the 80s. the main directions for improving the activities of enterprises were total quality management and the use of minimalist strategies aimed at the optimal management of various resources. In the 90s. the main slogan was the principles of business process reengineering aimed at moving from functional units to business processes consisting of autonomous interdisciplinary teams focused on better customer satisfaction. By the end of the 90s. and the beginning of the 21st century, the key topic is the transition to virtual and networked principles of enterprise organization.

In some works, virtual enterprises are also referred to by other terms: “network enterprises”, “limitless enterprises”, “extended enterprises”. As a rule, we are talking about a network of partners (enterprises, organizations, individual teams and people) jointly engaged in the development, production and marketing of certain products.

It should be emphasized that the enterprise virtualization space includes three main categories of phenomena:
- virtual market - a market for goods and services that exists on the basis of communication and information capabilities of global networks (Internet);
- virtual reality, i.e. display and simulation of real developments and production in cyberspace, which is both a tool and a medium;
- virtual (network) organizational forms.

This subsection examines the features virtual organizational forms and approaches to the management of enterprises using this organizational form. Issues regarding the virtual market and virtual reality are practically not touched upon, although in the real activities of enterprises, these three categories may be interrelated.

There are many definitions of a virtual enterprise as a network organizational form. However, taking into account the specifics of the practical functioning of such structures, a virtual enterprise can be defined as a temporary cooperative network of enterprises (organizations, individual teams and people) with key competencies for the best fulfillment of a market order, based on a single information system.

From a marketing point of view, the goal of a virtual enterprise is to make a profit by maximizing the satisfaction of the needs and requirements of consumers in goods (services) faster and better than potential competitors. Obviously, this goal is inherent in all market-oriented enterprises. But, firstly, virtual enterprises, as a rule, are focused not on meeting the needs and requirements of some “average” market segment, but on fulfilling certain market orders up to satisfaction of certain requests of specific consumers (customers). And, secondly, the virtual enterprise increases the speed and quality of order fulfillment by combining the resources of various partners into a single system.

From a practical point of view, a conventional (“monolithic”) enterprise, for example, requires significant resources to develop and bring a new product to the market. In contrast, a virtual enterprise is looking for new partners with resources, knowledge and abilities that meet market needs to jointly organize and implement this activity. That is, enterprises (organizations, individual teams, people) are selected that have core competence in the form of resources and abilities to achieve a competitive advantage in the market.

As a rule, the partnership is concluded for a certain period of time or until a certain result is achieved (for example, the completion of an order). In other words, partnership is temporary, and, for example, at certain stages of the product life cycle or when the market situation changes, new partners may be attracted to the network or old ones may be excluded.

Naturally, for the effective functioning of the entire network, partner enterprises should be based on an agreed business process. When, for example, in order to best meet market needs, many enterprises are combined into a network, most often geographically remote, then it is obvious that such enterprises find it difficult to coordinate their actions without a system of operational information and communications. Therefore, in order to solve information problems, the network must have unified information system based on the widespread use of new information and communication technologies.

In view of the foregoing, one can single out the key advantage of virtual forms of organizations: the ability to select and use the best resources, knowledge and abilities with less time. From this advantage and the network organization itself, such main competitive advantages of virtual enterprises follow as:
- speed of execution of the market order;
- the possibility of reducing total costs;
- the ability to better meet the needs of the customer;
- the possibility of flexible adaptation to environmental changes;
- the ability to reduce barriers to entry into new markets.

A number of projects have been developed to provide information support to such entrepreneurship. The NIIIP project in the United States developed open software protocols for industry that allowed manufacturers and their suppliers to communicate effectively. In Europe, a number of ESPRET projects have been developed to develop an appropriate architecture and supporting infrastructure for virtual entrepreneurship, including for small and medium-sized firms.

The paper investigates the collaborative design and manufacturing system for virtual organizations CDMS (Collaborative design and manufacturing system), describes the architecture of the agent for the implementation of such virtual organizations in CDMS, presents an example of joint planning of several enterprises.

A virtual organization in CDMS has the following characteristics:
- it is different from the "physical" organization;
- it is usually open and dynamic;
- it is rebuilt in configuration and scale;
- it is distributed geographically;
- it consists of heterogeneous components (software, architecture, human resources, etc.);
- coordination mechanisms are required to ensure the stability of the system.

CDMS introduces blocks of mediators to combine various production activities and coordinate various types of intelligent agents.

The generic model of mediators includes seven levels of activity: entrepreneurship, product specification and design, virtual organization, planning and distribution of executive power, communication, and training. A hybrid system of agent architectures is shown in fig. 38. Here the system of production is organized as the highest level through a system of special mediators. Each subsystem is connected (integrated) through a special mediator.

The infrastructure of the system of cooperation agents is shown in fig. 39

Fig.39. Collaboration Agent System Infrastructure

The main characteristics of virtual organizations in the CDMS system are summarized as follows:
1. Agents are software components connected by a network and, therefore, convenient for embedding in a virtual organization, but not physically connected.
2. Openness and dynamism are the primary features of an agent-based architecture.
3. The modularity and autonomy of agents makes such systems capable of reconfiguration and scaling.
4. An agent-based system may include agents distributed over all kinds of networks, including the Internet.
5. It is relatively easy to integrate heterogeneous components/systems using conventional communication languages and protocols.
6. Coordination mechanisms are very useful for CDMS, in particular in the development and production of complex systems.

The new opportunities we talked about above have radically changed the configuration of markets. The digital economy assumes the existence of two types of markets - real and virtual. Driven by the Internet and digital technologies, banks, insurance companies, travel agencies and almost every other type of business activity have added to their presence in real markets a presence in virtual markets.

Markets (continued) mass 11, 18 stock 147 Virtual market 9, 15, 23-24, 28-29, 71, 100, 141 study 9 research 22 update 156, 161 personalized 67 intelligence 120-121 real 23-24, 28- 29, 71, 141 segmentation 32

The real-time scale means that you receive information about transactions from opposite sides - supply and demand - instantly, within a few seconds after they are concluded or announced. You are watching the markets virtually at the same time as those who form them. In contrast, data at the end of the day reflects the total for the day (open, close, high and low prices). Much of the analysis carried out by investors can be successfully done on the basis of this data.

Thus, in just a few years, a completely new market has formed - the domain name market or the virtual real estate market.

The last decades of the XX century. were characterized by a move away from centrally coordinated, layered hierarchies in organizations and towards a variety of more flexible structures based on horizontal ties. The transfer of market relations to intra-company communications (domestic markets) brought to life a new type of structure - network and virtual organizations.

Describe the reasons for the emergence and the organizational mechanism for the functioning of organizations with internal markets, network and virtual companies.

Virtual commerce via the Internet with the help of the latest technologies means for the company, above all, improving the competitive position. In any case, in this market you can feel, without exaggeration, on an equal footing with the world's largest corporations, since you have a real opportunity to create an electronic store, at least not worse than others. The essential point in this case is the fact that the territory of the entire globe will fall into the scope of your activity. These trends determine the high importance of this market.

The ways of developing and implementing a marketing strategy when introducing products and technologies to the newest and most rapidly developing market - the worldwide computer network Internet are considered. The possibilities of presenting information about business, products or technologies to millions of prospective buyers by entrepreneurs are shown, as well as the use of electronic resources to obtain the necessary data about consumers and competitors, identify specific groups of potential consumers of products or technologies and make contact with them, open virtual electronic stores on all over the world and compete on an equal footing even with large companies. The methods of conducting marketing research on the Internet are considered. Information about the development of the Russian-speaking part of the Internet is given and some recommendations are given on its use to penetrate the Russian and foreign markets. At the end of the chapter is a glossary of commonly used English terms related to computer technology and the Internet.

It is believed that the 90s is the era of limitless virtual corporations, consisting of a network of independent companies and connected using advanced information technology. There is an exchange of skills and efforts, as well as gaining access to technologies and partner markets. Such partnerships were meant to be temporary and sensitive to rapid changes in the world market. The communication superhighway should allow remote branches of various companies to quickly find suppliers, developers and manufacturers through the information exchange. Once connected, these virtual corporations will sign "e-contracts" to speed up communication without the hassle of legal issues. The key factor for this was the development of advanced technology. Years of "lessons learned" have shown even the most ardent technologists that there are a number of important organizational difficulties in establishing and maintaining such "technological" cooperation. Advanced technology has not made organizations, communities, and strategic regions more interconnected. It is an important tool that can make this task easier. The real change must take place in the area of behavior and management.

Where there is real money, there are real emotions. Of course, you can worry about virtual reality, but this in no way compares with real work. While trading, you experience the most diverse range of emotions - fear, greed, pride, joy, excitement, anticipation of the jackpot ... The list is endless. With "virtual" money, you can learn to fight the market - you will look like a boxer who works with a punching bag, but has never seen a live opponent whose fists are the size of an Astrakhan watermelon. So on a training account you will never learn how to cope with yourself. And the ability to control your emotions and manage them is no less important skill than knowing the properties of an indicator.

According to classical views, the main function of the secondary stock market is the redistribution of investment flows to the most promising and dynamically developing sectors of the economy. However, at present, on the scale of all national secondary markets for shares, only an insignificant part of the money goes from the secondary market to the primary, and from there to real production. If this were not so, and a sufficiently large amount of money would go from the secondary market to the primary market, then the volume of TFR would fall. Along with it, stock quotes would also fall. But that doesn't happen. The inflow of money into the market significantly exceeds the outflow (the most typical example is the growth of the US stock market in the 1990s). The lion's share of players' funds settles on the market, forming stationary capital (TFR). The secondary market is thus reborn, separated from the real economy. It turns into a theater of speculative games. The trend of turning the secondary market into a kind of virtual world began a long time ago. Consider, for example, France in the 1930s. XIX century - the speculative empire of Louis Philippe, the prosperity of the rentier class and stock market players. In addition, a powerful stratum of professional market participants (trade organizers, brokers, dealers, managers, depositories, etc.) is forming, which lives at the expense of players, lives at the expense of the market. The people working in these organizations do not produce any material wealth. They just provide a certain kind of service to the subjects of trade. In fact, they are dependent on society. Thus, the modern secondary market for shares is for the most part not a tool for redistributing investment flows, but simply a place where large players do their business.

State regulators and competition authorities should regularly monitor competitive energy markets. The experience of foreign countries shows that often the results of competition between energy companies are their mergers and acquisitions in various forms of horizontal and vertical integration. The threat of new energy producers entering the market alone can provoke a merger of private energy companies. Large multifunctional companies are also being created, whose activities include electricity, heat and gas supply, water supply, communications, and even retail trade in various consumer goods. Ultimately, this may lead to the establishment of "virtual monopolies" with corresponding monopoly prices, which means that the very idea of a liberalized market will be discredited to energy consumers who are most interested in effective competition among energy producers.

In a virtual marketplace, a company must make a large initial investment to create an offer and build networks, but the variable costs will be relatively small going forward. Some goods and services (e.g. information, music software) can be digitally reproduced and delivered electronically at virtually zero cost.

Work in both real and virtual markets

More and more companies are gradually moving their activities from real markets with a physical value chain to virtual ones, and they should definitely think seriously about the scope of their business.

Companies are also recognizing the power of direct marketing in communicating their messages by telephone, mail, and the Internet. They use PR tools - newsletters, press releases, events and sponsorships - to generate attention and spread word of mouth in real and virtual markets, and use databases, data analysis, automatic Internet connection and email to build their own relationships with target audiences. consumers.

Virtual (shell) firms Organizations in which part of the business functions, primarily production, are contracted out to third-party contractors. The shell company, for a fee, takes on the relationship of the manufacturer of products with the market (surrounds the shell) and ensures its adaptation to the market, promotion of the product on the market, market research, search for a buyer, negotiation, conclusion of all necessary contracts, etc., thereby reducing the transaction costs of the manufacturer

All of the above circumstances can be significantly expanded. They clearly demonstrate the limitations of the old accounting system to fully function in the system of modern economic management based on private property, competition and consumer domination. The new system of virtual or analytical accounting makes it possible to fill in the gaps of the old system and adapt it to modern market conditions.

A VIRTUAL ENTERPRISE is a network of legally independent but economically dependent enterprises that, on the basis of common goals, introduce certain services to the market.

The virtualization space includes four categories of phenomena - the virtual marketplace, virtual reality, and intra- and inter-organizational networking. The latter are covered by one concept - virtual infrastructures.

Firms that have mastered the Internet earlier than others have not only shown themselves to be fast learners. They are also leading the way in redefining the boundaries of their business. Atagop.com, which started to sell books on the Internet, has started selling CDs as well, and sees no reason why it shouldn't sell other products as well. Your company's initial motivation to go online may be the desire to cut costs and attract new customers - but once you connect with your customers online, it opens up incredible opportunities for you to offer a wider range of products. For example, Bayoo and other Internet portals have already opened their own online travel agencies. Starting an online business is not like opening a new branch of a bank that you can train to provide a limited set of services. The virtual nature of the Internet allows you to open trade with anything, it would only be the desire of your buyers. Increasingly, we will see cases like Atagop, where a company that has established a strong position in an area of online services expands its product range into new areas. This trend serves as a dire warning to organizations in any industry - even if your market sector has not yet emerged specialized Internet companies, it may be invaded by powerful online firms from other areas, seeking to fill all the free commercial niches.

Small firms must clearly understand from the fact that they can produce a good product, nothing will change on the market. The level of technology development in the world is so high that there has long been a practice of virtual companies that do only development, for the actual production, it is impossible to find proper customers f eii / it is much easier to produce anything than to sell anything. In support of this, I would like to cite some facts from a recent conversation with a well-known English venture capitalist of American origin, Harry Fitigibbons, who, by the way, organized a venture fund in

As you know, in the 80s, the main directions for improving the activities of enterprises were total quality management and the use of minimalist strategies aimed at the optimal management of various resources. In the 90s, the main slogan was the principles of business process reengineering, aimed at moving from functional units to business processes consisting of autonomous interdisciplinary teams focused on better customer satisfaction. By the end of the 90s and the beginning of the 21st century, the transition to virtual and networked principles of enterprise organization is becoming a key topic.

In some works, virtual enterprises are also referred to by other terms: “networked enterprises”, “limitless enterprises”, “extended enterprises”. As a rule, we are talking about a network of partners (enterprises, organizations, individual teams and people) jointly engaged in the development, production and marketing of certain products.

It should be emphasized that the enterprise virtualization space includes three main categories of phenomena:

1. virtual market - a market for goods and services that exists on the basis of communication and information capabilities of global networks (Internet);
2. virtual reality, i.e. display and simulation of real developments and production in cyberspace, which is both a tool and a medium;
3. virtual (network) organizational forms.

To identify the “right” structure, a company should first define its goals and what needs to be achieved, and then try to understand what structure will achieve these goals. Virtual organizations are not an end in themselves: the transition to virtual forms does not mean "abandonment of management" or the achievement of ultimate goals. From a strategic point of view, virtual organizations should be considered as a strategic alternative. Moreover, this alternative should be implemented when and only when management has analyzed the needs of the business and customers and concluded that the capabilities of virtual organizations will be much better to meet them than in the case of traditional forms.

It is the Internet that makes virtual organizations easier and more suitable for different types of businesses. It is now possible to extract information, analyze it and exchange it much faster: in addition, the volume of information has increased significantly. Every day the Internet is becoming more and more a business area. Virtual organizations enter our lives regardless of our will and consciousness. All this creates many opportunities, but also many problems, ranging from additional costs for technology to completely new management methods.

Firstly, virtual enterprises, as a rule, are not oriented towards meeting the needs and requirements of some “average” market segment, but towards fulfilling certain market orders up to satisfying certain needs of specific consumers (customers). Secondly, the virtual enterprise increases the speed and quality of order fulfillment by combining the resources of various partners into a single system.

From a practical point of view, a conventional (“monolithic”) enterprise, for example, requires significant resources to develop and bring a new product to the market. In contrast, a virtual enterprise is looking for new partners with resources, knowledge and abilities that meet market needs to jointly organize and implement this activity. The partnership is concluded for a certain period or until a certain result is achieved, it is temporary, and at certain stages of the product life cycle or when the market situation changes, new partners may be attracted to the network or old ones may be excluded.

Naturally, for the effective functioning of the entire network, partner enterprises should be based on an agreed business process. When, for example, in order to best meet market needs, a large number of enterprises, most often geographically remote, are combined into a network, then it is obvious that such enterprises find it difficult to coordinate their actions without operational information and communications. Therefore, in order to solve information problems, the network must have a single information system based on the widespread use of new information and communication technologies.

In view of the above, one can single out the key advantage of virtual forms of organizations: the ability to select and use the best resources, knowledge and abilities with less time. From this advantage and the network organization itself, such main competitive advantages of virtual enterprises follow as:

1. speed of execution of a market order;
2. the possibility of reducing total costs;
3. the possibility of a more complete satisfaction of the needs of the customer;
4. possibility of flexible adaptation to environmental changes;
5. the ability to reduce barriers to entry into new markets.

The analysis of the activities of virtual enterprises showed that the main characteristics of the virtual form of organization are:

1- open distributed structure;
2- flexibility;
3- priority of horizontal links;
4- autonomy and narrow specialization of network members;
5- high status of information and personnel means of integration.

Obviously, appropriate management approaches are also necessary for planning, organizing and coordinating the activities of virtual enterprises. It is easy to see that when creating virtual enterprises, there may be enterprises that concentrate their efforts solely on the management of third party competencies. In this case, such an enterprise must have at least the following abilities:

1. be able to identify and involve the key competencies necessary for the implementation of the project (aspects of knowledge management);
2. based on the acquired competencies, organize the process of creating and marketing products (aspects of the network functioning).

Based on this, it is possible to formulate in general terms the main functions of managing a virtual enterprise as a network of partners:

1. definition of requirements (tasks) of the project.
2. search and evaluation of possible partners (performers).
3. selection of performers who optimally match the tasks.
4. attraction and distribution of performers.
5. constant tracking and redistribution (if necessary) of partners and resources for tasks.

Along with the advantages listed above, virtual enterprises also have some disadvantages, or rather, weaknesses:

1. excessive economic dependence on partners, which is associated with the narrow specialization of network members;
2. the actual lack of social and material support of their partners due to the rejection of the classic long-term contractual forms and conventional labor relations;
3. the danger of overcomplication arising, in particular, from the heterogeneity of enterprise members, ambiguity regarding membership in it, the openness of networks, the dynamics of self-organization, the uncertainty in planning for members of a virtual enterprise.

In other words, the principles of virtual organizational forms predetermine the “deficiency” of autarky and motivation of entrepreneurs included in the network. Obviously, the rejection of tried and tested organizational and managerial principles needs certain substitutes. Indeed, within the framework of the network approach, the principles of network culture, reciprocity and a climate of trust are called upon to serve as such substitutes. However, in terms of the level of development, they cannot yet serve as a sufficient basis for compensating for the abolished principles.

Virtual organizations should be led by "five plus". Management must strictly comply with the basics of business and quickly grasp the features of the new environment, be able not only to use the latest technologies, but also to “think virtually”, work in a world where imagination and creativity are very important, but where no one has canceled hard facts and data. A balance must be struck, and failure to achieve it often means failure in business.

Before implementing the idea of virtualization, as a first step, it is recommended to explore the industry (or market) opportunities for the operation of a virtual organization. The subject of analysis should be the degree of globalization of the industry, terms, costs, the possibility of flexible behavior, the level of product quality and innovative potential. The more clearly the criteria are expressed according to the results of the analysis, the more the industry is suitable for the virtualization of the production of goods.

After making a fundamental decision to create a virtual organization, it is necessary to get answers to a number of questions. In the first place are the needs for additional resources and abilities. To determine them, the company's management must analyze the structure of production of goods and services from the foundation of the enterprise to its current state, as well as evaluate the role of its own competencies at each stage of the production process. In order to make a final decision, it is important to establish the need for cooperation with partners in order to achieve maximum synergies within the new network.

The dilemma "network - partners" involves determining the nature of the partnership (individuals, groups of individuals, enterprises), the geographical boundaries of the choice of partners, the requirements for them, the list of functions that they must perform in the structure of a virtual organization. It is important to find out to what extent the new network will affect the old boundaries of the enterprise.

As for the architecture of the network, we are talking about the form that would best achieve the goals of producing goods in the new conditions. This can be a partner pool or an open partnership created to fulfill special orders. An assessment of the capabilities of the existing communication and technological infrastructure raises the question of additional capital investments and risks associated with the creation of a virtual network.

In conclusion, it should be emphasized that the process of development of network and virtual forms of organizations is characterized by a lag between fundamental scientific research and practical experience. While the success of many functioning virtual enterprises is clear, in a broader context, many questions about the organization and operation of virtual enterprises remain open. Some of the problems here can be assessed as a kind of growing pains inherent in any innovative concept.

The issues of managing virtual companies are also still quite confusing.

The main functions of managing a virtual enterprise as a network of partners, apparently, consist in defining tasks and clarifying the requirements of a virtual project, selecting and evaluating possible partner agents (executors), monitoring the implementation of the project as a whole, redistributing (if necessary) tasks, replacing partners and resources. There are three main types of virtual enterprises:

1. with a centralized type of management, in which "agents" act on behalf of their organizations, and one of the "agents" manages the process: clarifies the task, issues tasks to other "agents", summarizes the results and makes a decision;
2. with a distributed type of control, where knowledge and resources are distributed among “agents”, but a common command control body is retained that makes decisions in conflict situations;
3. with a decentralized type of management, in which all management processes are carried out only through local interactions between "agents".

The absence of the need for standard administrative management structures is one of the most important advantages of virtual enterprises. Indeed, the coordination superstructure of the virtual enterprise is primarily responsible for the targeted coordination of efforts.

Nevertheless, management is always present in the form of one of the dedicated agents, a common command management body, etc. And here it is very important to develop a management and decision-making model, develop criteria and indicators for strategic management of a virtual enterprise, a balanced scorecard for assessing the quality of a virtual order being executed. , form groups dealing with conflict resolution.

To date, the virtual space has firmly entered our lives, or rather, we have firmly entered the virtual space. We virtually make banking transactions, pay for railway and air tickets, buy clothes, watches, household appliances and cars, etc.

As a rule, goods supplied in this way are of excellent quality and have no analogues in the Russian or regional markets (foreign assembly, new technologies, etc.). The absence of the official website of the company with which we are going to cooperate, in one way or another, may lead to refusal to work with it. We are not afraid of the risks associated with the return of goods, which increase the time for the return of money when returning electronic tickets, we "keep up with the times."

How do virtual producers (sellers) work? The existing economy has already begun to be called a network economy, and in management theory the definition of "virtual" has become a key one. Increasingly, there is talk of virtual organizations and the virtual marketplace.

In principle, a virtual enterprise has all the capabilities and potential that an “ordinary market enterprise” has, however, it does not have a strict framework and is not tied to a specific place (region).

A virtual enterprise is an enterprise of the network economy - a “quasi-organization” - “a voluntary temporary form of cooperation of several, as a rule, independent partners (enterprises, institutions, individuals), which, thanks to the optimization of the system of production of goods, provides great benefits to customers.”

Based on a shared business vision and a strong culture of trust, cooperative partners share their core competencies in the form of resources and capabilities to achieve a better, cheaper, faster, more flexible and competitive advantage on an international scale. From the client's point of view, the information economy acts as a single enterprise, using the capabilities of the most modern information technologies (IT).

The virtual market that emerged with the help of IT is not much different from the classical market: the same free flow of capital, freedom of choice for both sellers and consumers, free access to information.

However, lower costs, flexibility, shorter delivery times for products (services) and equal rights for all market participants make it more and more attractive. In addition, Russian customers, tired of fakes, poor-quality assembly and inadequate service, are increasingly eager to contact foreign manufacturers (sellers).

At the same time, a virtual enterprise, while reducing some costs, inevitably increases others: the need for outpacing sales growth, the creation of a new product, etc.

Virtual enterprises can be represented in virtual markets, both in the form of an enterprise and a virtual company that fully takes over all the information and communication capabilities of IT.

In the Russian market, the creation and functioning of virtual enterprises occurs both independently and through the activities of branches of familiar brands, while in industrial business, educational and other institutions, the presence of IT is an indicator of the level of development of the organization, and electronic document management is an indicator of the level of organizational and corporate culture.

Russian companies with foreign economic activity were the first to use IT, which by now has determined their scope both domestically and abroad. The problem is that Russian companies blindly adopt the experience of foreign companies, not taking into account national and regional specifics.

The IT market in Russia is regarded as promising. It can be characterized as growing, innovative, infrastructural, promising, if only because its growth in recent years has exceeded the growth of the country's economy.

The capacity of the IT market, currently represented by a large corporate and financial segment, is estimated at 10 billion rubles. per year and may increase by 2010 by 10 times. The capacity of the world market is 1650.7 billion dollars. USA. However, if the structure of the domestic market is represented by 70% of equipment, 10% of software, 20% of services, then in Western Europe the ratio is respectively: 20, 20 and 40%.

According to the concept of IT market development, among the problems hindering the innovative direction of development are the following: weak capitalization of the industry, difficulty in accessing capital and access to stock markets, lack of opportunities for venture financing.

Ensuring the growth of the industry is expected to be carried out through:

1) increase in annual growth rates up to 26%;

2) achieving an annual investment in projects up to 100 million dollars. USA (including the placement of shares of enterprises on international stock markets);

3) achieving software exports of at least 5 billion dollars. USA per year.

Virtual enterprises can benefit from:

savings on rent (the most expensive of all cost items);
improving the work of enterprises in the information space;
joint formation and use of information resources of production activities;
coordination of efforts, which can lead to synergies.

Thus, the network economy and the virtual market and virtual enterprises that are emerging in it are gradually changing the image of the market economy. In the future, the situation will deepen.

List of cited literature

HANS A. WUTRICH ANDREAS F. PHILIPP Virtualization as a possible way of management development [Electronic resource] . - URL: http://vasilievaa.narod.ru (date of access: 08.12.2012)
Levchaev P.A. Features of the functioning of the organization in the virtual space. - [Electronic resource]. -URL: http:// www. money-rus.ru (date of access: 03.02.2012)

Virtual reality is a kind of world around us, artificially created with the help of technical means and presented in digital form. The created effects are projected onto the human mind and allow you to experience sensations that are as close to real as possible. The most common means of immersion in virtual reality are specialized helmets / goggles that are worn on a person's head. The principle of operation of such a helmet is quite simple. A 3D video is displayed on the display in front of your eyes. A gyroscope and an accelerometer attached to the body track head movements and transmit data to a computer system that changes the image on the display depending on the readings of the sensors.

As a result, the user has the opportunity to "look around" inside the virtual reality and feel in it, as in the real world. In order for the image to be high definition and always in focus, special plastic lenses are used.

Google, Facebook or Samsung are betting big on VR. Thus, this technology has every indication that it may soon revolutionize our lives. As a result of this, some areas of business may seriously change. For example, tourism (virtual travel without getting up from the couch), education (viewing historical events instead of cramming the bare facts in a textbook or traveling inside the human body in anatomy lessons), the entertainment industry (movies with you in the lead role) and many others.

For a more realistic immersion in the world of virtual reality, in addition to sensors that track the position of the head, various tracking systems can be used in VR devices, such as:

Eye tracking systems. Designed to track the movement of the pupils of the eyes and allow you to determine where a person is looking at any given time. At the moment, such systems are not widely used in the consumer services market and are used mainly for various medical and scientific research.

Motion tracking. Track any body movements of a person and repeat them in the virtual world. Tracking can be carried out using special sensors or a video camera aimed at a person.

3D controllers. In order to feel as comfortable as possible while in virtual reality, traditional 2D controllers (mice, joysticks, etc.) are being replaced by manipulators that allow you to work in three-dimensional space - 3D controllers.

Feedback devices. Such devices began to be developed back in the 90s and are designed so that the user can literally experience everything that happens in the virtual world. Vibrating joysticks, swivel chairs, etc. can be used as such devices.

The source of the 3D image for a virtual reality device has long been a computer or user console (for example, PlayStation VR). However, a couple of years ago, “budget” VR devices entered the market, in which a smartphone began to be used as a 3D image source. A more simplified design made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of virtual reality devices, since there was no need to equip glasses with the previously listed technical means, because:

Modern smartphones are high-performance and capable of independently processing even the most "heavy" 3D content.
Smartphone displays have a fairly high resolution.
Almost every smartphone has sensors for determining the position of the device in space.

According to many experts, virtual reality technologies have not even come close to the peak of their development yet. However, areas of their potential application are already clearly emerging. In addition to video games, there are areas such as:

Live broadcasts. One of the main directions of VR development. The most interesting events, both sports and cultural, can be "seen" with one's own eyes, being anywhere and without buying expensive tickets.
Cinema. VR devices are expected to revolutionize the film industry by allowing viewers to "watch movies from the inside" rather than from the outside.
Sales. The effect of personal presence will allow people to save time when shopping, inspecting apartments, cars and other items for sale remotely.
Education. Virtual reality technologies can make the learning process more interesting. For example, students can get the opportunity to "see firsthand" various events described in history books.
Healthcare. In the medical field, VR devices can be used for virtual patient appointments, psychotherapy, etc.
military industry. With the help of VR devices, soldiers will be able to learn martial art tactics in conditions that are as close to real as possible.

Estimates and news of the Virtual Reality market

In May 2018, LG Display announced technology that the company claims can eliminate dizziness and nausea when immersed in virtual reality (VR). The development was created with the participation of Sogyon University (Sogang University).

The technology in question converts low-resolution video into high-definition content in real-time using artificial intelligence algorithms. The delay time between the user's movements and what he sees in the virtual reality helmet is reduced by five times.

Delayed and blurry images often lead to dizziness and nausea. LG Display technology eliminates this problem and also reduces power consumption. High-quality and comfortable viewing of VR content is provided without the use of additional graphics processors and devices, since deep learning allows you to use only the internal memory of helmets.

One of the causes of nausea when immersed in virtual reality is the "deception" of the brain. The position and movement of a person in space is fixed by the vestibular apparatus located in the inner ear. It is this organ that transmits information to the brain about what is happening with the body at the moment. Together with the information received by other senses (in particular, the eyes), the brain determines what the rest of the body needs to do and feel.

In virtual reality, the indicators of the vestibular apparatus and the organs of vision differ, since a person sees movement, but the body remains at rest. The brain perceives visual information as a hallucination that can be experienced with poisoning, and therefore causes nausea to cleanse the body. This phenomenon is called kinetosis.

On April 9, 2018 the CCS Insight analytical company published results of a research which showed weak interest of business to "smart" points. In subsequent years, the situation may change.

According to experts, in 2017, companies around the world purchased only 24 thousand sets of augmented reality (AR) glasses.

The potential of this technology is clear, but so far most companies are testing a small number of devices to understand how they fit into their business, said CCS Insight analyst George Jijiashvili, quoted in a press release.

Experts predict that within a few years, organizations will move from testing smart glasses to full-fledged commercial implementation, and their sales in the corporate sector will reach 1 million units in 2022. The growing demand for such gadgets is pushing electronics manufacturers to explore this market. According to unofficial data, Apple is preparing an AR device.

Augmented reality has become “one of the hottest new technology areas for smartphones,” so interest in it is growing, says George Jijiashvili. Billions of dollars are being invested in this technology, he says, and in 2017-2018 there were significant improvements in the size, weight and design of smart glasses.

CCS Insight predicts that in 2018, global sales of virtual and augmented reality headsets will amount to 22 million units worth $1.8 billion. By 2022, sales of such equipment will jump five times and reach 121 million units.

Most often, such gadgets are bought for games. The study showed that 70% of users of Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Sony PlayStation VR, etc. purchase games for these devices, and among owners of VR helmets for smartphones, more than 50% of people download free and paid games.

Technology recommendations for the VR industry were first presented as part of the VR Industry Forum (VRIF) in the United States. The document covered issues of production, content compression, storage and distribution of information, as well as user security.

In particular, the recommendations include a 360-degree description of the content, its features and benefits. The authors of the paper clarify the difference between the capabilities of human vision and the characteristics of VR products in the market. These differences can lead to unpleasant symptoms for users, which, according to the authors, developers of VR products should take into account.

“Content should be filmed or created in a way that reduces motion blur or movement to comfortable levels, as flickering images can lead to rapid fatigue or disorientation,” the document says. “To reduce discomfort, it is recommended to use images with a higher frame rate and prepare content taking into account the capabilities of the display.”

The authors of the recommendations considered audio and video formats when creating VR. For example, for full-size 360-degree video, they recommend creating stereoscopic images with a depth of 10 bits and a size of 4096 x 2048 for each eye.

It should be noted that the document is presented as a draft and contains notes that require further discussion by market participants. VRIF President Rob Koenen said that the developed principles serve two main purposes: firstly, to maintain interoperability in the virtual reality ecosystem, and secondly, to provide users with a top-level VR product.

The Venture Reality Fund: Investors love virtual reality

Investments in the entertainment sector VR and AR (virtual and augmented reality) increased in the second half of 2017 to $ 2.3 billion, calculated in The Venture Reality Fund. This is 79% more than in the same period last year, the fund specifies and predicts that the trend for investments in the industry will only intensify.

In total, as part of the study, the fund analyzed 450 companies currently developing software, tools, as well as platforms and applications for VR and AR. Investments in enterprises showed the most growth - the fund estimated that at 69%. Investments in tools and platforms increased by 56%, and investments in stereo display infrastructure increased by 47%. The volume of the market for games based on virtual reality has grown by 40%.

There is a shift in the market from common 360-degree videos to true virtual reality. Experts believe that the release of standalone helmets Oculus Go and HTC Vive Focus will have a positive impact on the development of VR and AR in 2018. Also, the development of the sector is influenced by the interest of Hollywood companies Disney, DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures, HBO, Viacom and AMC.

Apple Corporation has contributed to this segment by acquiring augmented reality headset developer Vrvana. According to TechCrunch, the deal amounted to $ 30 million. Apple plans to release its own augmented reality headset, while the technology for the new gadget will not depend on a smartphone - the headset will have its own operating system running on a separate microchip.

In addition to the entertainment segment, VR and AR are used in business; in particular, developers offer their clients virtual tours of apartments.

According to the venture capital Venture Reality Fund operating in Silicon Valley and the company Lucid Web, the number of firms operating in the European market in the field of virtual reality has almost reached 300 .

VR Fund data, in particular, was obtained as a result of research during meetings and conference calls with regional representatives of the company throughout Europe.

VR Fund specialists studied about 300 startups and selected 116 of them for the first part of the report. Research has shown that games are the most competitive industry, including well-funded companies such as nDreams (UK), Resolution Games (Sweden), Solfar Studios and CCP Games (Iceland). It also invests in computer reality management technologies, virtual projects for the real estate market, as well as helmets for immersing in the virtual world. Medical centers and fitness companies, in turn, use the possibilities of virtual systems for training, psychological treatment and rehabilitation of patients.

Assessment and forecast of the Institute of Contemporary Media

The project was implemented by the participants of the VR Consortium: CROC and the Modern Media Institute (MOMRI) together with the Vesti Ekonomika portal from March to May 2017. During the study, 247 managers and specialists of various profiles were interviewed, representing more than 200 largest Russian companies from all key sectors of the economy.

The main result of the study is that the level of awareness of representatives of the largest Russian companies and industries about the possibilities of using virtual reality technologies in business is high, both in the real sector and in the service sector. Almost two-thirds - 65% of respondents are aware of the possibility of using VR and AR technologies in enterprises. Representatives of such industries as metallurgy, engineering, construction, energy, transport companies, as well as the financial sector and IT/Telecom demonstrated the greatest awareness of real cases of integrating VR into technological and business processes. As examples of the real use of virtual and augmented reality technologies, the participants of the study named solutions for industrial, construction and engineering design, sales of residential real estate, virtual reviews of production facilities, the use of VR in employee training (simulators and simulators).

Almost a quarter 24% Russian business representatives said that in their companies have already implemented or are planning to implement virtual reality technology(15% of those surveyed reported that their companies are already implementing or implementing such technologies, and 9% of those surveyed said that such implementation is planned in the foreseeable future). 41% of respondents answered that although virtual reality technologies are not being implemented in their business, they are familiar with examples of such implementation in other companies. 35% of respondents have not heard about the use of VR in business. Most of the enterprises already working with VR and AR technologies represent the real sector of the economy (engineering, mining and processing, energy). The main areas of technology implementation included staff training, design and marketing. This means that in the very near future the share of VR projects in the corporate segment will increase on the Russian market and the demand for VR devices and professional visualization systems will increase.

Representatives of companies that do not yet work with VR technologies are moderately optimistic: 70% of them consider the use of virtual reality within their organization and industry possible and promising, and almost two-thirds (65%) named specific examples of the use of this technology in other companies . At the same time, managers are more likely to talk about the potential of VR implementation, while specialists express skepticism, not understanding how exactly the technology can be applied in their professional activities. Among those who plan to develop VR technologies within their companies, in addition to the manufacturing sector, one can single out telecom, retail, and financial organizations. The potential areas named by the respondents are wide - from design and training to marketing tasks, sales, communication with customers. Augmented reality is also of interest, which has a fairly high growth potential in the business segment and the b2b2c (business-to-business-to-consumer) sector due to the shorter development time for AR application content and the penetration of mobile devices.

The study also revealed objective factors hindering the introduction and widespread use of virtual reality technologies in the corporate sector. The main obstacle according to the respondents is the high cost of solutions and technologies, and at the same time the lack of a clear correlation with economic efficiency. In addition to high costs, respondents also mentioned technical limitations and the high complexity of implementing VR technologies. This indicates that there are not enough qualified specialists on the market who are able to implement and maintain professional VR systems.

IDC: The market will grow by 130.5% to 13.9 billion dollars

Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) devices continue to gain momentum in the mass market. According to the forecast of June 2017 by IDC, global shipments of specialized AR and VR helmets will grow from almost 10 million units. in 2016 to just under 100 million. in 2021, demonstrating a five-year compound annual growth rate (in compound interest, CAGR) of 57.7%.

Virtual reality devices account for the bulk of shipments, and the most popular in this category are VR devices without their own display (screenless viewers), using smartphone capabilities as the cheapest option. The second half of 2016 saw an increase in shipments of three highly publicized models - Sony's PlayStation VR, Facebook's HTC Vive and Facebook's Oculus Rift.

As for specialized devices, augmented reality helmets continue to lag somewhat behind virtual reality devices. The reason is not that AR is less in demand, but that it is more difficult to achieve. IDC believes that VR headsets will continue to lead in terms of shipments over the forecast period, but AR will have a much larger impact on the industry as a whole. Consumers are more likely to get their first glimpse of augmented reality on a mobile phone or tablet than in a dedicated headset, and Apple's recent ARKit toolkit confirms this.

IDC believes that a big opportunity for specialized AR helmets is in the commercial segment. In the vertical markets of healthcare, manufacturing, field service personnel and design, there is a huge level of interest and investment already being made. This is facilitated by a wide range of products, some of which are already available for purchase, but most of which are manufactured outside the United States.

Global augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) market revenue will reach $13.9 billion, up 130.5% from $6.1 billion in 2016, according to IDC in early 2017. AR/VR spending growth is expected to accelerate over the next few years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 198.0% over the 2015-2020 forecast period. As a result, by 2020 the amount of expenses will reach 143.3 billion dollars.

The consumer market will be the largest segment of augmented/virtual reality during the forecast period, and global spending on hardware, software and services will reach $6.2 billion in 2017, up 130.5% year-over-year, IDC believes. The second largest spender will be the industrial sector, where virtual and augmented reality applications are gradually finding their way into everyday use. Discrete (one-piece) manufacturing and retail are expected to be the only two segments where spending on AR / VR solutions this year will exceed $ 1.0 billion. By 2020, retail, demonstrating a five-year growth rate (CAGR) of 238.7% , will overtake the discrete manufacturing segment, becoming the largest in terms of spending on AR / VR. Similarly, continuous manufacturing will come in at number three in 2020, ahead of personal and consumer services. The highest growth rates after retail during the forecast period will be demonstrated by transportation (CAGR 233.7%) and healthcare providers (CAGR 231.8%).

Expenses for virtual reality systems, including glasses, software, consulting services and system integration services, in 2017 and 2018 will exceed spending on AR, mainly due to consumer interest in games and paid content. After 2018, spending on augmented reality systems will surge, especially in healthcare, product design, and control-related applications.

Geographically, the US will account for $4.3 billion of all AR/VR spending in 2017; followed by the Asia-Pacific region without Japan (APeJ) ($2.6 billion) and Western Europe (nearly $2.5 billion). The consumer market will be the largest AR/VR spending segment in all three regions in 2017; followed by personal and consumer services in APeJ and discrete manufacturing in the US and Western Europe. By 2020, discrete manufacturing will be the largest spending segment in the US, and retail will be the second largest in APeJ.

CCS Insight: VR headset sales could quintuple by 2021

Sales of virtual reality devices for smartphones continue to account for the lion's share of sales in the VR market segment. Agency CCS Insight in its study predicts that 14 million VR headsets will be sold in 2017, and up to 25 million in 2018. Moreover, analysts expect a five-fold increase in sales by 2021, to 70 million headsets. The volume of this segment of the VR market will be $500 million in 2017 and will grow to $1.4 billion by 2021.

The total market for VR-compatible devices is estimated at $1.5 billion in 2017 and $9.1 billion by 2021. According to analysts, by 2019 special devices will begin to generate significant income for companies that offer commercial products in this area.

The AR device market will grow relatively slowly. Significant growth is not expected until 2019, with sales of 1.5 million units. By 2021, up to 5 million units with a total value of $2.5 billion will be sold. Despite the potential of the technology, it has not yet received mass distribution - in 2016, only 100 thousand units of devices were sold. Significant growth in sales of AR headsets is not expected until the early 2020s.

Data from PwC, Digi-Capital, Goldman Sachs

The range of applications of virtual reality is wide: it is used for entertainment (movies and video games), in the field of medicine (surgical operations and examinations), in engineering and manufacturing. Virtual reality not only simplifies activities, but also opens up new opportunities that were previously inaccessible. The most famous VR devices released to the market this year are: Oculus Rift from Oculus VR(bought by Facebook in 2014), HTC VR from htc, Steam VR and Playstation VR from Sony. Despite the abundance of products, the path of virtual reality technology is just beginning, and we will see real achievements in this area in the future.

Consulting and research companies predict the rapid growth of the VR and AR market in the next 5 years. In particular, in the company's report PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC) "Entertainment and Media Review: Forecast 2015-2019." it is said that a breakthrough in virtual reality is expected in 2016, which will attract more users in 2017 and 2018. In 2016, the first luxury sets of VR helmets from Oculus, Sony and HTC for immersive virtual reality will be released, after which other manufacturers will introduce similar equipment.

Company analysts Digital Capital It is predicted that in 2020 the volume of the global market for the production of VR content in various directions will exceed $30 billion. At the same time, more than half of this amount will be spent on films, TV programs and games in the virtual reality format.

According to Goldman Sachs and Venture Beat, in 2016, about 250 startups and technology companies in the field of virtual reality were launched in the world and more than 18 million VR devices were sold.

Association of Augmented and Virtual Reality AVRA (Russia)

The number of actively developing companies in the country has tripled: from 60 to 183. In terms of location and activity, 105 companies are located in Moscow, 25 in St. Petersburg, and the rest are located in cities throughout the country.

The AR/VR market is experiencing a clear rise not only in terms of the number of companies, but also in terms of the level of projects being implemented compared to the beginning of 2016. This is facilitated by the interest from investors, both venture funds and business angels, who collectively invested more than 700 million rubles in AR / VR companies in 2016. For comparison, in 2015 the total investment amounted to about 200 million rubles. Deal sizes vary greatly from a $15,000 seed investment to $2.5 million from the Sistema VC Venture Fund in the MEL Science educational project.

As a result of the analysis, the Association presented the Map of the Russian Augmented and Virtual Reality Market and told how this market is currently developing in Russia.

Market of augmented and virtual reality in Russia

Principles of operation of virtual markets. Virtual organization - abstract. Real virtuality and its types