Managers With Vision
It is possible to be too platform-centric. There are other ways to compete: say, as a niche player with superior quality or service. Not every company can be the platform leader.
Sometimes platform leaders become so tied to certain technologies that they find it difficult to evolve their platforms. Intel, for example, is closely tied to the x86 microprocessor family and is unlikely to move to radically new types of computer architectures. Microsoft continues to have a Windows-centered view of the Internet and might never take full advantage of the open-standards movement. In fact, its leaders have publicly opposed the open-source concept, though Microsoft will now let some complementors view the Windows source code. Cisco depends heavily on its ability to weave multiple technologies together through its IOS software, a patchwork of code and standards that will someday outlive its usefulness. Palm is becoming a hostage to the internal architecture and external interfaces that define the Palm OS. No wonder NTT DoCoMo is partnering with Nokia. It’s either collaborate or live with standards for wireless data transmission and content that others don’t share.
Thus platform leaders eventually struggle with platform evolution. For some Intel groups, the platform is becoming the Internet — and new devices that run Internet software rather than use Windows and x86 chips. Microsoft is trying to reconcile traditional applications with use of the Internet as a computing platform for Web-based services. Cisco finds itself moving beyond the Internet router as a platform to software linking various types of networking equipment that communicate through Internet protocols.
Platform leaders need to have a vision that extends beyond their current business operations and the technical specifications of one product or one component. The ecosystem can be greater than the sum of its parts if companies follow a leader and create new futures together. Complementors need to understand the vision of the platform leader in their industry and make some bets on what that vision means for their own future. But it is the platform leaders, with the decisions they make, that have the most influence over the degree and kind of innovations that complementary producers create. Platform leadership and complementary innovation by outside companies are not things that happen spontaneously in an industry. Managers with vision make them happen.