Third platform

The third platform is a term coined by marketing firm International Data Corporation (IDC) for a model of a computing platform. It was promoted as inter-dependencies between mobile computing, social media, cloud computing, and information / analytics (big data), and possibly the Internet of Things.Gartner claims that these interdependent trends are "transforming the way people and businesses relate to technology".

The paradigm of numbered platforms sees the first platform as the mainframe computer system and the second platform as the client/server system. The Open Platform 3.0 initiative of The Open Group aims to produce a consensus definition of the third platform, and to identify open standards for it, in order to help enterprises gain business benefit from these technologies. This has produced an analysis of requirements. In January 2016 The Economist offered the following analysis: "The third platform is based on the online computing "cloud" and its interaction with all manner of devices, including wirelessly connected ones such as smartphones, machinery and sensors (known collectively as the "internet of things").

The first platform is the mainframe computer system, which began in the late 1950s and continues today. The second platform is the client/server system, which began in the mid 1980s with PCs tapping into mainframe databases and applications.

First Platform (Mainframe) - late 1950's to present

Second Platform (Client/Server) - mid 1980's to present

Third Platform (Social, Mobile, Cloud & Analytics, possibly IoT) - early 2010's to present

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