While companies have been “unbundling” their operations and outsourcing tasks for decades, advances in IT are now helping them take that strategy to a whole new level, argues Professor Moreno of Harvard Business School. These technologies make it possible to digitally integrate workflows across organizations, letting firms easily distribute complex chains of activities among multiple entities, including customers. They not only slash collaboration costs but give all players instant access to capabilities that only large firms could once afford.
Consider logistics, where thanks to cloud-based services like ShipBob, small brands can fulfill orders just as quickly as retail giants can. In traditional outsourcing, businesses just handed off tasks, but now they’re embedding third-party services into their own operations. This development has given rise to a multitude of hyperspecialized services that firms can tap. It has also inspired the emergence of “orchestrators” that coordinate all the tasks needed to create and deliver offerings. Hyperspecialists and orchestrators offer firms new opportunities to monetize assets, grow revenues, and create markets. But they’re also blurring industry boundaries, and some have started competing directly with their clients.
For a deeper insight, please, click on Professor Moreno's article in Harvard Business Review, also available online: https://hbr.org/2025/09/how-digital-integration-is-reconfiguring-value-chains
