Business Network Management as a Survival Strategy: A Tale of Two Software Ecosystems

Abstract. Software vendors and software service providers can no longer function without taking the software ecosystem into account. Software vendors presently face three challenges in regards to software ecosystems: they require insight into software ecosystems, they require insight into the possible survival strategies that exist for software ecosystem partici-pants, and they require an overview of possible ways in which the organi-zation can open up to the software ecosystem without losing intellectual property. This paper addresses these needs and provides an overview of the defining characteristics of software ecosystems. To illustrate these defining characteristics two case studies are provided. 1