Visionmobile: telecom operator innovation Toolbox (10) Chapter 8 key to carrier API strategy success

Chapter 8 key to operators' API strategy success

Telecom operator Tong regards developers and content providers as direct sources of income, and even urges Ott manufacturers to "re-distribute profits" from operators ". Such a strategy is doomed to fail, because it is fundamentally in conflict with the developer's business model.

For example, Internet business models generally consider publishing as free or nearly free: The last kilometer of bandwidth is paid by users, and it is free for service providers. Trying to make developers pay for wireless data not only naturally faces opposition, but also is a potential risk of unsustainable business models for many mobile and Internet companies. In the face of such challenges, developers will soon find alternatives, such as positioning and authentication, which were once provided only by carriers on a large scale.

To make API initiatives successful, operators need to regard developers as Value-Added Reseller and design APIs for a win-win situation. In other words, the operator's API business model must conform to the developer's business model.

But what exactly are developers? In fact, the developer ecosystem, such as complex mosaic, consists of large and small companies,CommunityAnd individual. Visionmobile's developer division model is divided into eight types based on developers' motivations and business drivers. Some developers want to make money directly (for example, zeptolab, the creators of popular game cutting ropes), and some for user arrival (for example, Facebook ), in addition, some products and services are extended to the mobile field (such as Nike, Dropbox, and FedEx ).

There is no "average developer ". The carrier API business model must be designed for one or more specific developer types. If you want to use an appropriate carrier's API business model, the applicable market will be severely restricted.. (That is, I often think that in terms of development and design, everything you want is nothing. I am particularly opposed to the technical specifications written by those who have not done any development. The whole process is big and complete, and there are no target customers. In order to implement all the functions, the client performance and stability are often affected .)

Many entrepreneurs, development companies, and individual developers operate based on discovery-driven planning principles (Chapter 1. At the same time, many practical practices of telecom Api have a high threshold for entrepreneurs, such as upfront costs, cumbersome legal agreements, high requirements for qualification certification, and long-term contracts. To reduce friction and help developers discover new user needs and opportunities, the operator's API business model needs to be subsidized by developers and designed to facilitate failure retry.

More specifically, for example, developers are charged based on the API usage of the carrier. The business model of the application must have a stable, usage-based revenue source. This is rare. By allowing free and small-scale API use, telecom operators allow developers to try different business models, including free, until they find stable and feasible business models.

By adopting the correct "business model polarity" (SEE), developers can expand and deepen their business. It is not a charge to developers in the early stage. It is a developer's business model that operators need to adapt to, because it is not necessary to try and use APIs. For example, Facebook and LinkedIn are both social networks, but they are driven by different business models. For Facebook, the API business model will help Facebook get users and improve user participation; for LinkedIn, the API business model will help users get valuable business connections.

Most developers face fierce competition in the platform App Store, and they urgently need differentiated and competitive advantages. Telecom operators provide APIs through three service layers: Access, service, and release to attract developers.

When evaluating innovation investment, operators need to ask the following key questions::

• What types of developers are your API policies?

• Does your carrier's API business model meet the needs of target developers? How can we help target developers establish stable business?

• How do you use open carrier assets, such as release, retail, and voice, to help developers meet new and niche markets?

 

Related Links: My articles on Industrial Ecosystem chain and Miscellaneous