In each case, the companies moved from first among equals (in its sector) to dominant status. In theory, a King's position should give it an advantage in introducing proprietary solutions.
MSFT, CSCO, and ORCL were never kings. Nor were they "first among equals". In each case they entered their markets with proprietary open architectures and de-throned kings with gorilla tactics.
MSFT's OFFICE Suite dethroned Lotus and WordPerfect by using published (an unpublished, some argue) interfaces to Windows and providing Office Suite interfaces using published specs for others to create products requiring the Office Suite (OLE, for example). MSFT used its Gorilla status in OS to create Gorilla products in office solutions.
CSCO delivered routers supporting TCP/IP but from the outset added differentiators to their products with the capabilities and flexibilities of IOS and buried Bay Networks and several others with that Gorilla strategy.
ORCL delivered a SQL compliant database that would run on virtually any of the plethora of minicomputers and IBM mainframes, taking the database market away from IBM who invented SQL but supported it only on IBM platforms. Software vendors wrote their products for ORCL platforms so that non-IBM customers could buy their software solutions.
A king's position may be a disadvantage in a sector that might be moving into a Gorilla Game. Simply put, the sector is becoming a Gorilla Game because a company has created a discontinuous innovation which incorporates the BTEs, value chains, and aggressive marketing required to become a Gorilla. The King of that sector is stuck with "The Innovator's Dilemma".
Your point about telcos insisting on open, interoperable standards, thus, perhaps, preventing that market from becoming a Gorilla Game is an excellent, very important one. "Interoperable standards" could be viewed as the antithesis of "open proprietary architecture". Telcos are still assembling products from the components provided by JDSU and others. Contrast this to CSCO, who provides plug and play boxes, not components.
When and if JDSU starts providing "boxes" rather than components, they could become a gorilla. But then they have changed their market from a components manufacturer to a complete product manufacturer. Thus they have NOT morphed into a Gorilla of their current market; they will have become a Gorilla in a different market.
JDSU will probably never do that, because then they would be competing with their current customers. Perhaps that is their "Innovator's Dilemma". |
