Ecosystem strategy
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A plan for building and leveraging a network of partners, integrations, and developers that create compounding value around a platform.
An ecosystem strategy is the plan for building a network of partners, integrations, and developers around your product. The goal is to create a system where every new participant adds value for everyone else in the ecosystem.
Salesforce, AWS, and Shopify all have thriving ecosystems. Salesforce's ecosystem of ISVs, consultants, and administrators makes the platform stickier. AWS's partner network of tools and services keeps customers on AWS. Shopify's app developers extend the platform's capabilities far beyond what Shopify could build alone.
Building an ecosystem is a long game. It starts with APIs and integrations (making it possible to build on your platform), moves to developer programs (making it attractive), and matures into marketplaces and partner programs (making it profitable for partners). The result is network effects that competitors cannot replicate.
Examples
A platform company builds its ecosystem.
Year 1: Open APIs and developer documentation. Year 2: 50 integrations built by partners. Year 3: A marketplace where customers discover and purchase partner solutions. Year 4: A partner program with co-selling, co-marketing, and certification.
An ecosystem creates a competitive moat.
A project management tool has 500 integrations, 200 template creators, and 50 consulting partners. A competitor with a better core product cannot compete because switching means losing the entire ecosystem of connected tools and trained consultants.
A company measures ecosystem health.
Key metrics: number of active integrations, partner-sourced revenue, marketplace transaction volume, developer adoption of APIs, and customer retention correlated with integration usage. Customers using 3+ integrations retain at 95% versus 75% for non-integrated customers.
In practice
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Frequently asked questions
When should a company start building an ecosystem?
After product-market fit, when customers start asking for integrations and partners start asking to build on your platform. Trying to build an ecosystem before PMF diverts resources from the core product. Wait for organic pull.
How does an ecosystem create a competitive moat?
Switching costs increase with every integration, partner, and trained user. A customer using your product with 10 connected integrations, a trained admin, and a consulting partner faces massive switching costs. The ecosystem makes them sticky.
Related terms
A go-to-market strategy where partnerships with other companies drive customer acquisition and revenue through co-selling and integrations.
A company whose product integrates with yours, creating mutual value through a shared technical connection.
A company that builds and sells software products, often as a partner that integrates with or extends a larger platform.
A dynamic where a product becomes more valuable as more people use it, creating a self-reinforcing growth advantage.
A self-reinforcing business model where each component accelerates the others, creating compounding growth over time.
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