[G1]-PR7-Openess
Defining What Platform Users and Partners Can and Cannot Do
The challenges inherent in managing an open platform model
how
who
to maintaining high quality
while maximizing its accessibility to all users want to contribute to the platform
How open? How closed?
2009
Thomas R. Eisenmann & Geoffrey Parker & Marshall Van Alstyne
A platform is "open" to the extent that
an restrictions are reasonable and non-discriminatory
they are applied uniformly to all potential platform participants
why
affects useage / developer participation /monetization / regulation
Open or Close or Gray
the form of screening
human gatekeepers
community pressure
strategy
different level of openness
different kinds of openness
Apple's Mac operating system v.s. Windows operating system
Apple's mobile platform v.s. Google's mobile platform
balance between openness and close
no resrictions areplaced onparticipation in its development, commercialization or use
Being closed
not simply a matter of absolutely forbidding outside participant
but also involve creating onerous participation rules
may discourage /charging excessive fees(or rents)
the profit margins of potential participants are reduce below sustainable levels
the choice between open or closed not black or white
a spectrum between the two extremes
Jobs
recast the open/closed dilemma
fragmented / integrated
Asymmetry
the more open a system becomes
the more fragmented it becomes
more difficult to
encourages innovation
an infrastructure designed to falicitate interaction
among producers consumers of value
through core interactions to make exchange possible
information
goods / services
currency
a vibrant and healthy platform
depends on the value created by partners who are out of the platform itself
3 kinds of openness decisions
Decisions regarding developer participaation
Decisions regarding user participation
Decisons regarding manager and sponsor partcipation
decides who to let in
the form of feedback
encourages who perform well on the platform
select the user, edit content, and provide feedback designed to promote quality
time-consuming and costly
Four models for managing and sponsoring platforms
Licensing model
Joint venture model
Proprietary model
Shared model
One firm both manages and sponsers
Macintosh, Visa(after 2007)
A group of firms manages while one firm sponsers
Microsoft windows, Google android
A firm manages while a group of firms sponsors
CareerBuilder, Visa(prior to 2007)
A group of firms manages while another group sponsors
Android open resource, Linux
OPENING OVER TIME
Proprietary Platform
Shared Platform
From close to open
From open to close
Keep evaluate How to balance
Keep content and value
What to open and what to own
platform manager should seek to own it or replace the app which has the potential to become a powerful platform
platform manager should acquire the functionality and make it available through an open API, when functionality is reinvented by a number of extension developers and gains widespread acceptance by platform