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A Business Ecosystem Perspective on Open Platforms and Outsourcing Relationships: A Software Industry Case Study

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Information Systems Outsourcing

Part of the book series: Progress in IS ((PROIS))

Abstract

In this paper we introduce the business ecosystem concept as a lens to explore how the introduction of an open platform may affect outsourcing relationships in a software industry. The case of a recent military initiative to introduce the F.A.C.E.TM (Future Airborne Capability Environment) open platform as a mechanism to control avionics software costs by increasing the re-use of software is used to illustrate changes to the software outsourcing ecosystem. As a consequence this work then lays the foundation for a detailed investigation of the predicted implications both in general and for the specific context studied, as well as illustrating the value of an ecosystem perspective for evaluating the impact of an open platform on outsourcing relationships in other industries.

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Acknowledgment

This research, entitled “Cost Impact on Software Ecosystem for the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE)” is sponsored by a grant from the U.S. Navy (NAVAIR) and by the Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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Correspondence to Michael D. Frutiger .

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Frutiger, M.D., Slaughter, S.A., Narasimhan, S. (2014). A Business Ecosystem Perspective on Open Platforms and Outsourcing Relationships: A Software Industry Case Study. In: Hirschheim, R., Heinzl, A., Dibbern, J. (eds) Information Systems Outsourcing. Progress in IS. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-43820-6_20

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