Theoretical foundations of software ecosystems

Software ecosystems have become a defined and active field of research based on the recent emergence of new open business models leading to new roles and patterns for collaboration, innovation, and value proposition. In this paper we look into the theoretical foundations of this new research field. We review recent publications to describe the present theorization; we discuss the relevance of theory and, in particular, we argue for the relevance of sociotechnical theory and the related theory of organizational ecology in the continuing research on software ecosystems. To summarize we define a preliminary theoretical framework to guide and support future research.