Digital ecosystems are a group of related IT resources that can function together as a unit. They consist of customers, suppliers, applications, third-party data providers, and the respective technologies. In some cases, digital ecosystems can consist of two or more partnering companies.
Over the past few years, many organizations’ strategies have embraced digital transformation. A digital ecosystem allows businesses and organizations to focus their energies on improving business value. It also helps improve customer relations by assisting companies to consistently meet SLAs (service level agreements) and provide fast fixes. Supply chains are coming together in a digital ecosystem to support the development of new products and services.
An example of a digital ecosystem is a manufacturer that has to do business with suppliers, R&D teams, vendors, transport carriers, logistic team, distribution team, and e-commerce storefront. However, all these external business-to-business and cloud connections create electronic data interchange and non-electronic data interchange. Data flows must be integrated into its internal enterprise resource planning, transport management system, warehouse management, and electronic data interchange systems. The results are an external and internal network of data sources, spanning systems, applications, and devices.
Another excellent example of a digital ecosystem is Amazon. It used its AWS to supply other companies with infrastructure services and use it for services like Amazon Prime Videos, Prime Music, etc.
There are five key characteristics of any digital ecosystem. They are:
- Automated
- Data-driven
- Customer-centric
- Global
- Dynamic
A digital ecosystem focuses on bringing extra values to customers by optimizing workflow and data from different internal departments, tools, systems, etc. It removes obstacles from the customer journey and enables every participant to use state-of-the-art technologies to fulfill their individual needs. Companies and individuals must understand and participate in the global rise of digital ecosystems.