Steve Yegge's Google+ rant argues that Jeff Bezos forcing Amazon to implement everything as internal services allowed a services platform to emerge, and that platforms lead to success (the “because Bezos is smart” argument is a bit weak, though):
https://plus.google.com/112678702228711889851/posts/eVeouesv... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3101876
https://plus.google.com/110981030061712822816/posts/AaygmbzV... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3138826