Aligning the Product, Platform, and Solution Group

by Cesario Ramos.

Back in the day, I started working with XP teams. Things were great: cracking out code, writing tests, and doing this super cool thing called continuous integration. Yes, there was even this free CI program from ThoughtWorks I heard about from Martin Fowler. It was awesome.

Then I noticed: most problems weren’t in the team. They were just outside the team.
So we augmented with Scrum to connect to project management and fix that interface.

Then I noticed: the org is a big thing… Many teams. Dependencies. Confusion.
Org design and systems thinking became crucial. I even wrote Emergent about it. But still, my focus was development. So naturally, I was excited when multi-team Scrum got a name: LeSS. We augmented that by writing the Scrum Patterns to cover building the development organization.

But then… you guessed it. The biggest problems weren’t in development at all. 😄 (sorry topology people).
They were in organization design: structure, roles, metrics, budgeting, processes and rewards. So we wrote Creating Agile Organizations to address that whole-system challenge.

And then again… surprise: most problems weren’t even there. They were in Strategy.
Darn. I don’t claim deep experience in strategy (yet 😉), but I can help once there is a strategy. Give me a strategy (I can facilitate if needed) and I’ll help derive the capabilities required to execute it. From there, we can design the organization that develops those capabilities.

But here’s a pattern I kept seeing. Most organizations already have some level of platforms, product teams, and customer-facing solutions. They just don’t work well together. Product teams build in isolation. Platforms slow things down. And customer solutions? Well… struggling.

I only started to see this once I became aware of the larger system. Before that, I was caught in a kind of cognitive tunnel. A bias where you can’t notice what’s outside your immediate frame. I later learned it’s related to inattentional blindness: the failure to see the bigger dysfunction because your focus is too narrow. 😉

Sound familiar? Then read on, because what follows is a generalized design pattern that helps large organizations bring order to the chaos. One that separates concerns without fragmenting value. One that aligns structure with how value actually flows.

Are You Losing Customers to Internal Chaos?

Most organizations don’t lose customers because they lack talent or ambition. They lose them because their operating models are fundamentally misaligned with how customers experience value.

Instead of solving real problems, teams chase internal goals. Product groups build features no one asked for. Platform teams enforce complexity in the name of consistency. Integration? That falls through the cracks, no one really owns the end-to-end journey.

The result?

• Misaligned incentives
• Duplicated work
• Long delivery cycles
• Frustrated customers

This isn’t a technology issue. It’s an organizational one.

The Pain of Blurred Lines

When solution, product, and platform responsibilities are muddled, no one is fully accountable. Everyone’s busy, but outcomes stall. 

Customers don’t care how you’re organized internally. They care whether your solutions work for them.

You may be asking:

• “Why do we keep reinventing the wheel for every customer?”
• “Why is it so hard to get even small changes through?”
• “Why do our  products underperform in the market?”

These are likely symptoms of a deeper problem: your teams are not aligned with your strategy.

What can you do?

To break the cycle, you must decouple solution, product, and platform concerns. This isn’t about creating silos, it’s about giving each layer a clear focus, and accountability for its specific contribution to the value chain.

Here’s how:

Commodity Platform (Shared Services)

Stop slowing teams down. Start enabling at scale.

The platform is the technical backbone that provides consistency, not control. It’s a shared enabler, not a gatekeeper.

Product Groups

Stop chasing features. Start building products that lead the market.

Each group owns a distinct product or service from end to end, including its strategy, roadmap, and financial success.

Customer Solution Group

Stop expecting customers to stitch it all together. Own the outcome.

These teams take end-to-end responsibility for delivering tailored solutions by assembling and integrating products into cohesive offerings that meet real customer needs.

Why This Matters

When these three layers blur, chaos follows. But when they’re cleanly separated with clear ownership you get clarity, speed, and agility.

• Solution teams that integrate products and services to deliver what customers actually care about
• Product groups create standout products
• Platform services empower everyone to move faster

You don’t need to overhaul everything overnight. But you do need to make one structural choice: align your org to how value is delivered, not how it’s built.

Concluding

If your teams are stuck in internal misalignment, it’s time to act. Decoupling isn’t about creating more silos. It’s about creating flow. It’s about giving every team the autonomy and the strategic focus to do what they do best.

Don’t let organizational confusion keep you from delivering real value. Design for clarity. Operate with intent. And let every layer do what it was built to do.