Editorial
I started to develop my product mindset while building tools at Cisco for our internal tech support community. Working alongside our Network Consulting Engineers, whose job was to solve customer problems and streamline their workflows, taught me to design solutions driven by real user needs.
The mindset became second nature when I transitioned to an IT Manager role. I began to treat internal IT systems not just as tools to deploy, but as products to continuously improve.
One of my most successful early initiatives in this role was a platform for knowledge reuse that saved over $9 million annually. The experience showed me how applying product strategies could generate both operational excellence and measurable business value.
Here’s how I brought these lessons forward:
1. Focus on Understanding the Root Problem, Not Just Delivering Solutions
I’ve learned that moving fast in IT often means jumping to solutions. But product thinking taught me we can't afford to solve the wrong problem well.
What this looked like in my work:
Rather than pushing a new collaboration tool, I had my team spend time identifying whether the core issue was the tool itself, the process behind it or the structure of the teams that used it. That early clarity averted costly missteps, saving us roughly $500,000 in rework and change management by getting it right the first time.
2. Recognize the Different Needs of Your Stakeholders
Product thinking has taught me to focus on understanding customer needs. In IT, the end user isn’t necessarily the only customer. We have to balance the needs of employees, security teams, executives and overall compliance.
What this looked like in my work:
When my team and I were preparing to roll out Microsoft 365, we designed it to delight end users, satisfy compliance teams and meet InfoSec security expectations.
We took this thinking through the design stage, implementation and roll out, customizing the change management and rollout strategies for the different internal customer segments. The implementation was lauded for its flawless execution and subsequent ROI. We hit an adoption rate of 94% in under six months and a 35% reduction in IT support tickets —resulting in an annual productivity gain of over $2M.
3. Adoption and Value Begin After Launch, Not Before
One thing I’ve seen repeatedly during my product years: Launching tech doesn't equal impact. Adoption is where the real value gets unlocked.
What this looked like in my work:
Instead of stopping the project at “go live,” we created feedback loops post-launch. For example, after deploying an organization-wide new intranet tool, we measured sentiment, task completion time and repeat issues. The results were immediate, with employee engagement rocketing from an anemic 30% to 97% immediately and remaining in the high 90s month over month.
4. User Discovery Prevents Costly Rework
After many hard lessons, I now prioritize user research as a non-negotiable step before building anything.
What this looked like in my work:
My team and I once held off on a planned tool rollout to conduct additional stakeholder interviews and journey mapping. I had to work hard to convince senior leadership, but that extra step helped us discover the solution would have missed a key population’s needs — a mistake we avoided just in time. By redirecting early, we saved approximately $750,000 in development and training expenses that would’ve gone into the wrong solution.
5. Pilot, Test and Iterate — Even in Enterprise IT
Product thinking taught me the value of small iterative changes instead of one big push. In large-scale IT, people often hesitate to test and learn. But pilot programs are a low-risk way to de-risk decisions.
What this looked like in my work:
My team and I launched a visible virtual desktop infrastructure initiative to a small test group to learn about unexpected usage patterns and adjust our capacity model before scaling. That one-month test saved us six figures in the long run.
6. Be Willing to Retire What No Longer Works
I've seen teams hold on to tools because they built them. Product thinking has given me the courage and clarity to remove emotion from the decision of decommissioning a tool.
What this looked like in my work:
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One of my first wins as an IT leader was conducting a structured review process to sunset an obsolete legacy platform. It was an unpopular decision at first — but the eventual gains in agility and UX were undeniable.
7. Treat Internal IT Tools Like Strategic Products
The most important product mindset lesson was this: Internal systems drive employee experience. I’ve learned that treating them like products — with real users, journeys and feedback loops — transforms outcomes.
What this looked like in my work:
At one role, my team and I overhauled our internal helpdesk with personas, workflows and success metrics and brought in a new tool. We made full use of its features and customizations, and deployed it for the unique use cases and corner cases we had identified during the initial stages. Employee satisfaction and self-service resolution rates both soared. We increased self-service resolution by 40% and raised the IT satisfaction score by 33 points, resulting in over $2.2M in productivity savings annually from reduced ticket volume and faster issue resolution.
Bringing product thinking into IT has changed the way I lead my IT teams and deliver outcomes. It’s no longer about just deploying tech — it’s about creating continuous, iterative, strategic, human-centered value across the company.
Editor's Note: Read more advice on delivering excellent digital employee experiences:
- Chris Harrer on How Comcast Transformed Digital Chaos Into an Award-Winning Employee Experience — Chris Harrer, formerly of Comcast, joins Three Dots to discuss how he and his former team consolidated multiple intranets to deliver a modern digital employee experience.
- A Comprehensive, Actionable Model for Digital Employee Experience — A common approach to employee experience tells you to improve the "moments that matter." I suggest you should pay attention to the other 90% of employees' time.
- How I Built a Digital Workplace Practice From the Ground Up — Looking at the four puzzle pieces needed to start a thriving team.
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