Weekly questions to consider when creating your posts. These questions are a jumping off point to asking your own questions, pose new ideas, and provide explanations and examples backed by careful analysis. Apply class concepts, terms, and theories too. Refer to Assignment 12 for additional details.
What are the pros of using Digital Platforms?
- What is a network effect and what are some examples?
- What are the pros and cons of Cloud computing?
- What are the differences between SaaS, PaaS, IaaS?
- What are APIs, and how do APIs build value?
- Think back to the ICA!
- Who are product managers and what do they do?
Pros of using digital platforms:
Increased reach and accessibility for businesses and individuals
Improved efficiency and automation of processes
Enhanced user experience and customization options
Increased data collection and analysis capabilities
Lower costs and scalability compared to traditional solutions
A network effect occurs when the value of a product or service increases as more people use it. Examples include social media networks (e.g., Facebook), marketplaces (e.g., Amazon), and communication tools (e.g., WhatsApp).
Pros of Cloud computing:
Cost savings and increased efficiency
Scalability and flexible resource allocation
Access to advanced technology and tools
Improved disaster recovery and data security
Cons of Cloud computing:
Dependence on internet connectivity
Potential for vendor lock-in
Security and privacy concerns
Complexity of managing and integrating multiple cloud services
SaaS (Software as a Service): a fully hosted software solution, delivered over the internet and accessible via a web browser.
PaaS (Platform as a Service): a platform that enables users to build, run, and manage their own applications and services, without having to worry about infrastructure and maintenance.
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): a virtualized computing infrastructure, delivered over the internet and accessible on a pay-as-you-go basis.
APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are a set of protocols and routines for building software applications. APIs allow different software systems to communicate with each other and exchange data. APIs build value by allowing for greater integration and automation, improving user experiences, and enabling new business models and revenue streams.
Product managers are responsible for defining and bringing to market successful products that meet the needs of the target customers and the business. They oversee the entire product life cycle, from idea to launch, and ensure that the product is aligned with the company’s strategy and goals.
Hi, Joshi
I think your description of cloud computing is very detailed. Under the development of modern technology, cloud computing is indeed favored by many enterprises because of its unique advantages, and it has played an irreplaceable role in enterprise networks. But its shortcomings should also be taken seriously because it can further improve the experience of enterprises and users.
Hi Shivam! I was wondering, could you ever see yourself as a product manager? I like that the role of a product manager includes some communication responsibilities, for example pitching an idea to the company, and properly representing the product, Being a product manager seems like an interesting way to work in tech without being a developer or other very specialized roles. I think the aspect you mentioned about bringing successful products to market is most appealing to me, as a finance major. I’m curious to hear your thoughts!
Hello, Shivam,
well organized port I like it. many of us use digital platforms unaware of data breaches that occur from time to time. we should guard our personal information from being stolen as I was a victim myself. however, I have to say it is hard to protect everything that we provide in social media for example.
Hi Shivam. I liked your post and I thought that you did a nice thorough explanation on the pros and cons of digital platforms and really helped me understand them better.
Great job!
Network effect means that when a user uses a certain commodity or service, the utility he enjoys has a strong relationship with the total number of people who use the commodity or service. One of the examples is social software such as Instagram. The advantage of cloud computing is that it can reduce the operating costs of enterprises, it is very flexible, and its security and mobility are also very high, and it also has the function of automatic update, which means that it is very convenient to use. But cloud computing services also have disadvantages, such as it is very troublesome to transfer data between different cloud service operators, and it relies heavily on Internet links, which means that it will be very vulnerable in case of hacker attacks. IaaS can manage the services of the five major operators by itself, namely applicant, data, runtime, middleware, and O/S. However, the only services that PaaS can manage by itself are applicants and data, while all services of SaaS are managed by operators. The full name of API is an application programming interface, which means that two or more computer programs communicate with each other through a specific interface and send requests to each other. Product managers are the overall person in charge of the company’s internal products. They are generally responsible for the development, release, and management of the company’s internal products, and are responsible for the entire process of products from zero to market.
Hi Jinzhou, thanks for your response! I was curious to hear an example of a commodity that you think could generate a network effect. Typically, I think more along the lines that you mentioned, like Instagram and other tech businesses, but it’s an interesting point that you brought up. Maybe gold or bitcoin, as alternative currencies, could exhibit network effects? My reasoning there is that, as more people use these currencies in place of their national currencies, more businesses and financial institutions are incentivized to accept these currencies as payment, which then encourages more people to see these currencies as valid alternatives. I’m curious to hear your thoughts!
Hi Julia,
I think it’s very interesting that you mention crypto or alternative currencies as network effects. I think as a rule of thumb for all money in general, it doesn’t have value until we give it value, as exhibited in our currency today. It can be debated whether new currency is a network effect because it becomes more valuable as more people use it; for example, bitcoin was not worth much 15 or so years ago but as more people began using it and it was mined up, the worth went up. I wonder if our current currency counts as network effect because it is in a sense “maxed out” since everyone in the country uses it.
Hi Jinzhou,
I agree with your response, I definitely believe that the network effect is based upon user usage which represents the relationship between a network and how often it is used. The function of automatic update definitely makes the network easier to use especially since many networks lag due to the delay on updates. It is interesting how you perceived the advantages of cloud service operators, as I agree but also wrote a few noticeable differences and similarities as well.
The network effect happens when the value of a good or service rises as an indirect effect of more people using it. There isn’t always an obvious change, but it is not purely coincidental that platforms that start to gain more traction also start to earn more money. A good example of this is Facebook—Facebook started to grow and evolve as more people started creating accounts and using Facebook, thus also adding more data. Facebook began earning more money as it collected valuable information about customer preferences and running ads.
Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Cloud computing has become very popular in recent years due to the rise of technology—with so many people able to access the internet and data from their own homes and smartphones, it is easier to store all information in one central place that is conveniently accessible to those who want to find it. Unfortunately, since all the information is stored in one central place, this can bring up issues of safety and data breaches since all the information can be accessed from one location.
API stands for “Application programming interface”, and it is a software intermediary to allow two applications to communicate with each other. Building APIs onto older systems makes it possible for businesses to extract valuable existing data for new innovations. Incorporating APIs into new applications allows easier consumption and reuse across new web and mobile experiences.
Hi Sophie,
I like your example of the network effect of how it’s an indirect effect when people use it and then use Facebook as an example. The more people are on the platform, the more data they are collecting, their preferences, and more money, is earned, creating value. However, I always wonder if ads make less money if users use ad blockers. I use many ad blockers on my computer because I find ads annoying and distracting. Would this mean they are making less money, or would it just be the same? Cloud computing is a great way to access files on every device, and security is a main issue, but also believe having your information on a hard drive is important too because if you lose an internet connection or someone has breached your data having a hard drive would be a lifesaver. I agree that building APIs onto older systems helps businesses extract existing data which would help access applications easier and use them across all devices.
Hey Sophia,
I loved the way that you described APIs. These software intermediaries, as you said, are so important for almost every business today, whether its an online business like eBay or and in person one like a mechanic shop, they all want to have one set up if they want to be the most successful. These allow a business like the previously stated mechanic shop to be more linked and better communicated to prevent issues on the business side of things like ordering parts or fixing a customers car.
The network effect is bundled into products, services, and platforms for buyers and sellers to buy and sell products. For example, delivery apps such as GrubHub, door dash, uber eats, instacart, postmates. Or social media apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedln, Snapchat, and many other servicing apps. They all have one thing in common: they increase the company’s profit by using extremely reliable and convenient services for consumers. As you can see, it’s important to understand network effects because it can help businesses become more successful, according to Harvard University. “Companies that can leverage or exploit network effects often experience rapid growth rates,” Anand says. “Not just that: Once you’re ahead, you tend to stay ahead. Your demand keeps growing even faster as you get bigger.” Lastly, taking advantage of the network effect is, “Once you’ve gained significant market share, you can often sit back and let the network effect take over.” Letting the effect take over benefits the company because they have more time on their hands to work on more projects. Cloud computing is where data share on a network from “accessible servers.” The pros are “reduced infrastructure costs, defense against disaster, maximized time, enhanced collaboration, and increased automation. Now all of these are good for cloud computers, but there are some cons as well, such as limited control, slower backups and restores, and internet use. The last one I disagree with a bit because internet usage in today’s time has been good. There hasn’t been an internet problem for a while, and plus, where ever you go, you’re always connected to the internet. Software as a Service (Saas) is pretty much a cloud-based service such as google services or even adobe creative cloud. They are bundled into one for users to easily access the tools they need. Platform as a service (PaaS) gives businesses the ability to create apps. It’s also great for managing apps as well. Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas) “cloud computing that’s closest to the hardware,” allows business to manage their information that’s on the cloud. Pretty much, it’s just stored data in a company.
LINKS: https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/what-are-network-effects#:~:text=Examples%20of%20Network%20Effects&text=Ticket%20Exchange%3A%20StubHub%2C%20Ticketmaster%2C,Instagram%2C%20LinkedIn%2C%20Snapchat%2C%20Pinterest
https://www.morefield.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-cloud-computing/
https://www.paddle.com/resources/saas-vs-paas-vs-iaas
Hi Montajim! I think you used great explanations and resources for network effects. It is important to understand how large companies are having success through the apps they provide their customers and through their social media platforms. By gaining more market share customers start to recognize the brand name and more people will want to utilize their services or products.
Hey Montajim,
I enjoyed reading your response as it was extremely detailed in relation to the questions being asked for week 4. The network effect is definitely implemented in our daily lives and prior to actually learning about the network effect, I feel like many users were unaware of its effect and how it is implemented into cloud data. The network effect definitely poses as an advantage to a user and the online services as well, since it basically does all of the handy work on the cloud but that is usually done after majority of the personal work is done on the users behalf.
When it comes to using a digital platform there are many positive things that can come from it. Some example of this include being able to make data collection easier, manage resources easier, make it easier for customers, increase mobility of a company, improve productivity, and most important improve profits because of having a digital platform.
A network effect is when a given good/service gain more value as more people use it. Some examples of this include different forms of social media like TikTok, delivery apps like DoorDash, online selling sites like eBay, and many more.
Cloud computing is when there is one common remote network connecting and entire company and its data through the use of the internet instead of in person servers. This new form of computing has been a gamechanger for many businesses because it reduces cost up-front and long-term, allows data to be accessed easier, allows data to also be accessed a lot faster, increases automation, helps prevent loss of physical data in events of natural disasters, and it allows the company to be connected a lot better. On the flip side of all this good there is some bad things to come from it.
is the same form of computing that companies did back in the days, but instead of having it all in person and ran through people it’s all ran through the internet and computers. The cloud has been a major help for many businesses because it does rely so heavily on the internet and the use of it. As many people know about the online world there are a lot of hackers who are trying to steal your information, and this form of computing allows these hackers to make you target number one. All of the data is stored and help in spots of the internet that could be stolen and cause massive issues for the company and all the consumers.
When using the internet and cloud computing, there are different aspects to it, being the SaaS (Software as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), and PaaS (Platform as a Service). SaaS is the software that is used like Gmail and Office 365, which allow you to access to the software and database that they have and provide. IaaS is the infrastructure that is used for Amazon and Google to store all of the data in servers and network. Unlike in SaaS you do have to manage and fix any issues with the products as needed, while SaaS will have the sellers fix the issue for you. PaaS is the platforms used like Adobe Commerce which allows a consumer to develop something of their own while being provided the materials. PaaS allows consumers to be the most hands on and fix some issues relating to hardware and software, allowing them to be more individualized compared to a SaaS which locks you into their software or IaaS which locks you into a certain form of hardware.
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a programming interface that allows a system to interact with multiple computers and once and move new learned data into a separate system. APIs can build value based on the amount of data stored and saved. The more data that google gains daily on its massive API can and will be sold for more and more since the data is important for companies who are trying to market products to new or previous customers.
A product manager is an individual in a company that is responsible for the development of products. A project manager will identify customer needs, determine what products to sell and the importance of said products, and find ways for products to be successful in the open market.
I am in the process of trying to open my own business and see that I will be wearing multiple hats. One of them is what you described as a Project Manager. I am developing the product cups with labels and designs. I then would need to find different needs for the cups to present to the customer and hopefully successfully sell them.
Pros of Cloud Computing
Users are able to effectively collaborate with one another, increasing the ability to work in different locations and across multiple platforms/devices.
Can access your data from any and everywhere.
It is cost-efficient long-term users do not have to pay for server maintenance and replacements.
It supports data loss prevention as data is backed up in the cloud, not on physical hardware/drivers.
Cons of Cloud Computing
Security can become an issue if proper steps are not in place to protect your data. (Strong password, 2FA, which will help prevent data breaches)
Data integrity can become compromised due to human errors, misconfigurations, and from cyber attacks.
Can be more vulnerable to attacks due to outdated operating systems.
Lack of privacy due to data loss/theft and data leakage.
Hey Sheree,
These are great examples of pro’s and con’s of cloud computing. there are an equal amount of pros and cons so it’s a good way to show there are as many pros as cons with cloud computing.
Hi Sheree,
I think you did an excellent job at explaining the pros and cons of cloud computing. It is very important for one to keep these in mind if they wish to keep their data as secured as possible. Having the two-step authentication code in TUPortal is something that I am extremely grateful to have.
Digital Platforms make it easier to find customers. I think of how businesses are on social media for example Fashion Nova. The business is able to post products and customers would follow to see the content until they see items that they are interested in and make a purchase. The Network Effect is when a product gains more value because of more people using it. Examples are Instagram and LinkedIn. One of the biggest cons of Cloud Computing is Security. When your information is stored, there is the risk of it being hacked and used. Another con is availability. The pros of Cloud Computing are cost and ease of use. Oh, and collaboration between customer and business. Application Programming Interface (APIs) it is a way for computer programs to communicate with each other. A good example was the one Professor Sclarow mentioned when we use uber eats it communicates with google maps to help find our location and what restaurants are close to us. APIs build value because it makes it easier to access multiple ecosystems.
Hey Isel,
i think you explained digital platforms very well and the pros and cons of cloud computing! i remember professor Scarlow mentioning uber eats and google maps as well those are great examples.
Hi Isel, I agree with you and I even wrote on my post about digital identity about how important it is for businesses to use social media to promote their business, or else they will be at a disadvantage. You are able to get the word out on whatever product it is so much quicker and digital platforms are basically infinite in reach. For that reason is it not only beneficial, but vital. Good job with the breakdown!
The network effect is a phenomenon in which the value of a good or service increases as the number of people or participants increases. E-commerce sites like Etsy and eBay12 grew in popularity by connecting to online networks and attracting customers to their products. In simple terms, IaaS provides access to resources such as virtual machines and virtual storage, while PaaS offers execution environments, application development, and deployment tools, and SaaS offers software as a service to end users. Which one you choose is entirely dependent on your company’s requirements. When entities share a network of remotely accessible servers, this is referred to as cloud computing. Because the servers are hosted on the internet, businesses can manage data “in the cloud” rather than on a local server. It’s a shared space where network devices can access data from anywhere. An API is a collection of tools that enables other applications to interact with software systems in order to retrieve and upload data from one system to another. APIs enable developers to create apps that are more effective and efficient. A product manager is the person who identifies the customer need and the larger business objectives that a product or feature will fulfill, articulates what success for a product looks like, and rallies a team to make that vision a reality.
I like how you used e-commerce sites as examples of the Network Effect because those are actually good ones. I have multiple friends who use Etsy to sell their products. They even have the link to their Esty page linked in their bio on social media to give quick access to their stores. My only personal issue with Esty is the prices they charge business owners.
Yes, Network Effect can be seen even in lower scale. In my case, in sales, most of the leads that I get are from my personal network. The more people I meet and bigger my network gets, more leads I get.
E-commerce websites are excellent instances of the Network Effect. o provide easy access to their stores, they even include a link to their Esty website in their social media bio. Can you talk more about the Esty.
Network effect relates to the relationship between goods and services and users. The higher number of users are out there, the higher is the value of the goods and services. The most famous and popular example of these phenomena is social media giant Facebook. In Facebook’s case, the social media provider was increasing its user base year after year, and its profits also were increasing. Higher user base gave Facebook an opportunity to reach an unprecedented amount of people. The more user the company had, the more ads were sold. An ad campaign targeted for a million people and an ad campaign targeting a billion people is not the same, and the profits are also huge. Not only Facebook but all stakeholders in these example benefited from the network effect. Facebook is the obviously main beneficiary. Other than Facebook, companies who used its marketing services were able to advertise and sell their product and service to billions of customers. And from the customers side they were also able to pick between those products since advertisements were from different sources.
Hello Levan, I thought your analysis on Facebook was great in how they grew and then, generated more money and grew the amount of users on the site. I will add though that with Facebook, many companies followed in their footsteps in terms of the social media game. New applications such as Twitter, Snapchat, and more followed Facebook’s blueprint and it also worked for them tremendously.
SaaS is a cloud computing approach where software applications are hosted and managed by a third party provider and then made available to customers online.Examples include Google Workspace, Salesforce, and Zoom.
A third-party provider offers a platform for creating, testing, and deploying unique applications under the PaaS cloud computing architecture. Examples include Microsoft Azure, Heroku.
IaaS is a cloud computing model where a third-party provider offers virtualized computing resources over the internet, such as virtual machines, storage, and networking. IaaS customers have full control over the infrastructure and can configure it to meet their specific needs. Examples include Amazon EC2.
I think that product managers are people who supervise the products that are produced in a company. They are often responsible for the development, marketing, and sales for the products of a company. The team they often work with include engineers, marketers and other developers for products. The main role of a product manager is to make sure that a product is successful in the market. “Throughout the product life cycle, product managers are responsible for monitoring product performance and making adjustments to ensure that it remains competitive and profitable”(Business901.com). They can also tend to get their hands dirty when it comes to packing and designs of products. To make sure that they are doing a good job, product managers must have strong communication with the team, analytical, and strategic thinking skills. Product managers are needed for everyday products that are used, so people should appreciate these professionals for helping us get that I phone we’ve all been looking at.
Hi Lamine! Product managers are so essential to a company. These individuals ensure that a product has a place in the market to meet customer needs and executes the implementation of the product. In my opinion, these individuals bridge the divide between operations and sales to create the successful launch of a product., and ultimately are vital to a company’s success!
The network effect is the indirect value goods and services gain as people use them more and more. Some prime examples of this are Facebook, Uber, DoorDash, Snapchat, and more. Facebook helped to begin the social media craze as it sparked the creation of multiple platforms used today. Uber and DoorDash also both influenced other companies to start with “rideshare” services such as Lyft and food delivery services such as GrubHub. Cloud Computing is the on-demand access to computing resources such as servers and data through the internet rather than in-person. Some pros of cloud computing include better collaboration as it is over a shared network rather than local, The cost is also at a minimum as the long-term cost is less and less server maintenance is needed, finally using cloud computing is fairly simple and easy as it can be used anywhere. Some cons however include a higher risk of breach as security is harder to maintain over a larger shared network, privacy goes along with this as keeping privacy is very difficult on a shared network, finally data can be compromised easier due to human errors and cyber attacks. Saas, or Software as a Service, is a service that utilizes the internet to delivery applications to its users. A majority of Saas applications are run directly through browsers. Paas, or Platform as a Service, is a service that delivers a framework for developers to build upon and create custom applications. IaaS, or Infrastructure a a Service, is a service that is made of highly scalable and automated compute resources. It allows businesses to purchase resources on-demand and as-needed rather than buying services upfront.
The network effect is how the indirect value of a good or service rises as a result of more people using it. In my opinion social media networks are some of the most obvious examples with Facebook leading the way. As its number of users increases, so do its profits. To continue its profitable climb, Facebook has to do one of two things, increase the price of their advertising, or lower their operating costs. The organization has a strong case to raise their advertising costs, because as the number of users rises, that means that there is a larger number of individuals who are being exposed to these advertisements. However, the network effect is not simply confined to the internet. This is also applicable in the case of Deer & Co’s green and yellow tractors. Due to its popularity and generations of reliance, this tractor is more likely to resell at a higher rate than another tractor of a different brand. Another relevant example of the network effect is through food delivery services. Due to the pandemic, the number of individuals using a food delivery service skyrocketed, therefore increasing the value of the service. Today there is rarely a restaurant that does not utilize these services. Another example of the network effect is recruiting databases. With the large number of layoffs that occurred due to COVID-19 and the overall transformation of the job market, individuals have placed more importance on work life balance and personal fulfillment. This is resulting in more recruiting sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, and LinkedIn being utilized to find jobs that are both financially and personally fulfilling. I would be interested to see how social media influencers have impacted certain products/companies and if one post resulted in a network effect?
One of the cons that exists when using Cloud Computing is the security measures. In order to best prevent breaches, it is important to create a strong password using uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special symbols. There is always the risk of your information getting hacked whenever you store information. One of the biggest pros about using Cloud Computing is the fact that data is backed up to the cloud, and not on physical drivers, which prevents the loss of data. API (Application Programming Interface) is a software intermediary that allows communication between two applications. Customers are significantly easier to locate when using Digital Platforms. For example, when a business posts to their social media platforms, customers can scroll through until they find a product that they are interested in, and then make a purchase. The functions of IAAS, PAAS, and SAAS are: virtual storage, application development, and software respectively.
Hello class,
There are many advantages of using Digital Platforms. They increase access to both businesses and individuals. They lower costs by increasing data collection and analysis capabilities which ultimately save time. Thus, these platforms enhance user experience by providing many customization options to their dashboard’s menus. Moreover, many digital platforms are cloud-base which put them at risk of online malwares threads so security is one of the biggest concerns. One of the most recent data breaches was in 2021 on Facebook. Over half a billion users information were stolen such as addresses birthdays emails and phone numbers. Facebook was accused of illegal access to private data made by Cambridge Analytica. They agreed to settle a lawsuit to avoid more damages.
Here is the link for more information about the story:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/aug/27/facebook-cambridge-analytica-data-breach-lawsuit-ends-in-11th-hour-settlement#:~:text=Facebook%20has%20dramatically%20agreed%20to,tech%20giant%20in%20repeated%20controversy.
API allows different systems and databases to integrate and automate processes. This integration is allowed by making many systems communicate with each other to find results.
Product managers are responsible of creating and maintaining successful products that meets or exceed customer expectations. Their responsibility includes the entire product life cycle from an idea to customer’s hands.
A network effect is and refers to a situation in which entails that the value of a single membership in something is positively enhanced when additional users join. An example of this is when being used in a setting that is associated with the market value of a product, platform, or service. The pros of cloud computing includes, the cost efficient storage capacity that is provided, allows you to focus more on your business and not just managing the data. The cons of cloud computing includes, techincal problems, a lot of downtime, and various counts of internet connectivity issues. The difference between SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS lies mainly in their purpose across the spectrum of providing cloud computing services. SaaS refers to the cloud-hosted software targeted at end-users, PaaS is the cloud platform that developers use to build apps, and IaaS is the infrastructure for creating cloud-based services and technologies. API’s or in other words Application Programming Interfaces, helps make software development processes easier by allowing programs to communicate data more functionally, safely, and quickly. Product managers have a solid understanding of the product life cycle, audience segmentation, and the project management process as well.
In a network effect, the product’s value increases as the number of users grow. An example of a network effect would be a social media platform like Instagram, where the more people that join it, the more contributions there are to contribute more content. This makes the purpose of the platform continuously valuable. Venmo would be another example because I will download the app if you have Venmo, and I must pay you back. Eventually, I’ll start using the app to pay or request money from others to continue the spread. The pros of cloud computing are that it is highly flexible because it is an internet application, making it easily accessible. It is also very reliable because it is a technology-driven system. The setbacks to cloud computing are that it can be hacked and requires dependence on the internet. For example, if the power goes out or something gets deleted, suddenly, that access is gone.
Network effect is the idea that when more users use the service the value of the network increases. This can be correlated to an increase in people using twitter to consume content on the platform. Another good example of this would be an increased amount of people wanting to use Netflix because a certain show is on the platform that becomes popular. The pros of cloud computing are the data is easily accessible and the user does not have to store the data directly on their own device. Cloud computing is also beneficial in terms of scaling because their really isn’t a limit on how much data that can be stored on the cloud versus a computer being limited to ram and storage. The downsides to using cloud computing is that users can be locked out of the data and without internet connection they will not be able to access the data.