The State-Of-The-Art Savannah
What do ‘The Lion King’, ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘The Jungle Book’ have in common? Yes, they are all Disney movies for kids. But there’s more. All three movies simplistically introduce us to the idea of ecosystems: The stories take place in a geographically limited space and all the participants are highly interdependent. For instance, there is the self-working, self-contained coral reef or the jungle as one entity of flora and fauna. But the best example remains ‘The Lion King’ with its credo of the ‘Circle of Life’. All animals are part of the ecosystem in the savannah, depend on each other and enrich each other. In the same way, external factors such as the climate or fertile soil contribute to the successful continuation of the circle of life.
In our last article, we explained that the concept of ‘ecosystems’ originates in biology but that it is widely used in other areas.
But what exactly does an ecosystem look like in the software sector?
At banbutsu, we have our very own idea because we consider the concept ecosystem as a central part of our vision. So what does it look like?
The setup
In our ecosystem, all partners are equal and on eye level. However, we place the end consumer, i.e. the user, at the center of interest. Starting from him/her, different areas of life will open up. These areas that users deal with everyday range from mobility and household to travel and health.
Within these individual silos, the user in turn interacts with the experts in their fields, e.g., experts in mobility, travel, etc.
This system works perfectly when both sides have gathered plentiful information about each other. Then, users and experts come together at the right time, in the right place, and in the right situation. The expert provides his expertise in the form of products, services, or knowledge, and the user profits from the exchange.
The threats
But if relevant information is missing, provided at too short notice, or if changes occur, a successful exchange between both sides is at risk. Read the following example of such a challenge.
The sporty and excited city dweller
A city dweller wants to go mountain biking in the countryside on the weekend. He owns a mountain bike. For his trip, he rents a car and a bike rack to pick up separately. On the day of the car pick-up, his disappointment is huge. The vehicle does not have a trailer hitch for the bike rack. The rental company tries hard, but there is no other car available. The frustrated customer must come up with an alternative activity for his weekend.
Further, each user’s individual areas of interest are strongly separated from one another. There is hardly any overlap or even interaction between experts from neighboring silos. Find out below how this impacts our city dweller.
The city dweller starts a new attempt for a mountain bike tour. He has now got himself a car with a bicycle trailer. He wants to book a guided tour in the mountains. He is a good biker himself, but he would like to be shown the landscape by a local. While booking the tour, he encounters problems. One provider has no more tours available, and at another provider’s, there is no parking possibility for vehicles with bike racks. Once again, he has to cancel his weekend plans.
The solution
Our mission at banbutsu is to find solutions to these ecosystem challenges. By doing so, we don’t only provide greater value to end consumers, but also support the experts in their respective fields in improving their offerings.
In a nutshell, banbutsu is the glue, the intelligent binding element, between the individual ecosystem participants.
In the case of our city dweller, the situation has changed:
The satisfied sporty and excited city dweller
When the city dweller wants to book both a vehicle and bike rack, banbutsu steps in as an intelligent booking assistant. Secretly, it signals the customer that the chosen vehicle doesn’t have a trailer hitch. At the same time, banbutsu suggests available vehicles with a trailer coupling. The user can rebook and start his mountain bike excursion.
On the second weekend, banbutsu quietly makes the connection between the car rental company and the mountain bike tour provider. Our software only suggests providers with available times and parking spaces. Thus, the customer has scheduled his trip for a possible weekend and can leave for his mountain bike tour with a good feeling.
Changing challenges…
Nevertheless, also in the banbutsu ecosystem, challenges can arise.
An ecosystem is only robust and functions well if all individual partners are healthy and benefit from it on an equal footing.
The entire ecosystem is thus only as strong as the weakest participant in it.
If one partner is too weak or acts opportunistically, there is the risk of the entire ecosystem collapsing.
Let’s get back to the ‘Lion King’. After Scar sneakily and dreadfully overtook the throne of the animal kingdom, starvation, internal fighting, and discontent prevailed among the animals. The ecosystem collapsed and life worsened for all participants.
…require holistic commitment
Therefore, transparent and open interaction with all participants is just as important as striving for continuous improvement of the ecosystem. Experts who continue to develop in their field while remaining flexible for interactions with other experts will make the ecosystem a strong entity.
That way, participants can ensure future holistic success and provide a win-win-win opportunity for experts, users, and us.
And to go back to the original analogy: Who among us wasn’t happy when Simba returned and made the savannah the promised land it once was?
