The benefits of gamification have become widely accepted by the largest IT companies around the world. Industry research firm Gartner Inc. predicts that by 2015, more than 50 per cent of enterprises working on innovative processes will be using some form of gamification. Every day, we're seeing a new game somewhere.

Or maybe we aren't. Sometimes, the game is subtle. Our reward for playing might be as simple as a longer list of contacts on a social network. Other times it's more explicit -- certain extra privileges, even virtual money. But behind the fun of widgets and points counters, there's been some serious thought.

Old concept, new application

Gamification in enterprise software is actually the application of a fairly tried and true concept, says Chuck Hamilton, social and gamification lead at IBM Corp. The idea of incorporating game elements into commercial products, for example, is ages old. It's only the technology -- and the terminology -- that's changed.