The majority of businesses and economies are not ready for digital platforms - they look set to lag behind as they do not provide an environment that is conducive to platform success.
This is according to a new report by Accenture: Five Ways to Win with Digital Platforms, published in collaboration with the G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance.
Digital platforms are transforming market competition in all industries around the world and platform-based companies are gaining market share rapidly, says the study.
Entrepreneurs are ideally placed to play a variety of roles in the platform economy as a means to accelerate their own growth, it adds.
Although traditional incumbents have started to react, fewer than 15% of Fortune 100 companies have a developed platform model today, says the report.
But the trend toward platform adoption is expected to continue. IDC predicts that, by 2018, more than 50% of large enterprises will create or partner with industry platforms, notes Accenture.
The report says $20 billion was invested in digital platforms between 2010 and 2015 in 1 053 publicly announced deals, adding more than half of this investment took place between 2014 and 2015.
The study also notes China, India and the US will dominate the platform economy by 2020.
Countries such as Italy, SA and Russia are currently at the bottom and must rapidly introduce ambitious policies if they are to boost digital platforms and narrow the gap with leading countries by 2020, it adds.
Lee Naik, MD of Accenture Digital, says emerging markets and many European economies are in danger of missing out on the platform economy.
"When you think of digital platforms, think of China and India, as much as the US. These economies are using the power of platforms to create large-scale markets very rapidly."
As digital platforms disrupt and dominate markets to create communities of enormous scale, they deliver compelling customer experiences and offer new forms of innovation and value creation, says the report.
However, most new platform businesses will fail unless players acquire a new mindset and business approach, it adds.
Naik says digital platforms are not just the preserve of digital-born companies, like Airbnb and Alibaba, but are now becoming a default business model in most industry sectors, both business-to-business and business-to-consumer.
To enjoy efficiencies and high rates of growth, companies will need to transform everything from the way they co-create goods and services with third parties, tailor their offerings to customers, and price them dynamically, he adds.
"Crucially, they will only sustain critical mass by working with digital partners who can deliver the range of functional services that complete the customer experience."
Accenture says to develop a successful digital platform, "businesses must prioritise data protection standards and rules, design regulations with digital platforms in mind, encourage cross-border electronic trade, invest in digital infrastructure and think small, act big."
The report says governments should engage with business leaders to advance a range of policies that can create a rich enabling environment for digital platforms.
Policy makers must appreciate that platform business models are becoming a key route for the growth and global expansion of small businesses and entrepreneurs, who are the driving force of job and wealth creation in most economies, notes the study.
"If entrepreneurs and incumbents alike can master the fundamental drivers of platform businesses, with the support of policymakers, they can not only take advantage of new avenues of profitability and growth, but also be part of the next wave of transformation within industries and countries worldwide."
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