Daily Post 1398
MULTISIDED PLATFORMS
The term would seem new to the uninitiated, to the world of multifarious usage of technology / data in transforming the post Industrial Revolution business models of the world. The land, labour, capital, organisation story ending in products and services and making a profit out of it. What a new wave of technology can ensue, nobody knows, its the entrepreneurial pioneers who unleash their imagination, capability and never say never die attitude to make it happen. Multisided platform you might not be able to define, but you can feel it all around from Googles to Airbnbs to Amazons of the world. Google and Amazon have been the saviours in the world in topsy turvy COVID-19 times.
This is the strength of the multisided platforms. Doubt if governments could have ever been able to provide these services. When the world is tottering they increase in value, in volume, in respect and above all the sine qua non of human and business existence, Trust. Might be if we had a robust functioning multisided platform in the health sector, things would have been way better. The feudal approach of threats and cajoling with nothing detailed by contract, penal provisions and like does not lead us anywhere. Above all, it should happen seamlessly and cannot be monitored through bickering. Our functioning models have to change. A multisided platform business model connects customers to the sellers directly.
What are platforms then? “A business creating significant value through acquisition, matching and connection of two or more customer groups to enable then to transact.” Examples being eBay, Airbnb, Uber. As we move to the multisided, we realise that these are companies which have been defining the world for quite some time. They have evolved themselves in most appropriate ways, needed for the present day tech and data propelled ecosystem, with data analytics and AI moving on its head. “Multisided Platforms (MSPs) are technologies, products or services that create value primarily by enabling direct interaction between two ore more customer or participant groups.” This system is the ideal for the present day and age, immense value and comfort added to each stakeholder is the killer. The examples now extend to Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook et al. This is the world of Multisided Platforms.
This is the marketplace of the present and future. This is not a Black Box model anymore, it has been deciphered, it need not be reinvented by the technology hungry entrepreneurs. Customise and execute should be the war cry. This model has brought convenience and flexibility propelled by innovation and cost effectiveness. Uber and Airbnb have become reference points, like Booking.com can be called Uber of the hotel industry. It will enter every sector and every market. In just 20 years of its existence all top global market capitalisations belong to them. Resistance came from the different quarters, crying foul at what they termed as unfair advantage. Platform strategy is the Strategy North Star for both technology and business. It is the harbinger of the shared economy. Everybody has the right to earn a little extra. Finally, we all will get subsumed in a Multisided Platform Powered Business Ecosystem.
THE TECHNOLOGY OF BUSINESS MERGES WITH BUSINESS OF TECHNOLOGY.