From project to platform: a case study on evolving the software development team

Abstract

PurposeAt the authors’ libraries, they consolidated two departments and attempted to find ways to increase productivity, reduce duplication and improve job happiness within their software development teams. The authors have lost institutional knowledge when developers leave the team, yet the authors remain responsible for critical library services. The merging of the authors’ departments provided the opportunity to rethink how their teams are structured and whether a different model could provide better professional development, more knowledge sharing and better stability of their services. This article presents a case study of moving from a project-centric approach to a platform-based model.Design/methodology/approachThe authors met with those responsible for establishing priorities for their services and developers to assess successful and unsuccessful implementations and pivoted based on those assessments.FindingsThe authors found that their developers were happier to increase their portfolios and professional development, and the librarians were satisfied with more stable services during a particularly unstable time within the authors’ institution.Originality/valueThis is a practical example of a positive way to structure development teams in libraries. Frequently, teams support a single service to the library because of the criticality of that service on a day-to-day basis, but that can create a lack of shared knowledge during institutional instability. This study reveals the benefits of a platform-based approach, including increased developer happiness, reduced disruptions due to staff turnover and improved system stability. It also discusses the challenges of managing product owners' expectations and balancing feature development with maintenance work.