Two researchers from the MIT Center for Information Systems Research have developed a framework, in the form of six questions, that can help inform an enterprise’s digital transformation strategy.
In their book What’s Your Digital Business Model?: Six Questions to Help You Build the Next-Generation Enterprise, researchers Peter Weill and Stephanie Woerner developed this framework in an effort to help executives remain competitive as they usher their businesses into the digital era.
One of the six questions that Weill and Woerner identified is “Which Digital Business Model Is Best for Your Future?”
A digital business model is a direction that companies can take in the digital era that covers best practices, operations, goals, etc.
In a short video, Weill explains that there are four business models that enterprises can use to make money in the digital era. He expands on one of these models, the Ecosystem Driver, stating that “it’s the most successful on every metric that we look at.”
“Ecosystem Drivers are all about becoming the go-to destination for the customer, either through B2B or B2C in a particular domain,” Weill says.
He discusses Amazon and Netflix as examples of Ecosystem Drivers within their domains.
“The big threat is that these companies sit between you and your customer,” he says. “So as you’re thinking about the next decade, you need to buy an option for your business for how you’re going to be an Ecosystem Driver in your industry.”
