Then developers actually rolled some prototypes out for general use. From the viewpoint of a software developer, a prototype can be working code you want people to try and, perhaps, pound on in high volumes. The passage from developer's desktop to prototype offering is optimally rapid and reversible just as quickly. Developers view the transition from prototype to production release as the more rigorous hurdle, off in the future, often requiring formal turnover to someone else who'll address the operational and support issues. The service provider sees a prototype that is offered broadly as much closer to a functional service, a likely candidate to evolve into full-fledged production.
People using it raise questions about it.
If they like it, they may come to depend upon it in their work. Once something is this close to production, yanking it off the air for enhancements or fixes is a big disruption. Allowing it to hang around with aging contents is even worse. While they view the boundary between prototype and production as highly permeable, service providers typically expect that, in development, a tool or function has been rigorously tested and carefully packaged before it is released for prototype use. Our agreement about the abstract concept of prototyping didn't hold up in the specific experiences of it.