A core principle of development products is to ensure the product can be maintained operated in the lowest cost, is designed in a manner it can be changed as the product evolves or the market change. The talent also has to be a consideration in making the decisions around:

• Do we need a separate maintenance team?
• Can I double up my R&D team to work on maintenance?
• What should the optimum spend be on maintenance and operations of a Product?
• When do we decide to sunset a Product?

There are multiple factors that go thru review in answering the questions above. While largely Operations is seen as a cost center within business for good sold, the thinking has to be that of:

• How can Operations continue to create value?
• Are there further opportunities for automation?
• How is Operations improving their performance and driving efficiency YOY?
• What differentiation can Operations create that can be viewed as an asset rather than just a cost center?