A blueprint for digital platforms

Uri Sarid, CTO, MuleSoft

July 13, 2018

Twitter: @usarid @MuleSoft

 Platform?

consumers B
A
C
external

APIs

producer platform services

1
internal
2

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 Self-serve: API as a product

A B
C

discovery API

docs, examples,
"try it now"

1
self-service access
2

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 Not a platform (by our definition)

A B
C

platform services

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 True platforms accelerate via network effects

G
A B
C

platform services

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 1. Compelling value proposition(s)

G
A B
C

platform services

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 2. Ways to communicate the value

G
A B
C
!!
!!
E

platform services

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 3. Paved roads to onboarding

G
A B
C

platform services

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 4. The spark to get the flywheel going

G
A B
C
!!
!!
E

platform services

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 Self-sustaining ecosystem; organic growth

G
A B
C

platform services

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 When consumers are also producers

Z
A B
C

platform services

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 Internal platform ecosystems

external

6 3
5
internal

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 Coupled internal + external platform ecosystems

G
A B
C
external
E

6 3
5
internal

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 Platform companies

A digital restaurant platform Building a consumer-centric digital An immersive

for innovation and execution agility platform to connect with customers content platform

A customer experience An experience-focused global A platform of platforms

All contents ©digital
MuleSoft platform
Inc.
platform for car rental
How?
 How? Consider the application landscape…

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 Example: offer a supplier management service

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 Instead of exposing your internal API…

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 …design a consumer-oriented API

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 Build that API

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 The supplier management API product

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 How about a richer supplier management product?

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 Build that richer supplier management API product

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 Innovate on these productized capabilities

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 Other producers are attracted

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 New partnerships arise easily and independently

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 Every project creates reusable building blocks

"App store"
Self-serve assets

eqpt monitoring

invoices rich invoices

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 New projects reuse the blocks and add more

"App store"
Self-serve assets

order status

eqpt monitoring customers

invoices rich invoices

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 The pace accelerates and debt is retired

"App store"
Self-serve assets

fraud

order status onboarding

eqpt monitoring customers

invoices rich invoices

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 The pace accelerates and debt is retired

"App store"
Self-serve assets

credit check payments

customer 360 fraud

order status onboarding

eqpt monitoring customers

invoices rich invoices

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 The pace accelerates and debt is retired

X "App store"
Self-serve assets

credit check payments

customer 360 fraud

order status onboarding

eqpt monitoring customers

invoices rich invoices

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 The pace accelerates and debt is retired

X "App store"
Self-serve assets

X credit check payments

customer 360 fraud

order status onboarding

eqpt monitoring customers

invoices rich invoices

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The architecture of a platform – and of the web

An application network:

• Emerges bottoms-up via

self-service

• Provides visibility, security

and governability at every
API node

• Is recomposable: it bends,
not breaks – built for change

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 Application networks are starting to converge

E
M
R

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 A global architecture for platforms

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Graphs
 Networks are also graphs

An Application Network Graph A power grid graph

A social network graph The internet graph

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 The social graph

Anna David

comm
Jessica
likes

ented
movies
books

on
posting

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 The topograph

customer API spec

onboarding ed by
describ

customer API
offers protec
ted by

customer implemen
ted by OAuth policy

customer flow

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 A typical topograph
teller web support web

support exp.
loan origination

IVR customer360 support rules

sync customer onboarding

statement mailing
social

customer campaigns

credit ratings

CRM multi-accts
Facebook Twitter

risk assessment credit rating acct debit/credit card reward

credit services public records core banking card mgmt loyalty partners

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 Every application…
teller web support web

support exp.
loan origination

IVR customer360 support rules

sync customer onboarding

statement mailing
social

customer campaigns

credit ratings

CRM multi-accts
Facebook Twitter

risk assessment credit rating acct debit/credit card reward

credit services public records core banking card mgmt loyalty partners
topograph

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 …exposes an API sub-graph
teller web support web

support exp.
loan origination

IVR id: string customer360 support rules

created: date
sync balance:
customer currency onboarding

accounts account

statement mailing
retrieve create retrieve update delete social

customer campaigns
/accounts /accounts/{accountId}

credit ratings
acct
CRM multi-accts
Facebook Twitter

risk assessment credit rating acct debit/credit card reward

credit services public records core banking card mgmt loyalty partners
topograph

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 Are the APIs consistent?
teller web support web

support exp.
loan origination

IVR customer360 support rules

sync customer id: string

created: date
onboarding
balance: currency

accounts accounts
id: string

created: date

retrieve create retrieve update delete

balance: currency

/accounts /accounts/{accountId}
accounts

statement mailing
social
acct

id: string
customer campaigns id: string

created: date
created: date
balance: currency
balance: currency

credit ratings
accounts accounts
accounts accounts accounts accounts accounts accounts
accounts accounts

retrieve create retrieve update delete retrieve create retrieve update delete retrieve create retrieve update delete retrieve create retrieve update delete
retrieve create retrieve update delete

CRM
/accounts /accounts/{accountId}
multi-accts
Facebook
/accounts

Twitter
/accounts/{accountId} /accounts /accounts/{accountId} /accounts /accounts/{accountId}
/accounts /accounts/{accountId}

acct acct acct acct

acct

risk assessment credit rating acct debit/credit card reward

credit services public records core banking card mgmt loyalty partners
topograph

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 Have they changed in a breaking way?
teller web support web

version 1 version 2
support exp.
id: string

loan origination
created: date

balance: currency

accounts accounts id: string id: string

retrieve create retrieve update delete
created: date created: string
/accounts /accounts/{accountId}

IVR customer360 acct supportbalance:

rules currency balance: currency id: string

created: date

balance: currency

sync customer id: string

created: date
onboarding accounts account accounts account
accounts accounts

balance: currency
retrieve create retrieve update delete

accounts accounts
id: string /accounts /accounts/{accountId}

retrieve create retrieve update delete retrieve create retrieve update delete created: date

balance: currency
retrieve create retrieve update delete acct

/accounts /accounts/{accountId}
accounts

statement mailing
social
acct

/accounts /accounts/{accountId} /accounts /accounts/{accountId}

customer campaigns id: string

acct
id: string

created: date
created: date

balance: currency
acct
balance: currency

credit ratings
accounts accounts
accounts accounts accounts accounts accounts accounts
accounts accounts

retrieve create retrieve update delete retrieve create retrieve update delete retrieve create retrieve update delete retrieve create retrieve update delete
retrieve create retrieve update delete

CRM
/accounts /accounts/{accountId}
multi-accts
Facebook
/accounts

Twitter
/accounts/{accountId} /accounts /accounts/{accountId} /accounts /accounts/{accountId}
/accounts /accounts/{accountId}

acct acct acct acct

acct

risk assessment credit rating acct debit/credit card reward

credit services public records core banking card mgmt loyalty partners
topograph

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 Impact analysis
teller web support web

version 1 version 2
support exp.
id: string

loan origination
created: date

balance: currency

accounts accounts id: string id: string

retrieve create retrieve update delete
created: date created: string
/accounts /accounts/{accountId}

IVR customer360 acct supportbalance:

rules currency balance: currency id: string

created: date

balance: currency

sync customer id: string

created: date
onboarding accounts account accounts account
accounts accounts

balance: currency
retrieve create retrieve update delete

accounts accounts
id: string /accounts /accounts/{accountId}

retrieve create retrieve update delete retrieve create retrieve update delete created: date

balance: currency
retrieve create retrieve update delete acct

/accounts /accounts/{accountId}
accounts

statement mailing
social
acct

/accounts /accounts/{accountId} /accounts /accounts/{accountId}

customer campaigns id: string

acct
id: string

created: date
created: date

balance: currency
acct
balance: currency

credit ratings
accounts accounts
accounts accounts accounts accounts accounts accounts
accounts accounts

retrieve create retrieve update delete retrieve create retrieve update delete retrieve create retrieve update delete retrieve create retrieve update delete
retrieve create retrieve update delete

CRM
/accounts /accounts/{accountId}
multi-accts
Facebook
/accounts

Twitter
/accounts/{accountId} /accounts /accounts/{accountId} /accounts /accounts/{accountId}
/accounts /accounts/{accountId}

acct acct acct acct

acct

risk assessment credit rating acct debit/credit card reward

credit services public records core banking card mgmt loyalty partners
topograph

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 What's inside a (composite) application?
teller web support web

support exp.
loan origination

IVR customer360 support rules

sync customer type: string

onboarding type: riskType

SSN: US SSN level: riskLevel

confidence: percentage

statement mailing riskUser risk social

customer campaigns
request transform enrich transform enrich response

credit ratings
person resident
CRM multi-accts
name: string name: string Facebook Twitter
id: string addr: string

risk assessment credit rating acct debit/credit card reward

to: credit to: public
services records

credit services public records core banking card mgmt loyalty partners
topograph

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 How is the data flowing?
teller web support web

support exp.
loan origination

IVR customer360 support rules

sync customer type: string

onboarding type: riskType

SSN: US SSN level: riskLevel

confidence: percentage

statement mailing riskUser risk social

customer campaigns
request transform enrich transform enrich response

credit ratings
person resident
CRM multi-accts
name: string name: string Facebook Twitter
id: string addr: string

risk assessment credit rating acct debit/credit card reward

to: credit to: public
services records

credit services public records core banking card mgmt loyalty partners
topograph

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 How is it flowing across the application network?
teller web support web

support exp.
loan origination

IVR customer360 support rules

sync customer onboarding

statement mailing
social

customer campaigns

credit ratings

CRM multi-accts
Facebook Twitter

risk assessment credit rating acct debit/credit card reward

credit services public records core banking card mgmt loyalty partners
topograph

All contents © MuleSoft Inc.

Thank you!