Emerging digital ecosystems – networks of stakeholders, including business partners, suppliers, customers and competitors that interact to create value – present major opportunities to build new digital businesses that go beyond the boundaries of traditional industries.

1. AUTHOR
FRANK DIANA
Managing Partner, Tata Consultancy Services
Defining Your Digital Ecosystem: The First
Step in a Machine First™ Transformation
PERSPECTIVES
VOL. 12
SIMON TORRANCE
Managing Director, FACTOR10.io

2. Unlearn Existing Transformation Strategies
New digital transformation strategies need to shift away from the
narrow viewpoint of beating the competition.
They have to look within - to their digital ecosystems –
to find success.
Digital ecosystem: A complex
network of digitally connected
stakeholders that connect in
ways to create value for all.

3. Identify a Digital Ecosystem of Needs
Up to 20th century
Maps and road atlases
are two-dimensional,
paper-based objects
with limited
applications
Maps and road atlases
are two-dimensional,
paper-based objects
with limited
applications
Digital natives such
as Google identify a
larger purpose for
digital maps as data
repositories
21st century and beyond
20th century onwards
Online mapping companies illustrate how digital ecosystems restructure
the business landscape.

4. Adopt the Right Mindset
Centralized decision making and unchanging metrics hinder progress in
a digital world.
Read More
Every digital ecosystem needs:
An agile, intuitive
mindset
Decentralized,
non-linear
relationships
Innovation to
provide value to
new stakeholders
A platform-based
business model at
its core

5. Invest in Digital Platforms
Ecosystems based on a strong technology infrastructure allow stronger
collaboration with stakeholders.
Microsoft, which has long had
third-party partners developing
software for its operating
systems and Azure cloud
platform, saw GitHub as a
valuable addition to its
ecosystem and purchased it for
$7.5 billion in 2018.
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6. Win in the World of Ecosystems
Businesses can play one of three primary roles within digital ecosystems.
Ecosystem
orchestrator
Modular
producer
Consumer
Each role is distinct but changes depending on how ecosystems
overlap.
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7. Create Shared Value
Ecosystem orchestrators act as the connective tissue within ecosystems.
Their strong technological
foundation allows these
companies to support
others through complex
and risk-laden production
lifecycles.
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8. Monetize Value
Modular producers realize the monetary value of products and services
across ecosystems.
Online payments and financial
services, for instance, can
meet the needs of buyers,
sellers, consumers and
businesses.
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9. Extract Value
Consumers form the largest group within an ecosystem and include
both individuals and businesses.
Platforms allow consumers to
extract the value of digital goods
and services.
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10. Ecosystem strategies can be customized based on business goals.
They are predicated on:
Determining
which roles
companies should
play in relevant
ecosystems
Monetizing
roles within
ecosystems
based on core
capabilities and
assets
Identifying the
right ecosystems
in which
companies must
play a part
Create an Ecosystem Strategy
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11. Executives in every company should create their digital ecosystem
strategies now.
Companies with multi-billion market valuations display a
unique knack for:
Reinventing the
marketplace with
the help of new
technologies
Staying ahead of
the competition
Optimizing existing
business models
Make Hay While the Sun Shines
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12. Contact UsDownload the Article
Defining Your Digital Ecosystem: The First
Step in a Machine First™ Transformation
PERSPECTIVES
VOL. 12