Making a choice between being product-centric and platform-centric can be quite tricky for any business. Both these approaches have their own pros and cons, and once a business selects one of these, they must stay committed to their choice.
There are two solution-oriented approaches that a brand can take. It can either be product-centric or platform-centric. But what should you be?
Should you focus on delivering the best product with the most advanced features or should you promote openness and include potential customers in the development process, as is the case with the platform-centric approach?
Why should you be platform-centric?
Platform-centric organization works on a ‘network effect’. The main developers of the software in the organization release beta phases that attract developers from across the world to talk about its pros and cons, which are then rectified by the main developers.
The platform then attracts more developers and so on, thus creating a ‘network effect’. Graphically, network effect creates curves in the shape of a hockey stick like in the case of Windows and iOS.
A platform-centric strategy appears to be an opportunity because innovation on a platform occurs much faster as compared to a product-based approach. But at the same time, competing only as a platform giant has its cons as having expertise only in one sphere can degrade other spheres.
Something similar to this happened with Microsoft whose Windows platform was able to dominate the desktop market, and still does, but it was never able to compete with Apple’s iOS in the mobile OS ecosystem. Thus, for a successful platform strategy, an equal weightage needs to be given to product strategy as well.
Moreover, it’s mandatory to shift the focus towards external servicing, improving customer experience, and promoting openness. For example, Microsoft launched Windows 10 all over the globe and allowed developers in every nook and corner of the world to send in their ideas and suggestions to improve the platform.
They thus shifted from command and control to openness by including their potential customers in the development of their platform.
Why should you be product-centric?
Product-centric marketing is about focusing on products and trying to sell it to as many people as possible. Product-centric companies develop the most advanced products by investing heavily in the most advanced features available in the industry.
The pros of a product centric approach is that the organization can measure its success by simply analyzing the portfolio of products that it sells and by knowing the money that it makes by selling its products.
While product-centric businesses see a profit boom until their product remains fresh, the flip side is that such organizations last only till these products sell well. After that, they tend to lose their hold. So, such companies face the pressure of coming up with new products, every now and then.
Whatever be your choice, you need to be agile in your execution; at least in the initial years of adopting a model. Give your decision the time so that you can assess it better.
(Disclaimer: This is a guest post submitted on Techstory by the mentioned authors.  All thecontents in the article have been provided to Techstory by the authors of the article. Techstory is not responsible or liable for any content in this article.)
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About The Author:
Naveen is currently the CEO at Allerin Tech Pvt Ltd. He is a seasoned professional with more than 20 years of experience, with extensive experience in customizing open source products for cost optimizations of large scale IT deployment. Naveen is a keynote speaker and thought leader in the area of IoT solutions, Machine learning and Block Chain Technology.
Specialties: Solution Design and consultancy , Data Science, Machine Learning, Deep Learning Enterprise Application Planning, Cost Optimization and Block Chain
