Transforming into a platform provider: strategic options for industrial smart service providers
ISSN: 1757-5818
Article publication date: 7 September 2020
Issue publication date: 10 June 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify strategic options and challenges that arise when an industrial firm moves from providing smart service toward providing a platform.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual study takes on a multidisciplinary research perspective that integrates concepts, theories and insights from service management and marketing, information systems and platform economics.
Findings
The paper outlines three platform types – smart data platform, smart product platform and matching platform – as strategic options for firms that wish to evolve from smart service providers to platform providers.
Research limitations/implications
Investigating smart service platforms calls for launching interdisciplinary research initiatives. Promising research avenues are outlined to span boundaries that separate different research disciplines today.
Practical implications
Managing a successful transition from providing smart service toward providing a platform requires making significant investments in IT, platform-related capabilities and skills, as well as implement new approaches toward relationship management and brand-building.
Originality/value
The findings described in this paper are valuable to researchers in multiple disciplines seeking to develop and to justify theory related to platforms in industrial scenarios.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The research leading to these results received funding from the Ministry of Economics, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy, State of North Rhine-Westphalia, as part of the cluster of excellence it's OWL (project Digital Business, funding no. 005–1807-0106). This work was partially supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the Collaborative Research Centre On-The-Fly Computing (GZ: SFB 901/3), project number 160364472.
Citation
Beverungen, D., Kundisch, D. and Wünderlich, N. (2021), "Transforming into a platform provider: strategic options for industrial smart service providers", Journal of Service Management, Vol. 32 No. 4, pp. 507-532. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-03-2020-0066
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited