As part of “The Software Business” class I am taking at MIT with Professor Michael Cusumano, I participated in a team that presented topics on software platforms.
My segment of the presentation centered around how to strategically select a platform from those available. More precisely, the theme was identifying the key variables that would influence a particular platform choice and how organizations should go about assessing the various tradeoffs.
This is the first in a series of articles on this topic whereby I drill-down a little deeper.
Here is a brief outline of the topics to come in this series:
1. What’s a Platform?
2. Target Market (Customers + Users)
3. The Dangers Of Niche Platforms
4. Platform Builder or Complementor?
5. Reuse and Repurposing
6. Open vs. Closed
Stay tuned.