- Blink number three.
Businesses should start thinking
of their products as services and become platform-oriented.
Netflix, Tesla, Uber, Apple
and many more of today's most successful businesses
all sell products that are essentially services.
And this is a trend that will only increase
as more businesses look at ways
to keep customers engaged in the long term.
There are a few key factors when transforming
into a product-as-a-service company.
The first two are identifying a clear
and viable strategy for your product
and shifting your operating model
to fit today's digital ecosystem.
For example, companies that used
to sell cars are now shifting
into developing rideshare programs.
And companies that sold medical testing devices are shifting
to selling software that analyzes medical data.
The third is changing the way
you approach research and development.
This is important because in the experience economy,
it's less about a customer owning a product
and more about the ongoing relationship
that comes with them using that product.
For some legacy businesses, research and development is more
of an afterthought than a main priority.
But in today's increasingly digital economy,
R and D must be front and center.
Software and technology are constantly changing.
So you need to have teams devoted
to staying abreast of the latest developments,
testing new possibilities, implementing changes
and monitoring feedback data.
The service you're providing needs
to be constantly improving.
One area that requires
an even bigger kind of shift is platforms.
The simple fact is most of today's top companies belong
to a platform of some kind, either one they've created
or an existing one they've joined.
For most app-based companies,
the main platforms are Apple's App Store
and Google's Play Store.
Huge tech-based companies like Amazon
and Alibaba also have platforms that allow them
to gain both value and exposure
by bringing businesses together
as part of a powerful system.
In many cases, platforms give you a seamless way
to provide regular updates to customers
who are subscribed to your service.
In other cases, a platform may be a way for your company
to create a mutually beneficial partnership
with other companies.
For example, many car companies,
including BMW, Renault and Nissan,
are creating platforms for their vehicles
that integrate weather services from one company,
artificial intelligence-like
virtual assistant technology from another,
and streaming entertainment from yet another.
The potential in building your own platform
and bundling technologies together this way is clear.
But if doing so isn't within your capacity,
considering existing platforms can also be a great fit.