How Software Can Support Innovating Business Models: A Taxonomy of Functions of Business Model Development Tools

The interest in business model innovation has risen rapidly in recent years, and software tools for business model development hold great promise for supporting business model innovation. Nonetheless, virtually no design-relevant knowledge exists concerning the functions that such tools should possess. Therefore, we develop a comprehensive taxonomy that identifies characteristic functions of software-based business model development tools. For developing the taxonomy, we draw on prior research on business model innovation, process modeling, and creativity support systems, and we analyze software tools for business model development that have been proposed in practice. The resulting taxonomy can support practitioners in their tool (re-)design and investment decisions, and for researchers can serve as a preliminary step towards more advanced theories for software tools for business model development.