Allow me a few moments to go green. Green is everywhere these days, from political parties to E85-compatible cars to new start up companies looking for the next big thing. As Al Gore put to us in “Inconvenient Truth" the planet Earth is an incredible machine composed of a vast number of systems that work together. Working properly, it is a miracle to behold. Perturbed, it can get a little cranky. It is also a system that has a huge capacity to adapt to stress, and the current worry on many people’s minds are whether industrialization is stressing the planet’s ecosystems beyond its natural capacity. Good question, but not one for discussion here.
However the topic of ecosystems came to mind last week when I attended the Freescale Technology Forum (FTF) in Orlando, Florida. (http://www.freescale.com/ftf)
It was my first visit to an FTF which is in its 3rd year of operation under the stewardship of Freescale CEO Michel Mayer. It was a very well run event that held customers, partners, and suppliers entertained (and captive) for three solid days of intravenous injection of Freescale. This is how conferences should be run, let me illustrate:
• Technical sessions that were truly technical and mostly devoid of sales pitches and marketing platitudes (serious meat!)
• Panel sessions that were well run and stimulated thought. I personally participated on one related to enablement of Power Architecture (i.e. PowerPC), where IBM and Freescale people were clearly shown to be on the same page (contrast this to Intel and AMD if you like!)
• Exhibits from a huge array of partners, distributors, etc., who had some common connection between customers and Freescale
• An atmosphere that stimulated face-face dialog between customers, Freescale, and its partners ecosystem
This brings me back to ecosystems and reminds me how important ecosystems are to those of us in the IP business. As an industry, we have really progressed past the point of selling code or patents. Today, when you are buying IP it’s like marrying into a family. Marry into the right family and you inherit all the connections and resources that family has developed over the course of years. Marry into the wrong family and you could be going it alone for many years.
The power of having an ecosystem around your IP for your customer is immense and it is increasingly difficult for any one supplier to deliver every aspect of the ecosystem. ARM (www.arm.com) is probably the best example of an IP company with an extensive ecosystem that continues to drive its dominance in the embedded microprocessor space. Like FTF, ARM holds an annual developer conference to bring together customers and partners to form new connections and relationships in the family.
Of course this is easier said than done. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are these ecosystems. It’s especially tough for small IP companies to compete with established companies who have had years to develop an ecosystem. However, those with good technology will float to the top and have the staying power to create the ecosystems needed for long-term stability and growth.
