Commodification of Complements
Use open source to commoditise adjacent capabilities ("complements") so your differentiated products become more valuable.
When to use this play
- A vendor controls a critical adjacent component and captures too much margin.
- Your teams repeatedly rebuild non-differentiating integration or infrastructure layers.
- You need better interoperability across partners and customers.
What to do
- Identify the layer that is necessary but not strategically differentiating.
- Open-source or co-develop that layer with industry participants.
- Encourage neutral governance to build trust and reduce single-firm control.
- Reinvest savings and influence into your differentiated offerings.
Success signals
- Lower switching costs and reduced lock-in.
- Faster partner integration.
- Greater adoption of your preferred architecture around the open layer.