Digital ecosystems: Enemies become partners
Previous business models are coming under pressure. The digital world is creating new forms of cooperation: Coopetition instead of competition - competitors are becoming partners. The central question is: How will money be earned and customer value created in a digital world in the future? Digital ecosystems are one answer to this question.
How to create value in a digital world - Value is no longer synonymous with value creation or shareholder value. Value also includes new customer perceptions of value, creating value thanks to new technologies, thanks to "beautiful" products with high value and, of course, new digital platform business models. At first glance, platforms and super apps from leading technology companies such as Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, WeChat and Co. appear to be a threat because they are penetrating various industries. In fact, various banks, insurance companies, retailers, media houses and numerous start-ups have already discovered the great potential of platform business models in Switzerland as well. Typical offerings are mortgage marketplaces, mobility offers, comparison and e-commerce platforms - the race for market leadership has begun. And with it, the race for the right talent.
What makes digital ecosystems so successful?
The focus is not on technology, but on the consistent integration of the participants in an ecosystem. The focus is on customers, suppliers and even the company's own competitors. The primary goal is to jointly create real innovation and added value for all participants across companies and industries - in the form of a Digital Ecosystem. "New technologies such as Cloud, APIs, Big Data and Analytics are just enablers that help to implement new data-centric business models in a fast, scalable and standardized way. Central to successful implementation are the consistent reconfiguration of the business model and the design of the ecosystem. Only a few companies have the necessary enterprise capabilities and expertise in this area. This is reflected, among other things, in the large number of job offers and new job profiles in the field of ecosystems," says Ralph Hutter, head of the new CAS Digital Product Lead HWZ and CAS Platforms & Ecosystems HWZ programs.
Product development transforms radically
Product development is changing fundamentally: At its core is an increased customer and design orientation. The speed of innovation and technical complexity have increased substantially in recent years. To accommodate this change, new software development methods and management approaches such as Agile, Lean Startup, etc. are being widely used.
The role of the product manager is also changing radically due to the increasing importance of data and the use of new technologies. The new interfaces such as AR, VR, IoT, voice, blockchain and gaming engines are worth mentioning. The next generation Internet, Web 3.0, is already emerging today. Digital extensions via smart devices such as watches, glasses, and new immersive user experiences with VR headsets in and around metaverse worlds are enabling novel services, innovative business models, and new touchpoints with targeted customers. The Digital Product Lead is the new and emerging role designation for the lead product manager in startups and international companies.
Digital Product Management is the key competence for transferring existing products and services to the next generation of the Internet, Web 3.0, and the emerging metaverse, or for launching completely new digital offerings based on new technologies.
How to create value in a digital world?
Innovative digital products with the latest technology create real added value for customers and lay the foundation for digital ecosystems in which new digital business models can be developed. That is true "digital value creation.
The Institute for Digital Business at the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich offers continuing education in this area. The newly launched CAS Platforms & Ecosystems HWZ and CAS Digital Product Lead HWZ, led by Ralph Hutter, strengthen the understanding of this cultural change and offer a methodological toolbox in dealing with the challenges of new types of platform business models and the development of digital products and services. If desired, the two CAS can be combined with another elective module to create a Master's degree with a specialization in "Digital Value Creation" (Master of Advanced Studies in Digital Business, Major Digital Value Creation). With this offer, graduates are prepared in a practice-oriented way for a career step in the new job profiles in the field of ecosystem and digital product management.
Source and information: HWZ
