Product platforms are becoming increasingly important for creating scalable product ecosystems and shortening time-to-market and reducing cost. They act as a shared set of technologies, components, and procedures that enable related product development.
Platforms can offer key benefits such as improved user experience, supporting ecosystems, and scalability, and rely on three core characteristics such as shared technologies, modularity, and ecosystem-enabling features.
Successful companies that use product platforms include Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Apple’s iOS platform, which provide scalable cloud solutions, a range of cloud-based services, consistent user experience and functionality, and clear rules, APIs, and tools to help developers create and distribute programs.
Given the many benefits of product platforms, managing them can be a challenge involving maintaining consistency, balancing flexibility with control, ensuring platform security, and managing technical debt.
Solutions to effective product platform management include creating clear API standards and design guidelines, regular platform evaluations, promoting collaboration, continuous code refactoring, and establishing a robust testing and quality assurance methodology.