In their book Platform Revolution (W.W. Norton & Co., 2016), authors Geoffrey G. Parker, Marshall Van Alstyne, and Sangeet Paul Choudary write that the platform model is the basis of some of the most successful companies operating today, from Google and Amazon to Uber and eBay. “No matter who you are or what you do for a living, it’s highly likely that platforms have already changed your life as an employee, a business leader, a professional, a consumer, or a citizen — and are poised to produce even greater changes in your daily life in the years to come,” they write.
The platform business model uses technology to connect people, organizations, and resources in an interactive ecosystem. As defined in Platform Revolution, “A platform is a business based on enabling value-creating interactions between external producers and consumers. The platform provides an open, participatory infrastructure for these interactions and sets governance conditions for them. The platform’s overarching purpose: to consummate matches among users and facilitate the exchange of goods, services, or social currency, thereby enabling value creation for all participants.”