Why Scalability Determines a Use Case's True Potential

As organizations push to digitize faster and smarter, it’s easy to fall in love with ideas that work once. But in Digitized Product Management, strategist and author Agathe Daae-Qvale reminds us: a good use case isn’t just about solving a problem—it’s about solving it again and again, across different contexts.

Company Meeting, Using Data to Solve Problems.

That’s where Step 6 comes in: Scalability.

“Before the development of a use case starts, there should be a clear point of view about the possibility of future scaling,” Daae-Qvale writes. “In the majority of use cases that provide the most value in the long run, scalability is a success factor.”

What Is Scalability, Really?

In this framework, scalability isn’t just about growing bigger—it’s about extending the value of a use case across similar scenarios, new datasets, or wider application areas. Think of it like a ripple effect: Can this solution work in other departments? Other markets? Other industries?

Daae-Qvale outlines two main forms of scale:

• Horizontal scalability: Expanding a use case by widening its data footprint. (Example: The Johnson Space Center monitoring new streams of telemetry data—even though there’s only one space station.)

• Instance-based scalability: Replicating a successful model in similar settings, with consistent parameters and measurable value.

Example: 3D Digital Twins in Industrial Engineering

Take the development of a 3D digital twin for an offshore oil rig. When done right, it offers enormous value—linking systems, parameters, and data into a unified, explorable model.

But building these twins is resource-intensive and often unique to each rig. As Agathe explains, this limits scalability, because there’s no one-size-fits-all blueprint. The trick is to look for shared data or standardized parameters that can reduce complexity and increase reuse.

If the process remains too bespoke, the use case might be replicable, but not scalable—a distinction Agathe makes clear in Step 7.

Why Scalability Is Strategic

Organizations often face hidden friction when trying to expand a “pilot” or local success. Step 6 helps avoid that trap by asking:

• Can this be applied in more than one setting?

• Are the value parameters universal or highly specific?

• Is there a way to standardize, simplify, or modularize the components?

As Daae-Qvale writes, “At least one of these three parameters—efficiency, optimization, or value—needs to be quite convincing for the use case to be developed.”

Takeaway: Think Big, But Plan Smart

Scalability is where ambition meets execution. Without it, even brilliant use cases can stay stuck in a lab or a PowerPoint. With it, they become long-term strategic assets.

Want to assess the real potential of your digital ideas?

Start with the Nine Steps of Use Case Evaluation, as outlined in Digitized Product Management. Step 6 is your checkpoint for future impact.