MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
15.565 Integrating Information Systems:
Technology, Strategy, and Organizational Factors
15.578 Global Information Systems:
Communications & Connectivity Among Information Systems
Spring 2002
Lecture 5
AGGREGATORS: TRAVELLING
THE INTERNET “FAST LANE”
MIT eBusiness & Financial Services
Strategy
Application
Aggregators
eCommerce &
Financial Services
Universal Financial Application ( UFA )
Web wrapper & Context mediator
2
Technology
Overview
3
I
Aggregator definition, types & examples
I
Enabling technologies
I
New emerging aggregators
I
Aggregator / Aggregatee strategies
I
Summary
Aggregator Definition
I Transparently collects information
z
z
I
Performs analysis
z
I
not merely gather
Represents user
z
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with or without prior source arrangement
resolves contextual differences
acts as agent for user
Aggregator Types & Examples
I Comparison Aggregator
aggregates book price information
I Relationship Aggregator
z aggregates frequent flier milage programs
I Intra-organizational Aggregator
z aggregates separate departmental calendars
I Inter-organization Aggregator
z aggregates information about a company
from multiple sources (financials, news, etc)
z
5
www.amazon.com
www.evenbetter.com *
* Now called DealTime.com
www.books.com *
* Acquired by Barnes & Nobles
www.mysimon.com
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Mega - Aggregators
I
Note: multiple book price aggregators
• using differing sources
• giving differing results !
I
What about an aggregator of aggregators
• A Mega- Aggregator … more later …
I
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Aggregators not just about prices ...
www.usair.com
www.maxmiles.com
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What is MaxMiles
I You give it all your frequent flyer info, it . . .
I
I
I
I
I
I
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Does mileage management for you . . .
Gathers all your frequent flyer info
Sends a personalized report via email
Updates reports on web site daily
Searches for missing mileage credits
Analyzes most current milage offers
From US Airways site
"Access to this information is subject to the rules in
the Dividend Miles Membership Guide. In addition, by
using this site to access your Dividend Miles account,
you agree that you will use this site in a manner
consistent with the Dividend Miles Membership Guide
and you further agree not to allow access to this site
to any third party by revealing your access code to
any third party for any reason. Failure to comply with
the foregoing restrictions on the use of this site shall
be grounds for the termination of your access to this
site and/or your membership in the Dividend Miles
program."
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“Power of Attorney” on MaxMiles Site
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Aggregators are your agents
I
Note: MaxMiles is merely aggregating
your information for you
I
More examples of relationship
aggregators later
I
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Many more types of aggregators . . .
Intra- and Inter-Organizational Aggregator
Integrated Spreadsheet
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External
Sources
Internal
Aggregatees
I Books.com,
MySimon.com, EvenBetter.com
z Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon, . . .
I MaxMiles
z United, American, TWA, US Air, . . .
I Intershipper.net, iShip.com
z UPS, ABF, FEDeX, DHL, . . .
I Universal Financial Aggregator (UFA)
z your banks, your brokers, your billers , . .
.
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Heard-on-the-Street ( Hypothetical )
“Last year we rushed to develop a website
and release our Mortgage Rates on the Web,
. . . this month we no longer sell mortgages.
Isn’t e-commerce great.”
--- an unemployed financial services aggregatee
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Overview
I
Aggregator definition, types & examples
I
Enabling technologies
I
New emerging aggregators
I
Aggregator / Aggregatee strategies
I
Summary
17
Emerging Technologies
I Web wrappers
I
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z
Extract selected information from web
z
Allows web to be treated as large database
Context mediators
z
Resolve semantic (meaning) differences
z
Enable meaningful aggregation
& comparison
Overview
• Aggregator definition, types & examples
• Enabling technologies
• New emerging aggregators
• Aggregator / Aggregatee strategies
• Summary
19
Concept of a Universal Financial Aggregator ( UFA )
Citigroup
Credit Cards
Fidelity
Brokerage
User
UFA
Fleet
Banking
BancOne
Credit Cards
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COntext INterchange Project (context2.mit.edu/coin)
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Current UFA Offerings (examples)
Account Aggregation Technology Suppliers
• Yodlee
• VerticalOne
• eBalance
Account Aggregation Offerings
• Chase, Fleet, Citibank (myCiti.com), . . .
• Merrill-Lynch, Fidelity Investments, . . .
• Yahoo, AOL, . . .
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“Aggregation . . . The ‘killer app’ in the
e-finance revolution”
http://www.tfconferences.com/conferences/AAG01/index.html
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“After Aggregation” Services
First Call
Asset
Allocation
User
Excel
User
Information
I
Advisors
I Wizards
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I Agents
Other Internet Sources
FI
#1
FI
#2
UFA
Account
Analyst
Intranet Sources
and applications
Financial
Sources
FI
#3
Advisors: Stock holdings re-aggregate
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Wizards: Money Market (MMA) example
MMA is also an aggregator, of MM rate sources
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Multi- Mega- Aggregators !
I The Universal Financial Aggregator (UFA) :
I
Aggregates your financial information
z
I
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several ways: totals and stock holdings
Also uses the Money Market Aggregator
z
which draws on multiple MM sources
z
including sources that are, in fact,
aggregators of some MM sources
UFA Goals
I Consumers and
Financial Institutions:
• Can do what they do better
• Can do things they could not do before
• Redefine the use, role, and
relationship of financial service
I
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Business-to-Business examples also
Overview
I Aggregator definition, types & examples
I
Enabling technologies
I
New emerging aggregators
I
Aggregator / Aggregatee strategies
I
Summary
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Key Conclusion - Everyone Impacted
I Aggregator / Aggregatees:
Aggregators create new marketplaces
z Aggregatees need to be in these
marketplaces (external impact)
z Aggregatees need data from these
marketplaces (internal impact)
z
I Aggregation
needs to be part of every
eBusiness and core business strategy.
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How Do I Play?
I Decide if and where you want to be an
aggregator.
I Determine ways you might be aggregated.
I Define your strategic advantages in both
situations and use them.
I Decide your “relationship state” with
aggregatees and aggregators.
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Aggregator & Aggregatee Relationship States
Aggregator Perspective
Independent Agent
Aggregate withOUT
agreement
Eliminated
Ind.Aggregator
Aggregated
Aggregate FEW with agreement
REFUTE aggreement with others
Aggregate some Aggtee
Aggregate ALL Aggtees
with agreement
with agreement
Ind. Aggregator /
Limited Alliance
Aggregate FEW with
aggrement
REFUTE aggreement
with others
Partial Collaborative
Aggregator
Aggregate ALL Aggtee
with agreement
Spin-Off
Spin-Off
Receive investment
from ONE Aggted
Receive
investment
Eliminated
Obs:
•The most relevant transitions are represented
•An Aggregator can stay on any state without
evolving to another aggregation state
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Dep Aggregator /
Consortium
Full Collaborative
Aggregator
Receive investment
Dep. Aggregator /
Dominant
Eliminated
www.intershipper.net
www.iship.com
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Aggregator “states” example
Intershipper
Independent Agent ( BITS, Inc. ]
Independent Aggregator
iShip
Partial Collaborative Aggregator
Dependent Aggregator/
Dominant ( UPS ]
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Dependent Aggregator / Consortium
Revenue Models: Business-oriented
( beyond advertising )
I Application Service Provider
I Lead / Sales Generator
• Identify buy opportunities for user
• Assemble packages
• Increase trust & reduce uncertainty
I After-aggregation knowledge provider
• To aggregatee and/or 3rd party
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Revenue Models: Consumer-oriented
I Information management services
• Relationship management
• Specially aggregated information
I Consumer agent
• Comparison shop
• Create compound product / package
I After-aggregation services
• Provide insights and/or take actions
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There may be value in aggregation but…
The REAL VALUE is after aggregation services
I Books.com - How to price my books?
I MaxMiles.com - Who flies where and when?
I Intershipper.net - Who ships, from where, to
where, how much?
I Money Market/CD rates - Will my offering be
effective? Are the holes in the market?
I UFA - Can I manage my finances better?
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Overview
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I
Aggregator definition, types & examples
I
Enabling technologies
I
New emerging aggregators
I
Aggregator / Aggregatee strategies
I
Summary
Key Insights and Implications
Insights
Implications
• Everyone impacted
• Be part of strategy planning
• Aggs not limited to price
comparison
• Identify new Agg applications
and business opportunities
• Aggs can be combined and
aggregated
• Entirely new types of
applications can be defined
• Aggs create new info spaces
• Who will own this space
• After-agg even more important • This must be exploited
• Aggs changes relationships
• What relationship do you want
• Business models and market
conditions continue to change
• Must be prepared for changes
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Current Projects ( partial list )
•
•
•
Aggregation strategies (e.g., Account aggregators)
Regional & Global Aggregation: Cultural & legal
Multi-enterprise eBusiness: Trust & relationships
•
•
Financial services/Internet support for SME’s
Future Financial Services (e.g., Wireless aggregator)
•
•
•
•
Context Mediation & Web data extraction *
Data Quality & What XML will and will not do
Internal data standards efforts (e.g., EDSI)
Other new technologies (e.g., Mobile aggregation)
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* Patents awarded in 1999
For Further Information and Contacts
I MIT Research:
– http://context2.mit.edu and
http://context2.mit.edu/aggregation
– http://web.mit.edu/tdqm
I MIT
Technology Licensed Software:
– http://www.arsdigita.com/products
–
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Summary
I Understand Aggregation Opportunities
I Aggregator Tools
I Strategies for Aggregators
I Strategies for Aggregatees
I After Aggregation Opportunities
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Acknowledgements
I
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Research funded, in part, by
z Banco Santander (BSCH)
z Citibank
z DoD Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA)
z Fleet Bank
z Merrill Lynch
z MITRE Corporation
z PricewaterhouseCoopers
z Suruga Bank