Information Technology Platforms: Definition and Research Directions

Abstract

The concept of an information technology (IT) related platform is broad and covers phenomena ranging from the operating system Linux to the Internet. Such platforms are of increasing importance to innovation and value creation across many facets of industry and daily life. There is, however, a lack of common understanding in both research and industry about what is mean by the term platform when related to IT. This lack of consensus is detrimental to research and knowledge development. Thus, the aims of this study are to: (i) provide a sound definition of the IT-platform concept by identifying its distinguishing dimensions; and (ii) identify important current research directions for the IT-platform concept. To achieve these aims a systematic literature review was undertaken with 133 relevant articles taken from major information systems journals, conferences, and business publications. The study contributes by providing a sound base for future research into IT-platforms.

Full text

Australasian Conference on Information Systems Sun, Gregor & Keating
2015, Adelaide IT-Platforms: Concept & Review
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Information Technology Platforms: Conceptualisation and
a Review of Emerging Research in IS Research
Ruonan Sun
Research School of Management
The Australian National University
Canberra, Australia
Email: ruonan.sun@anu.edu.au
Shirley Gregor
Research School of Management
The Australian National University
Canberra, Australia
Email: shirley.gregor@anu.edu.au
Byron Keating
Research School of Management
The Australian National University
Canberra, Australia
Email: byron.keating@anu.edu.au
Abstract
The concept of an information technology (IT) related “platform” is broad and covers phenomena ranging
from the operating system Linux to the Internet. Such platforms are of increasing importance to
innovation and value creation across many facets of industry and daily life. There is, however, a lack of
common understanding in both research and industry about what is mean by the term “platform” when
related to IT. This lack of consensus is detrimental to research and knowledge development. Thus, the
aims of this study are to: (i) conceptualise an IT-platform by identifying its distinguishing dimensions and
show the concept’s extension to ecosystems; and (ii) identify important current research directions for the
IT-platform concept. To achieve these aims a systematic literature review was undertaken with 132
relevant articles taken from major information systems journals, conferences, and business publications.
The study contributes by providing a sound base for future research into IT-platforms.
Keywords
IT-platforms, literature review, conceptualisation, ecosystem
1 Introduction and Background
Digital industry platforms are a technology trend that is seen as having a profound impact on
enterprises. “Digital industry platforms are fuelling the next wave of breakthrough innovation and
disruptive growth. Increasingly, platform-based companies are capturing more of the digital economy’s
opportunities for strong growth and profitability … platform-based ecosystems are the new plane of
competition” (Accenture 2015 p. 50).
In research, the term “platform” has become increasingly prevalent during the past decade across a
range of academic disciplines (e.g. Eisenmann et al. 2011; Boudreau and Jeppesen 2014; Evans 2009).
Thomas et al (2014) reviewed management research and identified four streams of platform research
based on elements including construct, unit of analysis, value creation, and value appropriation. Porch
et al. (2015) extended Thomas et al.’s study by investigating platforms both intra-organisationally and
inter-organisationally. However, both studies mention that focusing only on a management
perspective is a limitation; and call for further studies to explore the boundaries of the platform
concept beyond the management domain.
Information systems and information technology related fields (IS/IT) are an important and unique
domain for the study of platforms because: (i) IT-platforms provide the foundations that enable a large
family of applications and related business practices (Fichman 2004); and (ii) IT-platforms are shared
by complementary goods that frequently interoperate with the core technology foundation to add

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functionality (Tiwana et al. 2010). For example, the platform WeChat (WhatsApp’s highly successfully
competitor in China) enables a variety of complementary functions such as chatting, gaming,
shopping, and banking that create significant business value by interacting with the platform and each
other. IT can play a crucial role in establishing foundations and creating business opportunities for
stakeholders from other functional areas.
To date IS research focusing specifically on platforms has been somewhat limited. Of the 132 articles
identified in our examination of the IT-platform literature, fewer than half attempt to explicitly or
implicitly define an IT-platform. Moreover, the review of IS literature reveals that there is an absence
of a consistent understanding with respect to what IT-platforms are and why IT-platforms are worth
investigating. The aims of this study, therefore, are to (i) provide a sound definition for the IT-platform
concept by identifying its distinguishing dimensions and show the concept’s extension to ecosystems;
and (ii) identify important current research themes around the IT-platform concept. Our scope at this
point is restricted to the concept of a single IT-platform. It is acknowledged that more complex
situations exist when platforms overlap, but such situations are beyond our current study.
IT-platform has been applied in an extensible range of research streams, such as IT investment
(Taudes et al. 2000), IT governance (Hagiu 2014), and IT performance (Banker et al. 2011). However
despite a critical mass in IT-platform research, there has been no comprehensive understanding of IT-
platform as a concept in the IS discipline. Comprehensive understanding of concepts is vital because
concepts are seen as basic building blocks for theorising (Dubin 1969); and represent “mental
configuration” of given phenomena (Bacharach 1989). Thus, the principle contributions of this study
are twofold. First, we provide a foundation for further research by conceptualising the IT-platform
concept. Second, we identify a framework of research themes and directions related to IT-platforms.
Overall, this study methodologically reviews, analyses, and synthesises IT-platform related literature
within the IS discipline, thereby offering a sound base for researchers and practitioners alike for
further work.
The study is structured as follows. The next section outlines in detail the research design. The
subsequent section presents an overview of findings from a systematic literature review followed by
our conclusions.
2 Research Method
Our study employed a systematic review method to investigate the development of the IT-platform
concept in the IS domain (Levy and Ellis 2006). A systematic literature review is a powerful tool to deal
with a large number of literature sources and has been extensively employed in IS review articles (e.g.
Fielt et al. 2014; Proch et al. 2015). While Boell and Cecez-Kecmanovic (2015) question the systematic
review as a general method for literature reviews, they suggest that this type of review is particularly
useful for pursuing relatively clear and straight-forward research purposes. Our purpose is relatively
straight-forward and thus the choice of a systematic review is appropriate.
The subsequent analysis follows the recommendations by Okoli and Schabram (2010) and comprises:
(1) planning for the review – specifying research purpose and protocol; (2) selecting literature from
databases to identify relevant publications; (3) extracting retrieved publications to match the research
purpose; and (4) executing the analysis and synthesising the findings on the basis of extracted articles.
2.1 Planning
The first step in any systematic review is a clear identification of the intended purpose of the review
(Okoli and Schabram 2010; Boell and Cecez-Kecmanovic 2015). The purpose of this paper, as stated in
Section 1, includes a comprehensive archival analysis of IS literature on IT-platforms. Furthermore, a
prior protocol is a critical element in the process of conducting a high-quality literature review (Okoli
and Schabram 2010). This study follows a protocol with a basic pre-codification schema, which captures
what IT-platforms are and why researchers study IT-platforms. It addresses definitions and research
themes in the examined IS literature. This planning step serves as a roadmap to support the review.
2.2 Selection
Identifying the literature sources is the main criteria for systematic selecting relevant articles (Webster
and Watson 2002). As the purpose of this study is to investigate and synthesis IT-platforms research
from an IS perspective, the focus is on the clusters of literature targeted in the IS community. Webster

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and Watson (2002, p. xv) suggest “a complete review covers relevant literature on the topic and is not
confined to one research methodology, one set of journals, or one geographic region”. Therefore, a
sampling frame that includes the main IS outlets was developed, giving a list of journals and
conferences. Two sets of IS articles were included in the review. In the first set, articles published in the
eight journals listed by the Association of Information Systems (AIS) as the Senior Scholars’ Basket of
8 Journals
1
were selected as they represent the top quality in the IS domain. Moreover, articles in the
top 3 business publications
2
, ranked by the Financial Times, were included to pursue completeness and
to capture frontline practical ideas overtime. The three business publications are also highly ranked in
IS journal rankings (e.g. ISWorld). In the second set, to ensure the literature review is as comprehensive
as possible, articles in the proceedings of major IS conferences were also investigated. Five AIS affiliated
conferences
3
were chosen.
2.3 Extraction
Following the research purpose and protocol, extraction was conducted in two rounds. First, “platform”
was searched as the keyword in the title, abstract, and keywords of the targeted databases for the basket
of 8 journals and IS conferences. Further, articles that use “IS platform”, “IT platform”, “digital
platform”, or “technology platform” in their titles were searched for in the top 3 business publications
because such articles often do not have an abstract or keyword section; and the focus is on extracting
articles where IT-platform is the central focus. Second, to ensure that only relevant IS research articles
are reviewed, we excluded articles that use non-relevant dictionary meanings (e.g. Capability Maturity
Model), discipline specific usage (e.g. online payment platforms), and methods-related usages (e.g.
Regional Development Platform Method). As a result, 51 articles from the basket of 8 journals, 63
articles from IS conferences, and 18 articles from business publications were yielded (see Figure 1). It is
notable that, although the platforms notion has been under investigation since 1997, the sample shows
a relatively small portion of research attention from the pool of IS outlets but with a rapid rising trend.
Note that while a systematic approach is followed in extracting the most relevant articles for this review,
there can be and will be some suitable articles that are excluded due to the searching approach and
resource availability. Missing articles could occur in any review (Webster and Watson 2002), but this
study has defined a feasible and appropriate scope to extract relevant articles that fit the research
purpose (e.g. Bandara et al. 2009).
Figure 1. Number of IS articles focusing on IT-platforms (up to the 1st quarter 2015)
2.4 Execution
Our process of developing a definition for the IT-platform concept drew on advice from Eisenhardt
(1989), Osigweh (1989); and Suddaby (2010). Following Suddaby (2010) we first examined prior
definitions of platforms in the existing literature, to establish the historical lineage of the concept.
Subsequently we used the process suggested by Eisenhardt (1989) of taking existing definitions and
1
See http://aisnet.org/general/custom.asp?page=SeniorScholarBasket for more details (retrieved 1 July 2015). The Senior
Scholars’ Basket of Journals are: European Journal of Information Systems, Information Systems Journal, Information Systems
Research, Journal of AIS, Journal of Information Technology, Journal of MIS, Journal of Strategic Management Information
Systems, and MIS Quarterly.
2
See https://library.mcmaster.ca/find/ft-research-rank-journals for more details (retrieved 1 July 2015). The top 3 ranked
business publications are: California Management Review (ranked#8), Harvard Business Review (ranked#12), and MIT
Management Review (ranked#35).
3
See http://aisnet.org/?page=Conferences for more details (retrieved 1 July 2015). The five AIS affiliated conferences are:
International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), Americas Conferences on Information Systems (AMCIS), Pacific Asia
Conference on Information Systems (PACIS), European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), and Australasian Conference
on Information Systems (ACIS).
1 1 010 0 0
2
0
2
4
12
4 4 3
989
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
32
43
545
15 15
5
01000000010
2
01 1
3 3 4
2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
NU MB ER O F IS A RT IC L E S
FO CU S I N G O N IT - P L AT FO RM S
Basket of 8 Journals
IS Conferences
Business Publications

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cases and preparing a table that categorizes and compares the attributes (dimensions) attributed to IT-
platforms in prior work.
3 Review and Findings
This section discusses the systematic review of IT-platform focused articles from the IS literature. First,
we introduced some key comments on the definition of concepts. Second, prior definitions of the
concept were studied. Finally, a new definition of the IT-platform concept was developed based on the
evidence and definitions in the sample articles. Third, key IT-platform research themes were specified.
3.1 Definition of Concepts
Concepts are seen as essential building blocks in theorising (e.g. Bacharach 1989; Dubin 1969) and the
need for precise definition of concepts where possible is stressed (e.g. Osigweh 1989; Weber 2012). The
terminology around “concepts” themselves is mixed. Some authorities refer to concepts and constructs
as much the same thing (e.g. Whetten 1989) and in this essay we will not make a sharp differentiation
between them. Further, the process of achieving clarity about what the concepts in our theorizing mean
involves reflection on the underlying ontological and epistemological assumptions we believe apply to
the situation at hand (see Weber 2012). For example, do the concepts refer to things that are socially
constructed or to objects with an independent physical existence? We assume here that concepts can do
either, with in-depth discussion of this point lying beyond the scope of the essay.
Different views on the definitions of concepts exist. The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy (1999)
lists 18 different kinds of definition. Dubin (1969) in his work on theorizing prefers to use the term
“units” rather than concepts for the basic building blocks of theory, with units being distinguished
(defined) by the properties they possess. He uses the language of set theory to describe different types
of units. For example, a unit (construct) can be an individual unit, or a member of a set (class), for which
membership is defined in terms of having one or more common properties. Similar understanding can
be found in authors such as Parsons and Wand (2013) in their treatment of classification principles and
Osigweh (1989), who sees it as important in offering a definition to say what is not included in the
definition (i.e., what does not belong to the defined set of things).
In addition, however, in many fields, it is not unusual to define what a complex thing is by saying what
the thing is composed of: for example, in the definition of an atom. This usage is common in information
systems: for example, the key concept of an “information system” itself is usually defined as consisting
of a number of components (input, output, processing, and feedback), which bear a structural
relationship to each other (e.g. see Stair and Reynolds 2012). Specification of such concepts is often
aided by a diagrammatic representation. Bagozzi (1984) uses the term “structural definition” for
something of this nature. An “IT-platform” may need to be defined in this way, as even at first glance
the concept appears to refer to a complex thing with a number of component parts that are structurally
related.
Pragmatically, for the process of defining a concept we heed the advice of Suddaby (2010, p. 2010) who
says that good definitions should: (i) “capture the essential properties and characteristics of the
phenomena under consideration”; (ii) “avoid tautology or circularity”; and (iii) “should be
parsimonious”. Suddaby also recommends showing the scope of the construct and relationships among
constructs, including prior historical constructs on which a newer construct is based. Eisenhardt (1989,
p. 542) describes the process of developing a construct definition from cases and notes that “many
researchers rely on tables to summarize and tabulate the evidence underlying the construct” (citing
Miles and Huberman 1984; Sutton and Callahan 1987).
3.2 Limitations in Understanding IT-Platforms
Although the concept “platform” is mentioned often in the IS literature, understanding on the precise
meaning of the concept has not been achieved. The definitions of platforms vary widely between the
general and the specific. For example, Gawer (2009, p. 2) more generally refers to platforms as
“technological building blocks, providing an essential function to a technological system – which acts as
a foundation upon which other firms can develop complementary products, technologies, or services”.
More specifically, for Donders et al. (2014, p. 88) a platform may refer to “a hardware configuration, an
operating system, a software framework or any other common entity on which a number of associated
components or services run”.
There were 47 attempt to explicitly or implicitly define platforms among the 132 sample articles. Table 1
shows 15 selected sample definitions that reveal various understanding of IT-platforms. Based on the

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examined IS literature, IT-platform could be understood with different emphasis, for example, as a
technology set on which complements can run (Fichman 2004; Meyer and Seloger 1998), a codebase for
extension development (Tiwana 2015; Taude et al. 2000), a two- or multi-sided market enabled by
technologies (Tan et al. 2015; Basole 2009); or technology and business infrastructure that enables
enterprises activities (Richardson et al. 2014; Rai et al. 2006). However, there is limited understanding of
the actual conceptualisation of IT-platforms in the literature so far. A comprehensive understanding of
the IT-platform concept is vital because it is the foundation to building theories on IT-platforms (Suddaby
2000); and acts as an operational configuration of IT-platform related phenomena (Bacharach 1989).
Sample Source
Definition
Taudes et al. 2000
In general, a software platform is a software package that enables the
realisation of application systems.
Richardson et al.
2014
IT platforms enable a business infrastructure that shapes the capacity of
firms to launch frequent and varied competitive actions, which results in
improved performance.
Fichman 2004
An IT-platform is broadly defined as a general-purpose technology that
enables a family of applications and related business opportunities.
Tiwana 2015
A platform refers to an extensible technological foundation and the interfaces
used by extensions that interoperate with it.
Ceccagnoli et al.
2012
Platforms are defined as the set of components used in common across a
product family whose functionality can be extended by applications.
Rai et al. 2006
In the supply chain management (SCM) context, an IT-platform enables
consistent and real-time transfer of information between SCM related
applications and functions that are distributed across partners.
Banker et al. 2011
In the e-commerce context, an IT-platform is a website that allows
participants to deposit margin money to ensure that they have resources to
settle a dispute advice, and provides access to trading practices.
Markus and
Loebbecke 2013
Digital platform supporting simultaneous use by multiple companies, each of
which can independently customise business process for its own ecosystem.
Tan et al. 2015
The notion of platforms were defined as “two-sided markets”, which refers to
a market with two distinct sides that benefit from network effect by
interacting on a common platform.
Shaw and Holland
2010
The platform concept is used to label the structural level whose behaviour
supports some higher level phenomena.
Giessmann and
Stanoevska 2012
Platforms and related components is a set of technology that is developed in
emerging ecosystems of their-party developers.
Basole 2009
Technology platforms are multi-sided markets since they bring together
various types of participants or sides.
Heitkotter et al.
2012
In the mobile context, platform refers to the symbolic combination of
hardware, operating systems, and app store.
Saarikko et al. 2014
The platform itself may be defined as a core of fixed set of attributes that can
be extended by applications or complements to the benefit of adopters as
well as backing firms.
Meyer and Seliger
1998
Platform is a set of subsystems and interfaces that form a common structure
from which a stream of derivative products can be efficiently developed and
produced.
Table 1. Samples of Various IT-Platform Definitions
To summarise, examining definitions of IT-platforms in the IS literature reveals that the existing IT-
platform literature is characterised by diverse treatments of the concept; and lack of a systematic
conceptualisation that captures in full the essential dimensions of the IT-platform concept. An
explication and conceptualisation based on a systematic review is a necessary first step towards a more
precise definition and knowledge advancement. The next section analyses in detail the dimensions of
the IT-platform concept and develops a comprehensive definition. The definition leads to a conceptual
model in diagrammatic form.
3.3 Conceptual Model and Definition of an IT-Platform
An examination of the IT-platform concept in the existing IS literature indicates that an IT-platform
could be a technological foundation that allows complementary add-ons, or a two- or multi-sided

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market that facilitate exchanges, or some other representation. Our objective is to develop a
comprehensive definition of an IT-platform and its key dimensions based on a systematic review. We
begin by identifying candidate dimensions in an open coding process (Berg 1989) in the sample articles.
These candidate dimensions were then grouped into categories where the candidates appeared to be
employing different terminology for the same thing. The process continued until all candidates were
grouped. The authors discussed areas of potential disagreement until consensus was reached. Table 2
depicts the core dimensions (categories) and alternative terminologies.
Dimension
Examples of Alternative Terminologies
Technological
base
 The basis of certain applications (Taudes et al. 2000)
 The set of components (Ceccagnoli et al. 2012; Rai et al. 2006)
 A general purpose technology (Fichman 2004; Song et al. 2013)
 An extensible codebase (Tiwana et al. 2010; Tiwana 2015)
 A core fixed set of attributes (Saarikko et al. 2014)
 Core infrastructure (Maurer and Tiwana 2012)
 Core products or services (Anderson Jr. et al. 2014)
 Common architecture (Bergvall-Karebron and Howcroft 2014)
 A common resource (Ghazawneh and Henfridsson 2010)
 A common structure (Giessmann and Stanoevska 2012)
 A common entity (Eurich et al. 2011)
 Technologies (Riemer and Richter 2010; Hagiu 2014)
Standards
 Standard (Rai et al. 2006)
 A set of rules (Kraemer et al. 2010)
 Interfaces (Meyer and Seliger 1998, Tiwana et al. 2010)
 Application programming interface (Lahiri et al. 2010)
 Meticulous platform interface (Tiwana 2015)
Add-ons
 Applications (Taudes et al. 2000; Ceccagnoli et al. 2012)
 Distributed applications (Rai et al. 2006)
 Complementary extensions- add-ins, modules, and apps (Tiwana et al. 2010)
 Complementary components (Bergvall-Kareborn and Howcroft 2014)
 Complementary products (Spagnoletti et al. 2015)
 Complementary models (Hilkert et al. 2011)
 Complementary innovations (Gawer and Gusumano 2008)
 Complementors (Suarez and Kirtely 2012)
 Complements (Saarikko et al. 2014)
 Associated components (Eurich et al. 2011)
 Subsystems (Meyer and Seliger 1998)
 Proprietary elements (Gawer and Gusumano 2008)
 Plug-ins (Jain et al. 2006)
Interoperability
 Interoperate (Tiwana et al. 2010)
 Interoperability (Tiwana 2015)
 Extend (Anderson Jr. et al. 2014)
 Connect (Koh et al. 2014; Suarez and Kirtley 2012)
 Real-time connectivity (Rai et al. 2006)
 Ways of connecting (Riemer and Richter 2010)
 Sharable (Dhar and Sundararajan 2007)
Transactionality
 Interactions (Hagiu 2014)
 Transactions (Mantena and Saha 2012)
 Exchanges (Avgerou and Li 2013)
Governance
 Coordination (Tiwana et al. 2010; Saarikko 2015)
 Platform governance (Tiwana 2015)
 Transparency – governance processes (Hilkert et al. 2011)
Table 2. Dimensions of the IT-Platform Concept

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3.3.1 Technological Base
A “technological base” refers to a technological foundation that is highly reusable and allows add-ons to
be developed. Alternative terminologies in the literature include codebase (Tiwana et al. 2010), general
purpose technology (Fichman 2004), common architecture (Bergvall-Karebron and Howcroft 2014),
and basis of certain applications (Taudes et al. 2000). A technological base often encounters a stable-
vs.-change trade-off that is – on the one hand, it must accommodate changes unforseen at the time the
technological base was created; on the other hand, it must permit changes to individual add-ons without
compromising its ability to function together again.
3.3.2 Standards
A “standard” refers to design rules that allow developers who access the platform at different times from
different locations to make the same assumptions about the parts of the platform. Terminologies with
similar meaning include interface (Meyer and Seliger 1998) and rule (Kraemer et al. 2010).
Standardisation represents “the degree to which add-ons interact with the technological base using
stable, well-documented, and redefined standards” (Tiwana et al. 2010 p. 679). To realise success from
IT-platform standardisation, it is important to understand the trade-off between the stable value capture
that a controlled standard yields and the rapid growth that an open standard facilitates (Dhar and
Sundararajan 2007).
3.3.3 Add-Ons
An “add-on” refers to a software extension that connects to the platform technological base to add
functionality. Researchers use terminologies such as application (Ceccagnoli et al. 2012), complement
(Saarikko et al. 2014), modules (Tiwana et al. 2010), and subsystems (Meyer and Seliger 1998) to denote
similar meanings. The addition and improvement of add-ons can enable capabilities and business
models that would not exist otherwise. The value of an IT-platform thus depends on the add-ons that
can be implemented (Taudes et al. 2000), e.g. apps in AppStore, games for PlayStation, and software for
Windows.
3.3.4 Interoperability
“Interoperability” refers to the ability to interact between a technological base and add-ons at the
technical level, such as an application programming interface (API) connection. Alternative
terminologies with similar meaning are extend (Anderson Jr. et al. 2014), accessibility (Hilkert et al.
2011), ways of connecting (Riemer and Richter 2010) etc. Interoperability is an important antecedent
that represents an IT-platform’s ability to enable add-ons to contribute to the technological base.
3.3.5 Transactions
“Transactions” refers to interactions within an IT-platform ecosystem in ways that advance human
interests at the non-technical level, such as e-marketing buying and selling
4
. Alternative terminologies
such as interaction (Hagiu 2014) and exchange (Avgerou and Li 2013) are used in the literature to
express similar meaning. The focus of IT-platform transactions is on platform-based business practices
and exchanges. For example, IT-platform based business networks such as Taobao aggregate
information content produced by exchanges between sellers and buyers, thereby creating value by
harnessing transaction-generated data.
3.3.6 Governance
“Governance” broadly refers to policies, structures, processes, and mechanisms involved in mana ging
an IT-platform. Some common IT-platform governance arrangements include relationship patterns,
licencing agreements, and features to managing communication and exchange. The central notion of IT-
platform governance is the tension between control by a platform owner and autonomy among
independent developers and users (Tiwana et al. 2010). On the one hand, platform owners can increase
profits through an optimal decision in terms of the degree of control to downstream add-ons. To
4
An artificial trading agent buying and selling in a share market would still be initiating transactions as we are
defining them, although there no human actor directly involved.

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promote subsequent innovations, a platform owner can choose either a closed contract that centralises
platform profits or an open contract that stimulates greater add-on development depending on strategy.
On the other hand, developers and users can choose to participate in either a closed platform or an open
one depending on intellectual property and demands.
3.4 Ecosystem
Further, the definitions of IT-platforms are often expanded with the introduction of the concept of
“ecosystem” (e.g. Hurni and Huber 2014; Anderson Jr., et al. 2014; Maurer and Tiwana 2012; Goldback
and Kemper 2014). A platform-centric ecosystem is “the collection of the platform and the modules
specific to that platform” (Tiwana et al. 2010, p. 675), in which the network of business processes and
innovations make a platform more valuable (Ceccagnoli et al. 2012). The notion of a platform-centric
ecosystem is particularly important with complex IT-platforms, such as iOS and Windows, as noted by
Saarikko (2015):
“The resulting structure can be leveraged for mass-customisation within a value chain or in a
wider ecosystem. The latter is especially common in the IT-industry where short lifecycles force
specialisation and product architectures must be able to accommodate a high degree of
modularity.”
3.5 Conceptual Model and Definition of an IT-Platform
Figure 2 depicts the IT-platform as a conceptual model, suggesting the interrelationship of its
constituent dimensions. It is not unusual in IT and IS to depict high-level concepts in terms of inter-
related constituent parts, as in the OSI, or Open System Interconnection, model which defines a
networking framework (Zimmermann 1980). IS by definition concerns systems, which involve sub-
systems, interconnectivity, and information passing. Thus, a definition that includes the notion of
layered dimensions appears appropriate. Appendix A shows examples of IT-platforms and dimensions.
Governance
Transactionality
Technological
Base Add-on
Standards
Add-on
Add-on
Add-on
Interoperability
Interoperability
Figure 2. IT-platform conceptual model
Two theories serve as a theoretical lens to support the underlying logic of our IT-platform conceptual
model. First, the general purpose technology (GPT) theory proposed by Lipsey et al. (2005, p. 98) argues
that a GPT should have “scope for improvement and eventually comes to be widely used, to have many
uses, and to have many spillover effects”. A GPT refers to a single generic technology that is important
enough to have a “protracted aggregated impact” (Jovanovic and Rousseau 2005; Lipsey et al. 2005).
An important element for a GPT is the general purpose principle (GPP), as defined by Lipsey et al.
(2005). The principle is employed by many different complementarities that are widely used around the
GPT and across the economy. Such notions can help understand both the IT-platform constitution and
interactions between key dimensions.

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9
Second, modular systems theory suggests that complex systems (e.g. platform-centric ecosystems)
comprise complementary goods that are always to some degree separated and combined; and the degree
depend on “the ‘rules’ of the system architecture that enable (or prohibit) the mixing and matching of
components” (Schilling 2000, p. 312). In our conceptual model, add-ons are the complementary
subsystems that interact following defined standards and using stable interfaces within a platform-
centric ecosystem, thereby increasing the value obtained by the core platform technological base
(Tiwana et al. 2010). These arguments, in particular, support the design of IT-platform functionality in
terms of how add-ons interoperate and transact with the platform core.
In summary, the conceptual model is the first step towards a systematic theory of IT-platforms. The
model is developed through the lenses of GPT and modular systems. The conceptualisation leads to our
definition of IT-platforms as follows:
An IT-platform is defined as comprised of a technological base on which complementary add-
ons can interoperate, following standards and allowing for transactions amongst stakeholders,
within the platform-centric ecosystem.
We believe this definition has general applicability, although at times people may focus on a particular
dimension of the total ensemble.
4 Identifying Research Themes
We look at the objectives of published research to gain insights into research themes and directions
using similar method as Thomas et al. (2014) and Fielt et al. (2014). The objective of a study is a critical
part of research design. Identifying research objectives is important because a clear identified objective
can explain why an article’s results and contributions matter (Maxwell 2012). Researchers have raised
questions about why IT-platforms thrive with (or without) commercial leadership and why we should
care about platforms (Gawer 2009). The objectives of the sample articles were captured by carefully
reading abstracts and introductory sections. A total of 128 objectives (explicit and implicit) were
identified by searching and coding keywords and leading sentences
5
following an open coding process
(Berg 1989).
Figure 3. Numbers of articles in different research themes
We identify four main research themes, as presented in Figure 3 and Table 3, and show the
correspondences to the dimensions of our conceptual model. The first theme looks at key determinants
for platform investment and how investments contributes to platform value. Focal interests include
platform owners’ investment into technological base and developers’ investment to complementary
add-ons. The second theme studies enablers and inhibitors that influence the design and development
of the technological base, add-ons, standards, and the ways they interoperate. The third theme focuses
on IT-platform strategies and governance practices in terms of how to manage the interoperation and
transactions between the technological base and add-ons. The fourth theme extends the scope of IT-
platform governance to incorporate the ecosystem in investigating the adoption, usage, and impact of
5
Keywords for identifying objectives are: objective, purpose, goal, and aim. Leading sentences for identifying objectives - such as “…
this paper investigates an important factor in new product development …” (Anderson Jr. et al. 2014, p. 153)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
1 9 9 7
1 9 9 8
1 9 9 9
2 0 0 0
2 0 0 1
2 0 0 2
2 0 0 3
2 0 0 4
2 0 0 5
2 0 0 6
2 0 0 7
2 0 0 8
2 0 0 9
2 0 1 0
2 0 1 1
2 0 1 2
2 0 1 3
2 0 1 4
2 0 1 5
IT-P LA TF OR M R E S E A R C H TH EM ES
IT-platform Investment
IT-platform Design and
Development
IT-platform Governance
IT-platform Adoption,
Usage, and Impact

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2015, Adelaide IT-Platforms: Concept & Review
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IT-platforms. It is notable that IT-platform governance and adoption themes have been drawing
increasing attention since 2011 (see Figure 3).
Theme
Key Objective
Dimension
1. IT-platform investment
To investigate and examine ways and factors
that influence IT-platform investment
decisions for stakeholders.
Tech. base, add-ons
2. IT-platform design and
development
To analyse factors that influence IT-platform
design and development.
Tech. base,
add-ons, standards,
interoperability
3. IT-platform governance
To explore governance practices and choices
that serve to maintain a highly functional IT-
platform.
Ecosystem
4. IT-platform adoption,
usage, and impact
To examine issues about IT-platform adoption,
usage, and impact.
Ecosystem
Table 3. Framework for IT-Platforms Research Themes
5 Limitations, Future Research, and Conclusion
Platforms are recognized as an increasing focus of innovation with the drive towards digital business
(Accenture 2015; Yoo et al. 2010). An increasing number of IS research articles have paid attention to
IT-platforms, with each bringing its own definition and theme to investigate or examine similar streams
of issues. Unfortunately, a lack of integration has led to inconsistent understanding of IT-platform as a
concept in the IS domain. This study examines the current understanding of IT-platforms as studied in
the IS literature; and focuses on the definition and research directions for IT-platforms.
Although we have endeavoured to achieve the highest level of validity, this review is not without
limitations. First, we have systematically selected and extracted articles from a range of sources (top IS
journals, top business publications, and IS conferences) but the sample by necessity excludes many
outlets. Second, the study strictly follows the review protocol and uses open coding process to manually
conduct data analysis. However, the application of qualitative analysis tools (e.g. NVivo) could increase
representation and mitigate the effect of biases (Leech and Onwuegbuzie 2007). Therefore, future
research is expected to extend our analysis to second tier journals and use software packages to capture,
code, and analyse sample literature.
As this study is still in-progress, we outline our plan for future work. First, findings of literature will be
further synthesised to indicate how the new IT-platform conceptual model and definition will shape
future research. Second, we propose to include industry stakeholders in IT-platform development and
garner their perspectives. Third, a research agenda will be generated, through which researchers can
more fully leverage the dimensions of IT-platforms when investigating the role of IT-platform in IS
phenomena.
Despite the limitations, this review sheds light on our understanding of IT-platforms in the IS domain.
This study (i) extracts six key dimensions of the IT-platform concept: technological base, standards,
complementary add-ons, interoperability, transactionality, and governance; and (ii) identifies an
important closely-related concept – a platform-centric ecosystem. We developed an integrative
conceptual model that presents the interrelationships between the dimensions within the IT-platform
ecosystem, contributing to a sound conceptualisation of IT-platforms. We also synthesise four main
research themes. Future research directions are indicated by the growing interest in the last two themes.
This work is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to attempt to systematically and rigorously define
the concept of an IT-platform and we hope that future research will find it a useful base for further
refinement and extension.
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Appendices
Appendix A: Examples of IT-Platform Ecosystems and Dimensions
IT-Platform Ecosystem
Linux
iOS
SAP
PlayStation
Taobao
Dimension
Technological
base
Linux kernel
iOS core
SAP S/4HANA
Accelerated processing
unit
Quad-Core Intel Xeon
processor tech
Standards
Linux standard base
System View
Controller
SAP Application
Performance Standard
Move.Me Network
Protocol
National unified
payment gateway
Interoperability
Shell (user interface)
– command-line
interface (CLI) or
graphical user
interface (GUI) to
achieve the best
workflow for tasks.
iOS SDK with tools
for developers to
develop, install, run,
and test add-ons,
using Objective-C
language and run on
iOS base.
SAP cloud applications
studio which enables
partners to adapt and
enhance the solution
capabilities of SAP’s
Cloud solutions.
Cell Broadband Engine
Architecture with
Cell/B.E technology for
game developing.
Taobao open platform
API includes a suite of
services covering 15
categories for app
development.
Add-ons
Software in the
Ubuntu Centre
Apps in the AppStore
SAP packages
Games, movies, apps et
al.
Online chatting,
reputation ranking
Transactions
Software service
operations, e.g.
sending and
receiving messages
App downloading,
service purchasing,
app evaluating etc.
Information and value
exchange through SAP
ERPs and business suits
Game purchasing,
media sharing, live
broadcasting, play
sharing etc.
Online chatting,
online value transfer
etc.
Governance
Free software
licensing agreement
Apple developer
licensing agreement
Quota arrangements,
global partner network
PlayStation partner
registration and
agreement
Taobao platform
service agreement,
reputation
management
Table A-1. Examples of IT-Platform and Dimensions

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Copyright: © 2015 authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the
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commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author
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