Title: Introducing app stores into a packaged software ecosystem: a negotiated order perspective

Authors: Johan Magnusson; Andreas Nilsson

Addresses: Centre for Business Solutions, University of Gothenburg and NITH, P.O. Box, 605, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden ' Center for Service Science and Innovation, Stockholm University, Forum 100, SE-164 40 Kista, Sweden

Abstract: This study addresses the emerging phenomena of app stores for packaged software such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Through employing the technology of app stores, ERP and CRM vendors have been reported as shifting from delivering software as a service (SaaS) to platform as a service (PaaS). Through an in-depth case study of one ERP vendor's app store initiative, the study identifies and discusses instances of negotiated order of the ecosystem. The results show that the introduction of an app store for ERP brings with it the threat of restructuring both the incumbent business model and the power relationships nested in the ecosystem, thus spurring intensified instances of negotiated order. This is discussed in terms of different arenas of conflict for negotiated order.

Keywords: app stores; packaged software; negotiated orders; enterprise resource planning; ERP; software ecosystems; platform strategies; customer relationship management; CRM; platform as a service; PaaS; business models; power relationships.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2013.056140

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2013 Vol.14 No.2, pp.223 - 237

Published online: 10 May 2014 *

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