The customer is in control of the data and can share with dealers, crop consultants, and anyone in their network of trusted advisers; securely, from any internet enabled device," says Chris Batdorf, a marketing manager at John Deere.1 The MyJohnDeere project was designed with the realization that there was synergy in linking together disparate sources of information into this "platform."2 Who would be interested in using this application? You might expect that John Deere customers and employees would be the only parties. But according to Accenture, a multinational management consulting, technology services, and outsourcing company, John Deere realized that there was value in opening access to its system to farmers, ranchers, landowners, banks, and government workers. The platform is useful for all those people because it integrates information about equipment, production data, and farm operations and helps users improve their profitability.3 A farmer described how the John Deere Operations Center allowed him to upload a treasure trove of data about planting, spraying, fertilizing, and harvesting. He said that he accessed that information later not only to diagnose problems about the equipment but also to make decisions about the use of land and personnel. He said that he can send that information to consultants for real-time recommendations on what to change even while he was harvesting.4 The data that the farmer provided via sensors on the John Deere equipment are being added to data provided by other farmers, as well as historical items such as weather, soil conditions, and crop characteristics. Analytic software can then provide information via smartphones, tablets, and laptops to help the farmers to manage their fleets and operations more efficiently. A platform such as MyJohnDeere makes it possible to introduce new capabilities that can provide strategic value to customers, other firms, and, of course, its host. According to Accenture, the platform integrates the IoT with social, mobile, analytics, and cloud technology. The combination encourages the development of new applications over time and represented a recent pivotal technology trend. Some of the new applications on the platform are even being created by third-party developers. Hence, the platform provides reusable components that can evolve over time.5 The newest platform in the evolution includes the application JDLinkT, which allows farmers to view real-time information about their farm operations, field locations, and important equipment performance data. The newest platform also offers products and services to help them improve their machine uptime, logistics management, and agronomic decisions.6 Sources: Adapted from John Deere press release, "The MyJohnDeere Operations CenterNew Tools to Manage Data," August 21, 2014, https://www.deere.com/en_US/corporate/our_company/news_and_media/press_releases/2014/agriculture/2014aug21_mjd_operations_center.page (accessed September 4, 2015); See also Cindy Zimmerman, "MyJohnDeere Operations Center Connectivity," March 2, 2015; http://precision.agwired.com/2015/03/02/myjohndeere-operations-center-connectivity/ (accessed September 4, 2015); Accenture.com, "Proliferating digital ecosystems through the platform," January 26, 2015; and C. Perlman, "Product to Platform: John Deere Revolutionizes Farming," HBS Digital Initiatives, February 26, 2019, https://digit.hbs.org/submission/from-product-to-platform-john-deere-revolutionizes-farming/ (accessed February 7, 2019). 1 https://www.deere.com/en_US/corporate/our_company/news_and_media/press_releases/2014/agriculture/2014aug21_mjd_operations_center.page (accessed September 4, 2015). 2 Accenture.com, "Proliferating digital ecosystems through the platform," January 26, 2015. 3 Accenture.com, "Proliferating digital ecosystems through the platform," January 26, 2015. 4 http://precision.agwired.com/2015/03/02/myjohndeere-operations-center-connectivity/ (accessed September 4, 2015). 5 http://www.accenture.com (accessed September 4, 2015). 6 https://www.trigreenequipment.com/new-equipment/agricultural-equipment/precision-farming-solutions/information-management/myjohndeere-com/ (accessed May 20, 2023). Discussion Questions 1. What governance approach did John Deere appear to have adopted? Did it fit the profile of an "old" heavy industry player? 2. What difficulties do you think an "old" heavy industry player such as John Deere encountered internally when proposing to develop the MyJohnDeere platform? 3. What difficulties do you believe John Deere faced externally among the proposed users