The impact of platforms in product development: A case study in the Brazilian software industry

The role of product platforms within companies and in mediating the activities of business conglomerates or ecosystems has been widely recognized as being of great importance to the management processes of new businesses, to the development of new products, and to innovation. The objective of the present work is to help understanding what the benefits found by Brazilian software companies are in the use of platforms for software development and associated services. Firstly, an analysis of the evolution of the scientific research on the concept of “platform” was carried out. A bibliometric methodology was employed for a quantitative analysis and identification of the most relevant references, and a subsequent qualitative content analysis allowed establishing an analysis model that supported the case study. Analyzing a leading Brazilian company in the national market of software production, the benefits gained by this company, which uses a platform as the basis of its products, were observed go beyond the improvement of its capacity to produce software efficiently, also allowing the construction of a business model that stimulates external suppliers to develop solutions that complement the company´s product portfolio.