The “As-a-Service”-Paradigm and Its Implications for the Software Industry – Insights from a Comparative Case Study in CRM Software Ecosystems

By presenting insights from our comparative case study of two CRM ecosystems, we indicate how “as-a-service”-based ecosystems differ from traditional “on-premise” ecosystems and how the particular roles of the market players might change due to the increasing diffusion of the “as-a-service” paradigm. Within the scope of our case studies, we differentiate two views on the ecosystems: the relationship between the platform provider and providers of complementary extensions (ISVs) as inside perspective and the relationship between customers and the CRM ecosystem as a whole as outside perspective. Based on transaction cost theory and intermediary theory our results let us assume that (1) “as-a-service”-based ecosystems will have a higher level of market coordination than “on-premise” ecosystems and (2) the task profiles of intermediaries and platform providers participating in “as-a-service”-based software-ecosystems will differ from task profiles in “on-premise” ecosystems. Based on these findings, we discuss practical implications for involved market players.