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Platforms Lifecycle

This document explains lifecycle stages for Identity/Audit/Config/Bot platforms, including feature maturity, SLA evolution, and customer adoption phases. It is written for product managers, platform owners, and stakeholders.

ConnectSoft platforms progress through defined lifecycle stages from internal-only to general availability and eventual sunset. Understanding these stages helps plan platform evolution and set customer expectations.

Strategic Decision

Platforms follow a staged rollout approach: internal-only → early adopter → general availability → mature → sunset. This ensures quality and stability before broad customer adoption.

Stages of a Platform

Stage Description Customer Access SLA Support
Internal-Only Internal use, not customer-facing Internal only No SLA Internal support
Early Adopter Limited customer access, beta program Selected customers Best effort Standard support
General Availability Available to all customers All customers SLA defined Full support
Mature Stable, feature-complete All customers Full SLA Full support
Sunset Scheduled for removal/replacement Existing customers only Migration support Migration support only

Internal-Only

Characteristics: - Used internally by ConnectSoft - Not available to customers - May have incomplete features - No SLA or support commitments

Usage: - Internal ConnectSoft projects - Factory-generated services - Testing and validation

Early Adopter

Characteristics: - Limited customer access - Beta program with selected customers - Core features complete - Best effort SLA

Usage: - Selected early adopter customers - Pilot programs - Feedback collection - Feature validation

General Availability

Characteristics: - Available to all customers - Core features complete and stable - SLA defined and committed - Full support available

Usage: - All customers - Production use - Standard pricing - Full support

Mature

Characteristics: - Stable and feature-complete - Proven in production - Full SLA commitments - Continuous improvement

Usage: - All customers - Production use recommended - Standard pricing - Full support and maintenance

Sunset

Characteristics: - Scheduled for removal or replacement - No new customers - Migration support only - Limited support

Usage: - Existing customers only - Migration recommended - Migration support - No new features

Feature and SLA Maturity

Feature Maturity

Stage Feature Completeness Feature Stability Documentation
Internal-Only Core features May change Internal docs
Early Adopter Core features complete Mostly stable Beta docs
General Availability Core + common features Stable Full docs
Mature Feature-complete Very stable Complete docs
Sunset No new features Stable for migration Migration docs

SLA Maturity

Stage Availability SLA Response Time SLA Support Level
Internal-Only No SLA No SLA Internal support
Early Adopter Best effort Best effort Standard support
General Availability 99.5% Defined response times Full support
Mature 99.9% Full SLA commitments Full support
Sunset Migration support Migration support Migration support only

Customer Adoption Phases

Phase 1: Internal Validation

  • Duration: 3-6 months
  • Customers: Internal ConnectSoft projects
  • Goal: Validate core functionality
  • Success Criteria: Stable internal usage

Phase 2: Early Adopter Program

  • Duration: 6-12 months
  • Customers: 3-5 selected customers
  • Goal: Validate with real customers
  • Success Criteria: Customer satisfaction, feature validation

Phase 3: General Availability

  • Duration: Ongoing
  • Customers: All customers
  • Goal: Broad adoption
  • Success Criteria: Customer growth, SLA compliance

Phase 4: Mature Platform

  • Duration: Ongoing
  • Customers: All customers
  • Goal: Stable, feature-complete platform
  • Success Criteria: High customer satisfaction, low churn

See: Go-to-Market for GTM strategy.

See: Pricing Strategy for pricing by stage.

Sunset and Migration

Sunset Criteria

  • Replacement Available - Replacement platform or solution available
  • Low Adoption - Low customer adoption or high churn
  • Technical Debt - High technical debt or maintenance burden
  • Strategic Shift - Strategic shift away from platform

Sunset Process

  1. Decision - Product/architecture lead makes sunset decision
  2. BDR - Create BDR documenting sunset decision
  3. Notice - Provide 12+ months advance notice
  4. Migration Plan - Provide migration plan and support
  5. Support - Support migration during notice period
  6. Sunset - Platform sunset after migration period

Migration Support

  • Migration Guide - Step-by-step migration guide
  • Support - Migration support and assistance
  • Timeline - Reasonable migration timeline
  • Incentives - Migration incentives if applicable