App Stores Change the Game for Professionals

It is no wonder that with the success of the Apple App Store for the iPhone that so many competitors are doing the same thing. Well not exactly the same in terms of revenue sharing or approval process, for example Google Android Marketplace is open with all proceeds going to the developers.

Yet one of the most interesting things that tends to get overlooked in this trend is how closely tied it is to a larger trend in the industry of creating platforms. Many internet companies such as FaceBook, Google, Twitter, FriendFeed, etc. are all positioning themselves to not only provide services for the users, but to provide platforms for others to interact with and create new experiences. This phenomena is not just limited to large players but smaller ones such as Boxee whose platform also offers developers the chance to show off their skills by creating interesting applications.In taking the approach of stimulating developer interest these companies and projects generate enthusiastic followers that enrich their offerings and attract more users.

However for the individual technology professional these announcements create opportunities. Some examples include:

• Safe entrepreneurship. Instead of coming up with a lot of the infrastructure themselves, a technology professional can leverage any of these existing platforms to create a wonderful offering whose monetization can supplement or replace their existing incomes.
• Training and education. By involving themselves hands-on on a few of the platforms, technology professionals have the opportunity to learn and expand their own skillsets by creating applications on these platforms for users. Even a task list or a virtual post-it note can have a following!
• Professional exposure. Getting involved in a platform, developing for it, and ultimately rolling out an application insures that professionally speaking that you are more aware of what certain initiatives such as cloud computing, REST, or other concepts can offer to the market and in particular to your business.
• Not just for developers! While it is true that most of the platforms need some rudimentary development knowledge, there are many other opportunities as well. For example from a use perspective such as Twitter these new applications can help market yourself better, stay in touch with contacts, bring additional insight that might have otherwise been missed, and the list goes on.

As you get more involved with these platforms their ideas, creativity, and enthusiasm can become highly infectious especially if what a platform offers is tremendously useful for you.

The future of technology professionals has never looked brighter.

In my opinion the same cannot be said for legacy companies. More often than not companies tend not to regard the various platforms as serious factors to their business operations. Yet they should since a significant consideration for existing companies happens to be the competition for talent that these platforms create. Why work for a company on a fixed salary when you can strike out on your own and earn much more not only economically, but personally and professionally. Also as professionals become more enamored with certain approaches that platforms take they will want to implement similar approaches within their own companies. This sort of innovation while beneficial for a large company offers significant challenges from a cultural perspective that may not be easily overcome. This results in frustration and restlessness in talented individuals such that they quickly depart from a company. Finally platforms can offer something that most companies never do; satisfaction of delivering something that interests a technology professional to users that care. As companies take measures to make themselves less appealing to talented technology professionals they will find themselves unable to compete in the market against competitors that are able to attract and retain this talent.

So the era of the app stores and platforms will have significant impacts for both the technology professional and the companies now and in the foreseeable future.