Towards an Understanding of iIoT Ecosystem Evolution - MindSphere Case Study

摘要

Currently emerging Industrial Internet of Things (iIoT) platforms form open and flexible networks with the aim of facilitating the integration of various stakeholders in the generation of platform-based added value. The ecosystem emergence process is still underresearched and remains a challenge for the platform providers. In this short paper, we analyze the ecosystem development by Siemens for the platform MindSphere to understand its evolution, based on the sequence of entered partnerships, and their interplay with the established platform boundary resources (BR). Based on this case study, our research identifies insights about how Siemens developed its ecosystem during three distinctive phases. Our analysis demonstrates a roadmap, helping to understand how Siemens managed to integrate distinctive company types as partners in the MindSphere ecosystem. The findings add to the theory on platform emergence by embedding it into a complex Business-to-Business (B2B) context of iIoT.