Platform as a Product from the Trenches [AOTB edition]

Minor change of diagram at the end (find the red thread slide) for clarity and readability.

Transcript

1. Platform-as-a-Product from the Trenches Cat Morris Staff Product Manager @ Syntasso catmo cat@syntasso.io
5. Platform-as-a-Product from the Trenches
6. Platform-as-a-Product from the Trenches
7. Cat Morris Staff Product Manager • 10+ years in tech • Platform specialism for 5+ years • Done all the roles • Previously at BT, Capgemini, Thoughtworks • Startup building Kratix, a Platform Framework
8. • What/why Platform? • Why Platform-as-a-Product? And why is it so hard? • How to do PaaP and be happy!
9. What is a Platform?
10. What is a Platform?
11. “A raised platform elevates you. Building on top of a platform means you don’t need to start from scratch but can build on top of what others have created.” Gregor Hophe, author of Platform Strategy – Innovation through Harmonization
13. A digital platform is a foundation of self-service APIs, tools, services, knowledge and support which are arranged as a compelling internal product. Evan Bottcher
14. Why would I use a Platform?
15. 1. Inflation and Economic Downturn 2. Supply Chain Security 3. Increasing Customer Expectations 4. Accelerated Digital Transformation 5. The War for Talent Will Intensify 6. Data and Device Security 7. Sustainability
16. 1. Inflation and Economic Downturn 2. Supply Chain Security 3. Increasing Customer Expectations 4. Accelerated Digital Transformation 5. The War for Talent Will Intensify 6. Data and Device Security 7. Sustainability INCREASE EFFICIENCY INCREASE EFFICIENCY
17. 1. Inflation and Economic Downturn 2. Supply Chain Security 3. Increasing Customer Expectations 4. Accelerated Digital Transformation 5. The War for Talent Will Intensify 6. Data and Device Security 7. Sustainability INCREASE EFFICIENCY DECREASE RISK DECREASE RISK INCREASE EFFICIENCY
18. 1. Inflation and Economic Downturn 2. Supply Chain Security 3. Increasing Customer Expectations 4. Accelerated Digital Transformation 5. The War for Talent Will Intensify 6. Data and Device Security 7. Sustainability INCREASE EFFICIENCY DECREASE RISK DECREASE RISK INCREASE EFFICIENCY 🔥 GO FASTER 🔥 🔥 GO FASTER 🔥 🔥 GO FASTER 🔥
19. Mia Platform Humanitec Cortex Hashicorp waypoint Port Syntasso Upbound
21. Where did Platforms come from?
23. Cool Code & stuff
29. SO WE BROKE THE WALLS DOWN 🔨
31. #ANARCHY
34. • Each team already had a way of doing things • Each team still has deadlines and objectives • Each team has a different tech stack & compliance requirements
35. Platform engineering is technically complex
39. Platforms requires organisational change
41. Why Platform-as-a- Product?
42. Platform Engineering == Build it and they will come
43. Platform Engineering == Build it and they will come BUT THEY DIDN’T
45. “Platform as a Product is what happens when you apply a product mindset to your internal platform” Paula Kennedy, LOPUG Organiser (and industry luminary)
46. Platform-as-a-Product is an emerging discipline
48. “Platform as Product” online training course launched by Team Topologies Academy 2021 Virtual PlatformCon 2022 event with more than 70 talks, key theme of Platform as a Product highlighted 2022 2024 First Platform Engineering day at KubeCon - focus on Platform as a Product and user centricity
49. Why is it so hard?
50. • Platform engineering is technically complex • Platform engineering requires organisational change • Platform-as-a-Product is an emerging discipline
51. GET A PLATFORM PRODUCT MANAGER
52. How to get a Platform Product Manager
53. How to get a Platform Product Manager
54. How to get a Platform Product Manager
55. How to do Platform-as-a- Product and be happy!
56. What does it mean to be a product? Feasibility Business Viability Value Usability
57. What does it mean to be a product? Feasibility Business Viability Value Usability PRODUCT
58. Feasibility Business Viability Usability Value
59. Lesson 1 Valuable doesn’t have to mean all the value to everyone all at once.
60. Lean Value Tree Opportunity Solution Tree
61. Lean Value Tree Example
62. Reduce engineering toil by 50% Opportunity Solution Tree Example
65. Feasibility Business Viability Value Usability
66. Lesson 2 Platforms don’t have a very big captive audience.
67. Application Developers are your users. There are a finite number of them in your organization. If you piss them off they can and will find another way to do things.
68. Lesson 3 You need to learn UX. Platform XDs are even rarer than you are.
74. Business Viability Value Usability Feasibility
75. Business Viability Value Usability Feasibility STOP!!! This is not your job anymore
76. Lesson 4 FEASIBILITY IS NOT YOUR JOB ANYMORE
78. Value Usability Feasibility Business Viability
79. Lesson 5 Teams not directly adding customer value are the first to be cut.
80. Twitter :( Me (as a platform consultant) :( Every platform team ever when their investment gets canned and they are back to being a ticket shop with no automation and are only spoken to when things are on fire :(
82. Find your red thread Provide a premium banking experience Give customers access to a free virtual card Provide access to and support payments via virtual card Enable Cards Team to self-serve infra & pipelines related to virtual card Business Objective Business Bet Application Team Platform Team
83. • Platforms are hot because: ◦ They promise to help you go faster, decrease risk and increase efficiency ◦ Everyone wants those things • But Platforms are hard because: ◦ They are technically complex ◦ They require organisational change • Platform as a Product wins because: ◦ It learns from what we learnt building consumer products ◦ It actually has a long history of success • And to do it right you need to: ◦ Follow Cat’s Platform-as-a-Product lessons… TLDR;
84. 1. Valuable doesn’t have to mean all the value to everyone all at once. 2. Platforms don’t have a very big captive audience. 3. You need to learn UX. Platform XDs are even rarer than you are. 4. FEASIBILITY IS NOT YOUR JOB ANYMORE! 5. Teams not directly adding customer value are the first to be cut. Cat’s Platform-as-a-Product Lessons
85. THANK YOU! Any questions? Cat Morris Staff Product Manager @ Syntasso catmo cat@syntasso.io