Copycat services and value chains
I've wanted to mention copycat services since the last IASA meeting and the chat some of us had over Pizza afterwards. We were talking about web services and I was on one about value chains and how these could drive standards.
In the case of successful value chains (where there is money) there will by copycats; services that mimic your APIs and support similar functions, and more importantly, innovate further and reduce the margins. This on one level will drive a standard through that particular value chain. In so doing you are developing a market for competition which will ultimately drive the service or business function towards being a commodity so further increasing the market for consumption of the service.
I guess that this is really a standard trade dynamic, which I am sure goes way back in time. One guy suggested the analogy of the "IBM PC", now, the "PC" which is available from a myriad of vendors. This was quickly followed by the example of the "Hoover" - it wasn't that long ago that his parents would talk about their "Hoover" but now we can buy a vacuum cleaner from any of a 100 or vendors or so. These are all examples of innovation that when successful migrate to the centre as a commodity.
In the world of services this comoditisation will be dramatic, like a wildfire as the virtual world has no physical boundaries. Copycat services will be instrumental in shaping these markets, broadening their apeal and so driving them towards the maturity of a commodity.
