Differentiating Industrial Internet of Things platforms from a value network-oriented perspective

Currently, there are seven so-called platform companies among the ten most valuable companies in the world. Companies such as Google, Amazon and Apple have established themselves as successful platforms in the business-to-consumer (B2C) market. Due to the digitalization of products, production systems and processes, the topic of digital platforms is also becoming increasingly important in the manufacturing industry. In order to compete against global challenges and increasing competition, companies are currently launching new data-based services (e.g. machine downtime prediction), as-a-service-offerings or own Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platforms. However, initial analyses already show that a simple transferability of insights from B2C to industrial business-to-business (B2B) market is not directly feasible. The potential for these use cases to generate business effects between the different roles involved (e.g. in two-sided markets) needs to be investigated transparently. This publication uses a value network methodology to analyze platform examples from the manufacturing industry and differentiate them with regard to their value propositions and addressed market-sides. From this, new insights into the differentiation of mechanisms and dynamics can be derived, which are crucial for the success of digital platform operators as new business roles in the value network of manufacturing industries.