Читать книгу End Of Competition, The: The Impact Of The Network Economy - C N A Molenaar - Страница 16

In order to determine where the value activities and margin are located in a platform (network) company, you first have to look at how the essential capitals in a platform business model (infrastructure, network and data) are related to one another. The study carried out by Choudary (2015) revealed three different types of architectural layers that were repeatedly found in all the types of platforms. Figure 2 shows the three layers of platforms.

Figure 2. Architectural layers of platforms (Choudary, 2015).

Choudary (2015) suggests that the external network of producers adds value to the network layer. In order to make this value creation possible, however, platforms require a second layer: infrastructure. This layer comprises the tools, services and rules that make interaction in a multisided market possible. This layer has little value in itself, unless users create value in the platform. All platforms use data because the information helps the platform to gear the supply to the demand. The data layer creates relevancy and matches the most relevant content, product and/or services with the appropriate users.

It’s important to first build the infrastructure in order to make interactions in the above-mentioned layer possible. As manufacturers and consumers adopt the infrastructure, an ecosystem begins to evolve. This becomes the next observable phase in the evolution of the platform. And finally, the interaction between manufacturers and consumers on the platform generates huge amounts of data. The data layer then helps to make future interactions more efficient and keeps users regularly engaged with the platform. The use of data from the data layer has a positive effect on the value perception of users in the network layer (Choudary, 2015).