Business ecosystems – everyone talks about them. But sometimes, the talk can sound like techno-babble, the language of companies unsure what their real product is, or how they’ll make money from it.
But business ecosystems are an idea whose time has come. More than 20 years ago, a strategist named James Moore suggested that companies should be viewed, not as part of a single industry, but as elements in an interconnected system that spans multiple industry sectors.
Radical at the time, the idea now seems almost self-evident for one main reason: the “Internet of Things.” Strategy Analytics estimates that by 2020, the average person will have 4.3 connected devices. Huawei predicts that within that time frame there will be 100 billion connections worldwide.
When your bank information is connected to your health records, which are connected to the car you’re driving, what industry handles the technology that makes those connections possible?
Answer: Many industries, operating in an ecosystem.
But ecosystems don’t just happen. They require investment. Someone has to take the steps needed to lay the foundation for growth.
That’s why Huawei will invest $1 billion to help developers create the software connecting the different nodes of digital life for consumers and businesses.
The goal is to help software developers create innovative services that respond quickly to customers’ needs. This support system covers five areas: innovation, training, development support, certification and marketing. Developers also get access to dedicated experts who provide 24/7 online support.
It’s a big investment and a big commitment. But it lays the groundwork for a functioning ecosystem, while giving thousands of developers access to business opportunities with thousands of carriers and enterprises.
People used to think of IT as a support function, but it’s more than that. The cloud has turned IT into a production platform, something that lets you create cool new stuff. Think of it as an idea factory, one that lets you transform concepts into real-world products.
We live in an increasingly digital world. But in fact society has just begun to digitize. In the very near future, cloud computing and the IoT will offer an inexhaustible source of innovation that enables connectivity whose benefits we can scarcely imagine today. That’s the power of ecosystems.
