Digital ecosystems are part of the new reality
that organizations find themselves in.
This new reality requires companies to,
one, develop new and novel value propositions,
two, personalize and tailor these value propositions
almost to a segment of one
and, three, innovate at the speed of ideas.
To do these, companies need to expand their scope
of innovation beyond their four walls
and need to collaborate with a set of third-party players
to an extent that has never been seen before.
Just think about the typical automaker in the 80s,
that automaker would need to get into
a joint venture or alliance with an OEM,
or enter hundreds of contracts with partnerships,
with suppliers for parts.
Today, the world is very different.
Beyond those traditional partnerships,
this automaker would have to get into an ecosystem
across several partners and several industries
to be able to manufacture cars that are connected,
fuel efficient, hybrid or electric and autonomous.
But an ecosystem,
whether you're an orchestrator or a participant,
isn't for all.
To determine if an ecosystem
is the right approach for you,
you have to consider the following.
One, focus.
Do you see a shift from a single product,
to an integrated suite of solutions in your industry,
and if so, do you want to own
the last mile of that customer journey?
Two, deal type.
Do you see innovative ways of collaboration
within your industry?
For example, a minor stake within some ecosystem players,
two, open collaboration,
three, a multi-lateral partnership.
Three, industry.
Do you see non-industry players entering yours?
Or do you see your competitors
entering non-traditional industries?
Four, geography.
Are there certain players in your target geography
that you believe will significantly improve
your speed to market?
And are these capabilities developed,
extensible to other markets and geographies?
Five, flexibility.
Do you see a shift, to more agile
and flexible collaboration models?
Do you see a shift from a finite set of players
to a broad suite of ecosystem players?
Six, structure and value creation.
Do you see a shift from one-dimensional partnerships,
to a network of collaboration in your industry.
Seven, rationale.
Do you see a fundamental shift
to success in your industry
being driven from innovation and speed to market?
And eight, contribution.
Do you increasingly see,
intellectual property on non-monetary assets
as the key winning assets in your industry?
And if the answer to one or more of these questions
is yes, then there is likely value
in a well thought out ecosystem strategy for you.