We had a visit today from one of the Redmond teams that facilitates technology sharing between the various internal game studios.  Microsoft Gaming Studios has done a good job growing and learning how to find a good balance between fostering communication and tech between the studios, and making sure they feel empowered to make the right choices for themselves without having random "initiatives" foisted off on them. 

Anyways, it was interesting to see some of the other tools and technologies being promoted as shared tech.  Often we developing our own games exactly as we did when we were an independent studio, so I find it very interesting to note the changes.  Having a separate team charged with supporting and extending this tech is absolutely the right choice, since it frees up the contributing teams from having to make an unlimited commitment to maintenance.  Without that, there would be a disincentive to sharing tech outwards from any individual studio, since they would then be burdened with support issues they aren't organized to deal with.

On the other hand, not to be too entirely Pollyanna-ish about it, we are always sure to be cautious when using any external technology (third party and internal), since it can be a risk exposure for the ultimate quality of the game.  If features aren't delivered or there are unexpected problems, the fact that there is less in-house knowledge about how to handle it can be tricky. 

But overall, I'm always glad when I can effectively add "free" resources to the project by smart leveraging of external systems or tools.  One just has to do it aware of the risks...