Should Avaya prioritize adding advanced AI features to its Spaces collaboration platform to boost user engagement, or focus on improving system stability and reliability for enterprise clients?

Introduction

The trade-off we're examining today is whether Avaya should prioritize adding advanced AI features to its Spaces collaboration platform to boost user engagement, or focus on improving system stability and reliability for enterprise clients. This decision is crucial for Avaya's product strategy and market positioning in the competitive collaboration software space. I'll analyze this trade-off by examining the product context, potential impacts, key metrics, and experimental approaches to inform a data-driven recommendation.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions (3 minutes)

• Based on the current market trends, I'm thinking AI integration is becoming a key differentiator in collaboration platforms. Could you provide more context on our competitors' AI offerings and how they're impacting our market share?

Why it matters: Helps assess the urgency of AI feature development Expected answer: Major competitors have launched AI features, impacting our competitive position Impact on approach: Would prioritize AI development if we're falling behind competitors

• Considering our revenue model, I assume enterprise clients form a significant portion of our income. Can you confirm the revenue split between enterprise and other client segments?

Why it matters: Informs the balance between new features and stability improvements Expected answer: Enterprise clients contribute 70-80% of revenue Impact on approach: Would lean towards stability improvements if enterprise revenue is dominant

• Regarding user impact, I'm curious about the current user engagement metrics. What's our daily active user (DAU) to monthly active user (MAU) ratio, and how does it compare to industry benchmarks?

Why it matters: Helps quantify the potential impact of AI features on engagement Expected answer: DAU/MAU ratio is below industry average, indicating room for improvement Impact on approach: Would strengthen the case for AI features if engagement is significantly lagging

• From a technical perspective, I'm wondering about the current system stability. What's our current uptime percentage, and how many critical incidents have we had in the past quarter?

Why it matters: Assesses the urgency of stability improvements Expected answer: 99.9% uptime with 2-3 critical incidents per quarter Impact on approach: Would prioritize stability if incidents are frequent or severe

• Considering resource allocation, what's our current split between feature development and infrastructure maintenance?

Why it matters: Helps understand if we have the capacity to pursue both initiatives Expected answer: 60% feature development, 40% maintenance Impact on approach: Would influence the feasibility of pursuing both AI and stability improvements simultaneously