Features of digital platforms functioning in information-digital economy

The Digital Platforms (DP) correspond to the online type of multi-sided platforms (MSP). They carry out the activity as intermediary institutes, providing the organization and facilitating interaction and an exchange between various groups of users. The digital platforms are analyzed in this work by the authors as a complex object of management. Bases for understanding the essence and distinctive features of digital platforms, and also various aspects of digital platforms functioning, including the role, functions, principles, tools and mechanisms of implementation of platform management are given. The authors show that functioning of digital platforms differs from functioning of the traditional organizations. Considering the fact that the main value on the platform is the creation of huge communities of external users, the platform companies shift a focus of their activity from the organization of internal business processes and control over internal resources to the external ones, partially or completely replacing the internal. A distinctive feature of DP functioning is the limitation of powers of authority of DP control side and lack of the centralized bottom-up management. The general DP management is not so much of a control-and-management style, as of an organization-and-stimulating and coordinating style. The conclusion is drawn that the development and deployment of management structure, a number of control mechanisms, pricing models, as well as implementation of other measures coordinated with the stage of life cycle of development, a business model and architecture of a platform are necessary for effective platform development.