Ian Skerrett turns tutor as he lays out his ideas on what it means to be a platform, the characteristics of a successful platform, and the dynamics of an ecosystem around a platform. “Eclipse has been very successful in developing a common platform for development tools integration. I think it is interesting to observe why Eclipse and other platforms such as Microsoft Windows, eBay, Linux, have become so pervasive and successful. We can learn from these successes and begin to create micro-platforms that enable smaller focused ecosystems,” Ian writes.

Ian’s long post is divided into neat sections for the benefit of those who wish to develop micro-platforms. He begins at the basics with the definition of a platform and goes on to list its characteristics — commodity/standard, significant potential for downstream suppliers and exemplary application. He then explains the ecosystem around a platform, with emphasis on the roles of the platform provider, users/consumers, and suppliers. Finally, Ian talks about creating micro-platforms and ecosystems, dividing the how-to into the enterprise, ISV, functionality and industry-vertical categories.
“I believe the micro-platform provides an interesting perspective on how the software industry is changing. There are a number of large, well established macro-platforms, such as eBay, Windows, Linux and Eclipse. The next step seems to be the creation of micro-platforms and I believe the technology and organizational structure to make micro-platforms a reality are in place,” Ian writes.