Services Platform Business Models

So far digital platforms have been particularly present in the B2C and C2C sectors. Large corporations such as Google, Amazon and Facebook have been benefiting from the so-called network and scaling effects of their platforms for many years. But platform-driven business models are also becoming increasingly relevant in the B2B sector. Platforms in the industrial sector often represent digital ecosystems and go far beyond pure transaction platforms in the sense of booking portals. Companies that manage to connect different market sides via their platform and build up a corresponding infrastructure for providers of complementary services become orchestrators of an ecosystem. Value is created through the efficient and targeted collaboration and networking of the various players. Companies can build different types of platforms and pursue different ecosystem strategies, depending on whether the ecosystem is to be used for market differentiation or joint innovation development, for example. We support companies in identifying the appropriate platform strategy and show how digital, networked supply chains can already be understood as ecosystems today.