Shared capability must be run as a product
Platforms have users and costs of use. Requiring teams to understand complex internal structures for simple tasks transfers technical complexity to the consumer.
OPERATE THE CAPABILITY
Digital product operations and IT/OT coordination.
Once platforms are common, how they are used makes the difference.
A SIGNAL WORTH EXAMINING89%
of respondents report using an internal developer platform3
2024 · Cross-industry software-delivery surveyTHE ZHICE INTERPRETATION
Once platforms are common, how they are used makes the difference.
Buying or building a platform is not sufficient evidence of digital maturity. We see its value in reducing repeated work on common problems while preserving meaningful business differences. When standards become another approval queue and shared capabilities have no service owner, centralisation can slow change. The next question is how the platform changes delivery behaviour.
TWO PERSPECTIVES. ONE BUSINESS QUESTION.
Explore the choices behind the judgement.
01Product operating models and platform engineeringA successful platform removes one more wait from business work.
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A successful platform removes one more wait from business work.
Broad platform adoption does not establish business results. We believe the next contest in platform engineering is the design of interactions between teams: can shared capability be used independently, can legitimate exceptions be handled, and do teams still queue repeatedly for the same work?
A successful platform removes one more wait from business work.
THE BUSINESS LOGIC OF TECHNOLOGY
THE REASONINGThe business conditions behind the view
Standards and autonomy must coexist
Production control, customer service and analytical research have different constraints. Shared foundations can be consistent while delivery paths reflect different risks and rates of change.
Feedback determines whether the platform stays relevant
A team accountable only for a construction backlog may miss business waiting. Failures, workarounds and manual support in actual use reveal capability gaps.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE BUSINESSConnect the view to resources, ownership and action
01Define capability through recurring tasksRead the choiceCollapse
Solve repeated problems in identity, environments, observation and delivery. Reduce unnecessary choices while retaining a clear path for legitimate exceptions.
02Assign explicit service ownershipRead the choiceCollapse
Agree maintenance, response, escalation and version migration. Platform reliability should become a commitment that can be negotiated and sustained.
03Include waiting in the value discussionRead the choiceCollapse
Observe delivery, recovery and user experience together. Fewer operating steps are valuable only when they do not add hidden approval or failure burdens.
What would make us revise this judgement?
With highly dispersed requirements and modest scale, a comprehensive in-house platform may not pay. Mature external services or limited sharing can be more appropriate.
A QUESTION FOR THE NEXT BUSINESS DISCUSSION
Do business teams use the platform because it helps them work, or because they have no alternative?
Product operating models and platform engineeringFull perspective and practical approach
02FinOps and technology value managementTechnology costs often turn when patterns of use change.
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Technology costs often turn when patterns of use change.
As platforms spread, more technology is consumed as shared services. We believe cost management must evolve accordingly: contracts no longer determine the budget alone. Calls, configurations and service commitments shape ongoing spend. Understanding the bill must be followed by understanding who can change it.
Technology costs often turn when patterns of use change.
THE BUSINESS LOGIC OF TECHNOLOGY
THE REASONINGThe business conditions behind the view
Lower prices can coincide with greater consumption
Resource prices may fall while calls multiply. Retries, duplicated data and idle environments change the cost structure. Procurement discounts alone may not explain spending.
Sharing complicates accountability
One resource can support several businesses. Without understandable allocation and cost drivers, teams cannot distinguish useful consumption from inherited practice.
Reliability is part of the cost choice
Redundancy, recovery and field support for critical energy activities are not arbitrary extras. Compare equivalent service conditions rather than creating savings by transferring operational risk.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE BUSINESSConnect the view to resources, ownership and action
01Explain cost in business unitsRead the choiceCollapse
Relate spending to useful device connections, completed tasks or transaction services. Move the discussion beyond totals while retaining quality conditions.
02Put decisions with the right ownersRead the choiceCollapse
Platform teams manage shared efficiency, business teams specify service needs and finance maintains comparable definitions. Consumers should see the cost consequences of choices.
03Make value a rolling decisionRead the choiceCollapse
Adjust capacity and services as demand, performance and costs change. A one-time acceptance decision cannot substitute for ongoing operating judgement.
What would make us revise this judgement?
A falling unit cost does not establish rising value. Changes in volume, quality and risk exposure require the comparison to be interpreted again.
A QUESTION FOR THE NEXT BUSINESS DISCUSSION
Which costs grow with useful business activity, and which persist because nobody has changed old consumption patterns?
FinOps and technology value managementFull perspective and practical approach
Three turning points to watch in digital transformation.
We watch where the constraint moves after a new capability enters the business. Better technical indicators are a starting point; sustained advantage depends on changes in resources, accountability and coordination.
- 01
Compute shifts from central buying to adaptable placement
What we watch
Track movable workloads, edge connectivity and whether compute and power conditions are considered together.
How it changes the judgement
If inference becomes easier to distribute, identity, versioning and operating consistency become more important. Weak field connectivity keeps autonomy and recovery at the front of the agenda.
- 02
Data is consumed against service commitments
What we watch
Watch whether business teams rely on shared data for real decisions and whether quality exceptions have an accountable owner.
How it changes the judgement
Growing reuse with less coordination supports expansion. Repeated interpretation at every use points to unresolved semantics and responsibility.
- 03
Software delivery follows the rhythm of the business
What we watch
Track time from need to use, recovery after failed changes and business waiting caused by platform upgrades.
How it changes the judgement
Shared capability merits further investment when it reduces waiting. Dependencies amplified by centralisation require a fresh boundary between sharing and autonomy.
A VIEW THAT CAN BE PUT TO WORK
The ZHICE Digital Capability MethodExplore the framework and implementationA perspective must stand up in practice.
Five stages—value definition, capability design, connected data, phased delivery and value management—bring planning, delivery and operations onto one roadmap. Business and technology teams make decisions together. The approach draws on MIT CISR research on digital business transformation, DORA findings on organizational and technical collaboration, and public specifications for data interoperability and OT security. ZHICE translates these perspectives into work designs for energy businesses; the business’s actual constraints determine implementation priorities.
Data notes and research foundationsExpandCollapse
- 1IEA · Key Questions on Energy and AI, 2026
Central projection for all global data centres, not AI alone or a capacity plan for an individual enterprise.
IEA 2026 · Global data centres · 2030 projection - 2IBM Institute for Business Value · 2025 CDO Study
Self-reported confidence across 27 geographies and 19 industries; not an energy-sector adoption rate or observed project success rate.
IBM 2025 · 1,700 senior data and analytics leaders globally - 3DORA · 2024 Report Infographic
The study uses a broad platform definition; associations with productivity, throughput and stability are mixed.
DORA 2024 · Cross-industry software-delivery survey
THE NEXT CONVERSATIONThe question worth discussing:
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