If you wanted to take a vacation two decades ago, you likely picked up the phone and called a travel agent. Over the phone, you would tell your travel agent what you wanted to do and they in turn, would communicate the logistics of that activity. When you arrived at your destination(s), you would have all of the necessary steps figured out, whether it was your lodging, transportation, or the activities themselves.
In the era of digital transformation, there are no more travel agents, especially since the modern consumer can plan a vacation from the comfort of their own mobile phone. As with other experiences, including shopping online, depositing checks at the bank, or using a mapping system to find a destination, the new way of getting things done is The Coherence Economy, a term coined by Uri Sarid of Mulesoft, a Perficient partner.
The Coherence Economy, according to Sarid, is one focused on the availability of resources in addition to the experience already at hand, similar to that of a concierge. For example, a healthcare provider in the Coherence Economy would not only help with scheduling your tests, treatments, and appointments, but would also provide access to your health information in an easy-to-use mobile application. That way, there would be no confusion between everyone involved throughout the process.
The shift to the Coherence Economy is similar to the push towards digital transformation. In realizing the fluidity at which consumers can switch solutions, organizations are developing comprehensive platforms that hold all necessary information for success. One such example lies in Amazon, whose eCommerce platform succeeds by offering speed through shipping, all-in-one systems for both business and consumers, and customizations for enterprises through Amazon Web Services (AWS). With everything at the consumer or enterprises’ fingertips, there is presumably little reason to flock to a competitor.
Survival in the Coherence Economy
At the surface, organizations might believe that the Coherence Economy centers on a robust technology strategy, but often this is not the case. With the market moving at an accelerated speed, there is no time nor money to own it all. One way that organizations have discovered for managing this challenge is to adopt application programming interfaces, or APIs.
You can think of APIs in terms of partnership. For example, social networking giant Facebook leverages APIs from a variety of media partners to provide extensibility to its platform, offering services and solutions such as games and productivity. APIs are leveraged even in supposedly competitive situations. One such example are Netflix and AWS – even though Amazon has a video service that directly competes with Netflix, the sharing of video API technology creates a more competitive marketplace for entertainment.
In looking at the future of this economy, there are nearly 20,000 usable APIs on the market today, so you could say the Coherence Economy has already arrived. With so many organizations dependent on one another to maintain a level of innovation, the future of business lies in leadership’s ability to identify potential partnerships to create customer experiences together.
In this case, you still will not need a travel agent for your next vacation, but you might have many organizations working together to help you get your rest and relaxation.
Learn More
Do APIs intrigue you in their value for your organization? Speak with one of our specialists at www.perficient.com today and download our API Healthcare guide below to explore one specific use case.
