Products and Solutions
Click. Boom. Amazing!
- Steve Jobs
Definition: A Solution is a product, system, or service that provides value to internal or external customers.
Summary
A product or solution offers measurable value to a customer. It may be a physical, digital, or service-based answer to an agreed-upon need. Successful organizations create products and solutions to satisfy customer wishes and drive business outcomes rather than simply completing projects on time and within a budget [1]. This shift helps companies solve problems and maximize customer value. All the information and guidance in SAFe exists to help Agile teams and ARTs continuously deliver valuable products and solutions.
What are products and solutions?
A product or solution represents something of value that an organization develops for either internal or external customers. The term product is typically used to describe something that solves a specific problem, whereas a solution is more often a combination of products and services that address more complex customer problems. In almost all cases, the use of the terms products and solutions is determined by how each individual organization packages and releases value. Regardless of how they are defined in a specific context, the attributes and guidance described in this article apply in all cases.
Examples of products and solutions range from a small mobile application built by a single Agile Release Train (ART) to a large automotive system of systems built by a network of development value streams (DVSs) as part of a supply chain to a banking service offered by a financial institution. Some products and solutions directly support the operational workflows of the organization. For instance, a bank might offer a mobile app for customers to use and have call center software for their employees. Other products and solutions help customers in their daily activities. For example, an airline uses airplanes and other tools to manage how they deliver passengers.
Informed by the product or solution’s vision, backlog, and roadmap, practitioners in a DVS define, build, validate, and release solutions to customers, as shown in Figure 1.
Successful products and solutions are:
- Desirable – Do customers and users want it?
- Feasible – Can we deliver it through a combination of build, buy, partner, or acquire endeavors?
- Viable – Is how we build it creating more value than cost?
- Sustainable – Are we proactively managing it to account for its expected lifecycle?
The remainder of this article describes these four qualities.
Last Update: 10 March 2025