A platform is a product that serves or enables other products or services. Platforms (in the context of digital business) exist at many levels. Platforms that enable a platform business model have associated business ecosystems.
Google, Facebook, YouTube, Airbnb, Uber, eBay, Alibaba, PayPal make use of the platform business model. In this article, I use the terms “platform business model,” “platform business” and “platform” interchangeably. Economists also call them multi-sided platforms (MSP).
The key difference between platforms and most traditional business models is that platforms are multisided. By definition, they cater to multiple user groups. Platforms create value by bringing these people and businesses together and enabling them to exchange value.
What is PaaS example?
PaaS examples: AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Heroku, Windows Azure (mostly used as PaaS), Force.com, OpenShift, Apache Stratos, Magento Commerce Cloud. IaaS examples: AWS EC2, Rackspace, Google Compute Engine (GCE), Digital Ocean, Magento 1 Enterprise Edition*.
An online marketplace that places one party in touch with another, such as buyers and sellers. Examples are eBay, Craigslist, Amazon Marketplace, Airbnb and Uber.