Maintenance
Investment Horizon
Maintenance is what a company does to update its products to keep them from deteriorating.
Investment Horizons: Maintenance • Improvement • Extension • Disruption
Purpose
Maintenance (or Horizon 0) is what a company does to update its products to keep them from deteriorating or collapsing.
Horizon 0 represents those core businesses most readily identified with the company name and those that provide the greatest profits and cash flow. Here, the focus is on restoring and stabilizing performance to maximize the remaining value. Bugfixes, technical debt, platform migrations, and so on would all be part of this focus area.
Horizon 0 is the core of a company, encompassing its primary and most recognized value streams. These are the bread-and-butter operations directly linked to the company's reputation and revenue streams. The emphasis here is on recovery and steadiness. Addressing any imperfections or glitches and managing outstanding technical obligations are among the key concerns. The goal is to salvage and maintain the residual value of the core business processes.
Notes
The four focus areas in the unFIX model allow you to annotate your organization design to clarify what happens where. Which teams are responsible for Maintenance and Improvement? Where does Extension take place in the company? And does management give sufficient attention to Disruption in the same Base, or do you expect other Bases to take care of this?
Rules / Constraints
We have not yet identified any special rules or constraints.
“The biggest risk of all is not taking one.”
(Source: Mellody Hobson)