Business Model Exploration for Software Defined Networks

Business modeling is becoming a foundational process in the information technology industry. Many ICT companies are constructing their business models to stay competitive on the cutting edge of the technology world. However, when comes to new technologies or emerging markets, it remains difficult for the decision maker to make an assertive choice. This paper aims to fill this gap by providing organizations with an overall approach to better design and develop business models in an innovative ICT market. The business model canvas is used to analyze existing players in the market. Moreover, a case study is made of Software Defined Networking (SDN): a business model template for SDN is proposed as a representation tool to bridge the business concept and the SDN functionalities. The models and methods are evaluated and enhanced by interviewing experts from key players in the SDN market. In addition, the method is applied to a case organization for further evaluation, which indicates that an average satisfaction score of 0.77 out of 1 to the model. Therefore, the approach of creating new business models in innovative ICT market in this paper is found to be appropriate and effective in analyzing existing SDN providers and reusing their business components of activities into a new SDN strategy.