Platform-as-a-Superpower

You’ve built an amazing new platform, so why aren’t your developers using it? In this talk we’ll explore the common pitfalls when building such platforms and how a platform-as-a-product approach can help you build something that is desirable to your users. We’ll look at real-world examples of how you can engage with users, build a brand, grow a loyal community, and develop an ecosystem of tools in your organisation to break down silos and improve developer/operator relations.

Read more on building and running your own platform at https://via.vmw.com/f1FLK1

Original video: https://www.vmware.com/explore/video-library/video-landing.html?sessionid=1663681936722001rxHL&videoId=6315282523112

Transcript

1. ©2022 VMware, Inc. ©2022 VMware, Inc. Tanzu Executive Advisor Bryan Ross Platform-as-a-Superpower CNAB2991EUR #vmwareexplore #CNAB2991EUR
2. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 2 • This presentation may contain product features or functionality that are currently under development. • This overview of new technology represents no commitment from VMware to deliver these features in any generally available product. • Features are subject to change, and must not be included in contracts, purchase orders, or sales agreements of any kind. • Technical feasibility and market demand will affect final delivery. • Pricing and packaging for any new features/functionality/technology discussed or presented, have not been determined. Required Disclaimer
3. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 3 Introduction Tanzu Executive Advisor, VMware B R Y A N R O S S @BryanRossUK
4. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 4 “80% of software engineering organizations will establish platform teams by 2026 and 75% of those will include developer self-service portals.” Gartner, Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2023 Source: https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/gartner-top-10-strategic-technology-trends-for-2023
5. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 5 Platform-as-a-Product Changing the perception of your team from operational cost to become part of the value chain. Project mindset with bespoke design, specification and execution Rich portfolio of cloud platforms with regular updated feature set Complex orchestration of tickets performed manually by silo teams Automated, self-service platforms with well defined products Slow and cumbersome support requiring knowledge of org Modern, omni-channel, customer-centric experience Project Mindset Platform Mindset Cost Reduction Value Creation Platform-as-a-Product
6. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 6 Technology & Innovation Build a quality product that is continuously improved Customer Onboarding Deliver an intuitive customer experience that builds brand loyalty Roadmap Work with your userbase to define and prioritise future development Customer Support Provide customer-centric omni-channel comms Marketing & Sales Define the scope of our service and its cost What is a Product? Policies & Planning Define the level of service and how it will be delivered Supporting Systems Understand the contract of down-stream dependencies Third Party Integration Ensure compatibility with the larger ecosystem
7. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 7 Platform Engineering? Marketing & Sales Customer Onboarding Customer Support Platform Roadmap
8. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 8 What makes a great Customer Experience?
9. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 9 Marketing & Sales Provide customers with a clear set of discoverable services Key Challenges • Promote awareness of our services and build customer loyalty • Clearly articulate what services the platform can provide • Have a simple unit of consumption (and associated cost) Suggestions • Assume customers have choice and that you are just another provider • Consider the journey from the perspective of new employees • A brand name / logo makes it easier to talk about technology • A brand can also portray values, culture, and ways-of-working • Product brands create an abstraction from org structure
10. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 10 Customer Onboarding Ensure new users have the best possible experience Key Challenges § User expectation based on online retail experiences § Provide a streamlined digital journey for new users § Send a confirmation email with everything they need to get started Suggestions § Regular Introductory Sessions § Getting Started documentation § Provide Worked Examples of common user cases § Build a searchable Troubleshooting / FAQs § For experienced users, have a dedicated Best Practices guide
11. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 11 Customer Support Defuse frustration through convenient, responsive support Key Challenges • We all get frustrated when something isn’t working • Provide tooling to help customers diagnose their own problems quickly • Different types of enquiry are suited to different communication mediums • Be proactive in your communication Suggestions • Provide a dashboard for platform health, issues, and planned works • Slack / Teams for ad-hoc queries that can be answered quickly • Email mailbox / distribution list for more corporate users • Ticketing system for outage reports or tracked work • Build a library of response templates / run books
12. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 12 Platform Roadmap Build a product that delivers demonstratable value Key Challenges • Understand the business value that the platform delivers • Deliver maximum customer value with minimum engineering effort • Ensure sufficient engineering time to manage toil and technical debt Suggestions • Build a customer community to find joint challenges / opportunities • Prioritise feature-wide functionality to benefit the most customers • Publish your Backlog, allowing others to understand the demand • Have an email newsletter highlighting latest features / bug fixes • Partner with customers to talk about successful new features • Encourage engineers to write blog articles about their work
13. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 13 Involve your users early in the development cycle and provide transparency. Poor user experience should be considered a bug. Summary Successful platforms provide value to its users, measurable in both function and experience.
14. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 14 ©2022 VMware, Inc. Please take your survey.
15. ©2022 VMware, Inc. 15 ©2022 VMware, Inc. Thank You