A business model framework for the design and evaluation of business models in the internet of services

Business development comprises of various activities to determine future opportunities for a company like the identification of target markets, new products and services, a better pricing model or internal process innovation potentials. One of the significant aspects of a successful business development is therefore the consistent further development of business model alternatives for evaluation purpose. This paper introduces a detailed concept for the design of business model variants with the focus on service-based offerings in the internet. Based on current business model research and empirical findings, this work introduces a business model ontology and a corresponding software-approach to support the design of business model alternatives. The contribution of this work is the methodological support of the decision making process at the business development level.