Open or closed platform

Platforms exist everywhere in our life, sometimes we do realise their existences, sometimes we do not. There are some very obvious platforms, for example, Apple’s App Store is a platform for application developers to sell their applications to IOS users; there are some platforms that are not so obvious, for example, Microsoft’s Word could be seen a platform that many people edit and share their documents by using Word. Therefore, my definition for platforms is a platform is something can provide an opportunity for cooperation between people. There are two types of platforms: open platform and closed platform. Open platforms do not require any qualification from any party or additional cost to access to the platforms; while closed platforms are the opposites. There is some clear examples that can show the differences between the two platform: Linux (open platform) vs Windows (closed platform), Android (open platform) vs iOS (closed platform). Both types of platforms have advantages and disadvantages.

Open platforms have these several advantages. Firstly, as these platforms are free, once they gain the domination in the market share, they will be unlikely to face any more competitions, especially when all people have got used to these open platform. On the other hand, closed platforms could easily face more competitions, their competitors could lower prices to take more market shares. Secondly, open platform can have greater volumes (larger numbers of users) than closed platforms. Because closed platforms often require some form of payments to gain access, the cost would certainly block some people from access to them. However, as long as the services are similar, people will choose free open platforms than closed platforms. Thirdly, open platforms are easier to expand, as the larger numbers of users can win more attention from developers, investors and other fields. When they can gain more attention, they will be more likely to gain more resources for development and expansion. Therefore, open platforms can grow to maturity faster. Therefore, I believe that the expansion of Apple’s App Store is actually contributed partially by its competitor, Android and its application store. As we can see that since the invention of Android, the number of applications available for smartphones has been increasing sharply.

Closed platforms have their advantages as well. Firstly, they can get more direct incomes. As they charge users for access to their platforms, they can get direct incomes from their users. Secondly, they can be better managed. As the developers of the platforms have full control of their platforms, they can become the regulators in their platforms and control the activities taking place in their platforms better. Thirdly, open platforms are more vulnerable to cyber attacks or other types of attacks from outside. Because open platforms are open to everyone, the potential attackers all can gain access to the platforms. However, since only limited users can gain access to the closed platforms and have to follow certain requirements and agreements, a large proportion of potential attackers are prevented from gaining access. Moreover, since they are closed sourced, potential attackers may not have complete information to organise an effective attack on the platform. Fourthly, their more direct incomes can become an attractive point for many investors, especially when these platforms target highly professional clients. When they can gain more investment, the services they provided can be better and the speed of development and updates can be faster. This can give closed platforms to more competitiveness against open platforms to gain more professional clients who value quality much more than cost.

Overall, I believe if the client group is the general public, open platforms have more advantages for developers as they can effectively gain the domination power and become the monopolies in their fields; however, if the client group is professionals, closed platforms should be chosen, as quality and security are placed before cost, and the number of clients is naturally limited. Moreover, cybersecurity companies can cooperate with platforms to gain more opportunities, as cybersecurity is a large concern for all cyber platforms.