By Tu Le
Apple's ecosystem of software and hardware from iTunes to the iPhone has drastically changed the market landscape and it reflects significantly back on their corporate profits. Today it is not just about delivering a great product; to succeed you need to be innovative. In fact a great product may not even be necessary, but rather, what matters most is delivering a complete solution that is aligned to a powerful ecosystem.
In the past, many technology companies focused their efforts and success on product capabilities such as product features, branding, manufacturing, distribution, etc. to deliver the best product to the market. In contrast, today successful corporations such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft are all focusing on providing their own version of a single ecosystem that delivers the best user experience and solution through both product and service innovation.
This shift from product to solution matters to everyone, as we can see from the success of Apple's iTunes to iDevices—the masses want more than just a product and they are willing to pay a premium for access to the widest variety of media and software applications and they want an excellent user experience. Microsoft is another example where they are making some major product changes and shifts in strategy to accommodate a single "Windows" ecosystem – from PC to mobile to entertainment. What this means for the general consumer is s/he would be able to buy or consume any applications and services that can be used across all of Microsoft platforms – from Windows phone, to Windows PC, to Xbox.
Like Apple and Microsoft, here at Flexera Software we work continuously with software vendors and intelligent device manufacturers that are making the transition from product-centric to solution-centric offerings. Helping them establish profitable ecosystems that deliver a unified and excellent user experience. Helping them monetize and license their software and devices while supporting the complete application lifecycle—from initial purchase to download to installation to usage to updates and on through renewal—with powerful back-office entitlement and device lifecycle capabilities.
Related Blogs:
- Subscription and Pay-As-You-Go Software Licensing Models Better For Accommodating Peak Demand
- The Software-Driven Transformation of Intelligent Device Manufacturers—A Teachable Kodak Moment
- Supercharge your Software Licensing Revenue & Digital Goods Revenue Streams
- We Couldn’t Agree More, Mr. Andreessen!
- New IDC Report Highlights How Licensing Helps Intelligent Device Manufacturers Generate Revenue from Embedded Software
