Further expansion of a B2C platform business model for B2B partners

Digital transformation is also driving the change towards data-centric business models. As a leading provider of smart home solutions, innogy also faced this challenge. In order to reduce dependence from hardware sales, the company developed a concept for a platform business model that allows for the sale of services in addition to hardware. The initial B2C platform has been opened for B2B partners, who can offer further services. Together with UNITY, innogy developed the B2B extension for their platform business model. UNITY’s role was to define service packages and determine market prices for individual services.

As a result, B2B partners can make their devices smart without much effort through innogy’s smart home platform. At the same time, the platform enables them to offer value-added services to their end-customers – without needing to produce own hardware. An innovative revenue sharing model works as an incentive for all parties involved to expand the platform. Based on this B2B concept, Innogy started an implementation project to further expand the existing B2C platform and won its first partners to test the platform business model.

With the help of a comprehensive, integrated catalogue of requirements, UNITY ensured a long-term, sustainable solution for continued platform development. Moreover, UNITY supported the project management to initiate and establish a B2B partnership, paving the way for others. In addition to implementing the platform business model, this included the development of a new smart home controller (IoT-Gateway) as a central access point to the platform.