Managing the supply side of digital platforms: framework, categorization and selection of complementors for industrial IoT and financial services platforms

In the so‐called ecosystem economy, new platform‐based business models evolve rapidly based on the prospects of digital technology. Thus far, little research has been conducted on the supply side of digital platforms which also explains the lack of empirical evidence. We develop a framework, categorize complementors, and analyze the main factors of influence for the evaluation and selection of complementors. For our analysis, we consider both industrial IoT platforms and financial services platforms. In addition, we use an explorative research design and conduct semi‐structured interviews to contribute to this research field. Top‐level managers of digital platforms in both industries were interviewed as experts. In addition, the study also considered secondary data to increase the overall reliability and validity in terms of triangulation. As a result, our study reveals both a number of similarities and differences with regard to complementor management for industrial IoT‐ and financial services platforms.