A digital platform is a group of technologies that are used as the basis on which other applications, processes or technologies are developed. According to a study by Gartner there are more than sixty different types of platforms, which is what is currently meant by digital platform?
Today it seems more cost-effective to build platforms than to develop products or think about business models. Companies that have experienced faster growth and are considered more disruptive, such as Google, Amazon, Uber, AirBnb and eBay, are not focused on selling products, but on building platforms. And that’s because, this current goes beyond the tech sector, companies like Walmart, Nike, John Deere and GE are also building platforms for their industries.
Platforms, dear to all
According to Gartner, all companies want to be a platform, which is why the term has expanded far beyond the traditional concept of hardware and software infrastructure used to build and run an application. Every self-respecting seller wants to call their product “platform” to attract the attention of the financial and venture capital markets.
As companies move towards more agile development, they see the power to treat their applications or devices as products (platforms). And it is that companies quickly realize that they, as customers, depend on other software platforms that help them function. A platform is a type of product that is used to build other products, in addition to providing the services that those products need. For example:
- A technical platform that provides user experience tools to product teams
- A transaction engine that provides back-end services.
- A legacy system or existing ERP that is now being accessed through products (e.g. mobile apps) rather than its own native user interface.
Types of platforms
For Gartner, the deployment model is the enterprise technology platform. The analyst firm has defined this model as “fidget spinner”. Five different types of digital technology platforms can be defined:
- Information System Platform —Supports administrative operations such as ERP, CRM, PIM, and other central systems with middleware and associated development capabilities.
- Customer Experience Platform (customers): Contains the main customer elements, such as customer and citizen portals, multichannel commerce, and customer applications.
- Intelligence and Analysis Platform—Contains analytical and information management capabilities. Data management programs and analytics applications fuel data-driven decision-making, and algorithms automate discovery and action.
- IoT Platform (things): Connects physical assets for monitoring, optimization, control, and monetization.
- Enterprise EcosystemS Platform—Supports the creation of, and connection to, external ecosystems, markets and communities.
When an enterprise customer wants to build a digital platform, they can’t just focus on the part of the platform, as it consists of applications, systems, and even other platforms.
The capabilities of existing and new platforms must be integrated and orchestrated to implement a productive digital scenario. Therefore, each company’s starting point in the digital business is the result of hundreds of IT decisions made in recent decades, and therefore each digital business technology platform will be different from each other.
Customers
For a digital platform, customer identity is often simple. This is a type of user with a well-defined role, because if too many roles and tasks are integrated into the client definition, the result can be unmanageable, unintuitive and unusable software. That’s why a clear approach is needed when defining products and customers.
Many companies have decided to adopt this platform model. In this type of product, there is usually an intermediate layer that wraps around the product and provides customers with a robust API with the functionality they want. Thus, while the platform-product (back-end) cares about creating functional logic, it is the platform-client who must gather the API services that are needed, prioritize them, and deliver them.
By keeping teams focused on your customers, the need for extensive project management linearly (top-down) is greatly reduced. And it is that, some coordination is still required. Client-platformmanagers should help facilitate communication and streamline workload, solving arrears and prioritizing tasks.
