TheArchitect.co.uk - Jorgen Thelin's weblog
Thoughts and experiences from an Enterprise Software Developer and Architect hiding in plain sight as a Technical Program Manager
Thoughts and experiences from an Enterprise Software Developer and Architect hiding in plain sight as a Technical Program Manager
Ray Ozzie's observations about whether WinFS is a software platform, and the response from David Stutz about the nature of software platforms in general, makes interesting reading for software architects and entrepreneurs everywhere.
In line with Christensen's theory, I would assert that every "pure software" company that has had large-scale success first offered their customers enhanced productivity in the form of packaged proprietary software, followed later by a redefinition of that software as a platform to be used by customers for rapid customization and their extensibility needs.
Chris Anderson also points to Butler Lampson's presentation on components (ppt) which adds some very useful insignts too.
Another good read on the subject is Joel Spolsky's Platforms article from a while ago.
I would agree with David here. The ultimate long term goal of every software startup is to turn an idea into a product, which over time they want to become a platform and generate an ecosystem around it. Of course many startups fail to make it all the way through that game plan, for a variety of reasons.
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