What is the skateboard platform?
The electric car is rapidly gaining market share in the automotive world. Every manufacturer is working on electrification in fear of being left behind. For the driver, the experience is transformative. Instant torque at zero RPM. Face distorting acceleration formerly only known to super cars can now be had at attainable price points. Quiet, vibration free experiences that formerly were only available in the most opulent luxury cars.
Underpinning the electric vehicle is what the automotive world calls “the skateboard platform”. It looks like a flat board, with four wheels at the corners, suspension, batteries along its length, and one or more electric motors. It looks like a high tech skateboard hence the name.
What is the value of the skateboard platform?
What makes it so attractive to manufacturers is its reusability. Are the masses demanding a crossover SUV? Put that body style on top of the skateboard platform. Are families asking for a minivan? Put that body style on the skateboard platform. Is there a wealthy segment looking for sporty sedans? Throw in a couple extra motors and put that body style on top of the skateboard platform.
Auto makers get economies of scale when multiple models share the underpinning platform. There is less R&D. Less tooling for manufacturing. Less supply chain management prior to assembly and less warehousing of spare parts for maintenance and repairs. Some manufacturers are even selling their skateboard platforms to other companies to build their cars on. This reusability means much lower costs to develop different car models, more competitive pricing for consumers, and more profit for the manufacturer.
The Value Applied to Enterprise IT
Liferay DXP is the skateboard platform of the enterprise IT world. Instead of a frame acting as a board, you have a flexible architecture that lets you code extensions in any language you want and integrate with all of your existing tech stack. Instead of batteries, you have experience management capabilities to energize gorgeous and functional user interfaces. Instead of wheels you have fine grain management of content, accounts, and users. Instead of suspension you have built in ecommerce capabilities that let you adapt to how different buyers want to do business with you.
With this reusable skateboard platform of the enterprise IT world you get scale and cost reductions when you plop on top different body styles. But instead of SUVs, minivans, and sedans, you have websites, customer portals, partner portals, intranets, and other solutions. And just like the auto manufacturers who are all rapidly going electric through the advantage of the skateboard platform, enterprises can reduce both cost and time when launching new tailored applications for a multitude of business needs.
The EV is transforming automotive manufacturing techniques, its business models, and also driver experience. Liferay DXP can transform your enterprise IT, your budget, as well as experiences for customers, employees, and partners.
SolvIT Networks is a Liferay Business Partner for Romania.
