Seeding Internal Products
Seeding Internal Products refers to the process where initial tools or systems developed by enabling teams evolve into complex products that require dedicated management and development as standalone internal products.
Purpose
The purpose of this activity is to ensure that valuable internal tools can grow into robust products that meet the increasing needs of the organisation, without overwhelming the resources of the enabling teams.
- Scalability: Facilitates the growth of tools into fully-fledged products that can scale with organisational needs.
- Focused Expertise: Allows for dedicated teams to specialise and enhance product quality.
- Resource Efficiency: Frees up enabling teams to focus on new areas of assistance.
Context
Industry Context
Internal development tools are a huge market. There are many companies that have started as internal tools and have grown into standalone products. Examples include AWS and Segment. The market for these tools can often exceed the market for the original product because every company is looking for ways to increase the efficiency of their development teams. We are already investing in building tools to support our development teams. By turning these tools into products, we can not only increase the efficiency of our development teams but also potentially create new revenue streams.
ZeroBlockers Context
Enabling Teams are always at risk of budget cuts because they are seen as a cost centre. By turning our tools into products, we can potentially create new revenue streams that can highlight the profit generation side of the enabling team. This will help us to secure more resources and ensure that we can continue to support the development teams effectively
Methods
| Method | Description | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Writing a Product Proposal | Documenting the product's vision, goals, and requirements. | Outlines the value proposition and scope of the product to enable a submission for dedicated resources. |
| Requesting Product Funding | Presenting the case for the product to receive dedicated resources and funding. | Secures the necessary resources to support the product's development and maintenance. |
Anti-patterns
- Lack of Ownership Transfer: Failing to properly transition ownership from the enabling team to a dedicated product team.
- Insufficient Resources: Not allocating enough resources for the product team, hindering its development.
- Over-Isolation: Completely isolating the new product team from the enabling team, losing valuable expertise.
Case Studies
AWS: From Cost Center to Profit Center
How AWS transformed from a cost-intensive operation to a highly profitable, standalone business unit by offering scalable cloud solutions to external customers.
AWS
Transforming a Cost Center into a Revenue-Generating Logistics Platform
How RRS Logistics evolved from Haier's in-house logistics department into a standalone platform.
RRS Logistics (Haier Group)
