Openness Strategy On Independent Software Vendor’s In-house Infrastructure For Resourceful Cloud Marketplace

With the rapid development of the cloud service market,the traditional cloud service provider(CSP)began the platform-based strategic transformation,and provided a SaaS trading platform,the cloud marketplace,as an important means of platformbased transformation.According to the type of cloud services it provides,CSPs operating the cloud marketplace can be divided into two categories:(1)CSPs that have their own data centers and provide infrastructure resources to independent software vendors(ISVs)are called resourceful cloud marketplace(RFCM),such as Alibaba cloud and Huawei cloud;CSPs do not provide infrastructure resources,which is called resourceless cloud marketplace(RLCM).Through observing the industrial practice,it is found that the RFCM has different openness strategies for ISV’s on-premises infrastructure resources.For example,Huawei requires that SaaS on the cloud marketplace must be built on Huawei cloud,which is called Deter strategy;while Alibaba Cloud does not enforce requirements,called Allow strategy.Combined with the theoretical methods of platform economics and game theory,this paper explores the RFCM’s Deter / Allow strategy decision for ISVs using on-premises infrastructure resources in monopoly and competitive scenarios respectively.Firstly,the Deter / Allow strategy of RFCM in monopoly scenario is studied,the profit function of RFCM and the utility function of ISV are constructed respectively,and the optimal price and Deter / Allow strategy decision of RFCM are analyzed with the goal of maximizing the profit of RFCM.The research results show that the profit of RFCM’s Allow strategy in monopoly scenario is always higher than that of Deter strategy.Secondly,the price and strategy decision when RFCM competes with RLCM are studied.The research shows that when the unit cloud infrastructure resource cost of RFCM is low and the value difference between the two cloud marketplaces is low,RFCM tends to choose the Deter strategy,otherwise it will choose the Allow strategy.In addition,the choice of RFCM’s Deter / Allow strategy has an impact on RLCM’s profit,entry fee and market share.In particular,RLCM’s profit when RFCM adopts the Deter strategy is higher than that when it adopts the Allow strategy.Finally,this paper further explores the decision-making differences of RFCM from monopoly market to competitive market.The research shows that if RFCM still adopts the Allow strategy,it should increase the entry fee and keep the price of cloud infrastructure resources unchanged;If RFCM chooses to adopt the Deter strategy,whether it increases the overall price is related to the basic value of RLCM.This research enriches and expands the theoretical system in the field of cloud services,explains the complex economic phenomena in industrial practice,and is of great significance to promote the research in the field of cloud services.The research results will provide certain theoretical guidance for the Deter/Allow strategy of related cloud service companies,and then promote the sustainable development of the whole cloud service industry.