Software ecosystems: a software ecosystem strategy assessment model

ABSTRACT

Software companies and organizations increasingly open up their business to other software companies and as a consequence they find themselves in an ecosystem of software companies, developers and partners. These actors, and especially the software organization that is at the core of this ecosystem, are having difficulties in getting insight into this ecosystem and how their actions influence its performance. In this paper a model is presented that describes the key characteristics of a Software Ecosystem. The central hub of a Software Ecosystem can use data on these characteristics to its strategic advantage. This is demonstrated by the use of the model in a case study of a hub in a software ecosystem.

References

1. Antitrust: commission welcomes Microsoft's roll-out of web browser choice. (2010, March 2). Retrieved from http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/216&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN
2. Arino, A., de la Torre, J., & Ring, P. S. (2001). Relational quality: Managing trust in corporate alliances. California Management Review, 44(1), 109--131
3. Bosch, J. (2009). From Software Product Lines to Software Ecosystems. International Software Product Line Conference (SPLC 2009) August 24--28, 2009, USA
4. Cerri, D., & Fuggetta, A. (2007). Open standards, open formats, and open source. Journal of systems and software, 80, 1930--1937
5. Christopher, M., & Gaudenzi, B. (2009). Exploiting knowledge across networks through reputation management. Industrial Marketing Mngt, 38, 191--197
6. Den Hartigh, E., Tol, M. & Visscher, W. (2006). The Health Measurement of a Business Ecosystem. ECCON 2006 Annual meeting Organisations as Chaordic Panarchies, Bergen aan Zee, The Netherlands.
7. Gartner Says Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales Declined 6 Per Cent and Smartphones Grew 27 Per Cent in Second Quarter of 2009 (2009). Retrieved November 17, 2009 from http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1126812/
8. Guide to the Data Files from the National Science Foundation's Federal Support Survey: Fiscal Year 1996. (1996). Retrieved August 13, 2009, from http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf98324/glossary/def.htm
9. Hagel, J., Brown, J. S. & Davison, L. (2008) Shaping Strategy in a World of Constant Disruption. Harvard Business Review, vol. 86, no. 10, pp. 80--89.
10. Hevner, S. March, J. Park, S. Ram (2004). Design Science in IS Research. MIS Quarterly 28(1), 75--105.
11. Iansiti, M., Levien, R. (2004). The Keystone Advantage: What the New Dynamics of Business Ecosystems Mean for Strategy, Innovation, and Sustainability. Harvard Business School Press, 225p.
12. Iyer, B., Lee, C.-H. & Venkatraman N. (2006) Managing in a "Small World Ecosystem": Some Lessons from the Software Sector. California Mgmt. Review, 48(3): p. 28--47
13. Jansen, S., Finkelstein, A., Brinkkemper, S. (2009). A sense of community: A research agenda for software ecosystems. In 31st International Conference on Software Engineering, New and Emerging Research Track, 187--190
14. Kittlaus, H.-B., & Clough, P. (2009). Software Product Management and Pricing. Key Success Factors for Software Organizations. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
15. Lalonde M. (1974). A new perspective on the health of Canadians. Ottawa: Government of Canada.
16. Moore, J. F. 1996. The Death of Competition: Leadership & Strategy in the Age of Business Ecosystems. New York, Harper Business, 297p.
17. Porter, M. E. (1979). How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review, March-April, p. 137
18. Rapport, D. J., Costanza, R. & McMichael, A. J. (1998) Assessing ecosystem health. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 13(10): p. 397--402
19. Robertson, D., & Ulrich, K. 1998. Planning product platforms. Sloan Management Review 39(4), 19--31
20. Santoro, F. M., Borges, M. R. S., & Rezende, E. A. (2006). Collaboration and knowledge sharing in network organizations. Expert Systems with Applications, 31, 715--727
21. Schmidt, G. & Wilhelm, W. E. (1999) Strategic, Tactical and Operational Decisions in Multi-national Logistics Networks: A Review and Discussion of Modeling Issues. Intl. Journal of Production Research 38, 1501--1523.
22. Van de Weerd, I., Brinkkemper, S., Nieuwenhuis, R., Versendaal, J., & Bijlsma, L. (2006). On the Creation of a Reference Framework for Software Product Management: Validation and Tool Support. Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Product Management, (pp. 3--12). Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
23. Westley, F., & Mintzberg, H. (1989). Visionary leadership and strategic management. Strateg. Manage. J., 10: 17--32.

• Applied computing