I disagree. We are all on the same team and I view them as team members. That doesn't mean I treat them any less important. Actually I view them as more important in some cases. But internal users may be more tolerant of bugs if it means they can get features faster. Our team is a lot more understanding and accommodating and want to work with you which is a very different relationship than a customer. But maybe that is because we have built up a lot of trust over the years. Really it's up to you and your team members to decide this. Like I said, no hard and fast rules.

But it's also a failure when being slow with tech due to fear of a few bugs can hold back the entire company. Some bugs are showstoppers (bring down the system type of things). Others are very inconsequential. It's up to us as engineers to figure out how to use that context to avoid the first type, but make informed decisions about the second type. To be honest in 15 years of working with my current teams we have never had a bring the system down type of bug. It just doesn't happen.

While I agree with the point, I dislike being described as a customer for non commercial transactions.