[Thinking about Internet plus] Future enterprise ecosystem

In the future, enterprises will be a node within the entire business ecosystem. On the one hand, they must retain their users, and on the other, they must effectively connect with partners (other nodes) within the business ecosystem. They must create value for their users on the one hand, and for other nodes on the other.

In a sense, the organizational structure and information architecture of future enterprises will be a neural system connecting the enterprise itself, related cooperative resource nodes, and end users. On the one hand, enterprises need to provide interface interaction tools for end users, so that users can connect with the enterprise via mobile internet. On the other hand, they need to utilize a standard interface to open up relevant resources and capabilities, package them, and provide them to other nodes in the ecosystem, creating value for other nodes. The future enterprise ecological neural system will be a platform-based architecture composed of clouds and endpoints

Generally speaking, on the device side, enterprises typically provide users with user-friendly and convenient interactive interfaces, often in the form of portals for user authentication access, social networking, e-commerce, tool desktops, and other different forms. On the cloud side, through cloud computing and open architecture technologies, external nodes in the business ecosystem are integrated and connected. Typical functions include storage, computing, resource management, network services, application hosting, and open API modules for third-party developers.

The reason for building a platform-based architecture for both cloud and edge is largely due to the ability to grasp big data on user behavior through the cloud-plus-edge model. By utilizing this big data, intangible assets can be transformed into valuable products, which is almost the long-term profit model for all future enterprises. In the ecological nervous system of future enterprises, the user side is crucial, and it is necessary to truly provide deep support for consumers.

The entry points of mobile internet are increasing, including social networking sites, microblogs, instant messaging, forums, video sharing, e-commerce, online games, Q&A, blogs, and even photo albums. For future enterprises, it is necessary to build an integrated user interface. Future enterprises will provide users with manageable, customizable, and always-on desktops or apps, making them the first touchpoint for customers to interact with the enterprise and becoming the gateway and channel for business.

From the perspective of business strategic positioning, the future terminal will serve as a medium for information release and dissemination, an adaptive portal connecting massive users with value chain resources, and a community space hosting user interaction behaviors. In terms of core functions, it is essential to provide effective support to users and deeply meet their needs in various aspects of the interaction process. In terms of user big data acquisition, the future terminal should function like a data probe, continuously capturing user big data, including basic attributes, consumption behaviors, business preferences, associated features (such as membership card number, reader ID, IM number) and other identifying information; user value, popularity value, social value (including relationship chain degree, relationship strength, whether it influences people, whether it spreads people, etc.); and the degree of user permission for the use of their own data.

In the future ecosystem neural system of enterprises, an open cloud is a crucial component for creating value for the entire ecosystem. Simply put, the open cloud platform of future enterprises encompasses several things. First, it serves as the true intelligence hidden behind enterprise products or services, providing remote support for them. Second, it stores, manages, mines, and utilizes enterprise big data. Third, it fully opens up its own resources and capabilities for partners in the business ecosystem to utilize, enabling connectivity and interaction between users, the enterprise itself, and other nodes in the business system. Openness means sinking down, that is, sinking from its original business field to the platform level where infrastructure is provided in the original market. The deeper the platform sinks, the higher the abstraction level of its core capabilities becomes, and the more infrastructure-like its resources become. The deeper the platform sinks, the more basic and universal the services provided by the enterprise become, and the greater its long-term value.

         The future ecological nervous system of enterprises implies a business philosophy in the era of mobile internet and big data: the survival of individual enterprises largely depends on their ability to connect with the business ecosystem, and whether they create real value for users and other nodes within the business system. Enterprises must work together with their node partners to jointly promote the evolution of the entire business ecosystem.