Product, Platform, and Infrastructure Teams in the New IT Operating Model 

Embracing an IT Operating Model that clearly distinguishes and acknowledges the significance of product, platform, and infrastructure teams is crucial for transitioning to a more digital operating model. This strategy not only delineates the responsibilities of these core capabilities but also cultivates a collaborative mindset, essential for fostering innovation, efficiency, and value.

Let’s explore what each team does and how they collaborate within this model to keep things running smoothly.

Product Teams - The Value Creators

Product teams are at the forefront of meeting end-user needs while boosting revenue, productivity, and overall company value. In the context of an IT Operating Model, these teams operate like mini businesses, taking charge of market strategies, user experience, adoption, and tech delivery.

These teams are composed of a diverse group of professionals, including UX engineers, designers, analysts, and experts from various business areas such as operations, marketing, and compliance. This cross-functional approach ensures a comprehensive perspective on product development and enhancement.

Leaders of a product team are typically business-oriented professionals who blend a strong understanding of market dynamics with strategic thinking. They focus on aligning the product development process with the broader business objectives, ensuring that the technology solutions delivered not only meet user needs but also drive revenue and productivity gains. These leaders excel in cross-functional collaboration, bringing together diverse experts from engineering, design, marketing, and operations to create cohesive, user-centric products. Their role demands a balance of visionary leadership and practical execution, guiding their teams through agile methodologies to continuously iterate and improve product offerings based on user feedback and market trends.

A key element of product teams within an IT Operating Model is their use of agile methodologies. Agile practices allow for rapid iteration and continuous improvement based on user feedback and market trends. Typically, these teams are led by individuals with strong business acumen, ensuring that technological developments align with broader business objectives.

Platform Teams - The Enablers

Platform teams play a crucial role in an IT Operating Model by supporting product teams and ensuring the company’s core systems are accessible, reusable, and modern. Their mission is to build an extensible and feature rich abstraction layer that product teams can leverage to deliver innovative solutions quickly and efficiently.

Within this model, platform teams often work closely with product teams, sometimes embedding platform experts into product teams when required. For instance, if a product team needs a search function that filters results based on predicted future demand, the inventory platform team could jointly prototype and develop an API with the product team to deliver this new functionality. This agile and ad-hoc collaboration ensures that platform capabilities are seen as a natural extension of the product team.

Leaders of platform teams typically possess a strong technical background, often with extensive experience in software engineering, systems architecture, or IT infrastructure. They are adept at understanding the intricate details of the organisation's core systems and how these can be optimized for better performance and scalability. Their primary role is to ensure that the platform is robust, accessible, and adaptable to the needs of product teams. These leaders excel in fostering collaboration, often working closely with product team leaders to align platform capabilities with product requirements. Their expertise enables them to guide their team of specialists in developing reusable, efficient solutions that support the broader objectives of the technology organisation.

Infrastructure Services Team - The Backbone

Infrastructure Teams - The Foundation for Robust Delivery

In an IT Operating Model, a mature and digitally enabled infrastructure services team is essential. This team is responsible for managing the underlying technology infrastructure, ensuring it is efficient, user-friendly, reliable, and consistent.

The infrastructure services team plays a critical role in balancing standardisation with enabling agility within a tech organization. To achieve this, they implement robust frameworks and automation tools that ensure consistent, reliable, and secure operations across all systems. Standardisation is enforced through the use of common infrastructure building blocks, platforms, protocols, and practices, which streamline processes and reduce complexity. However, the team also recognizes the importance of flexibility and responsiveness to rapidly changing business needs. By incorporating agile methodologies, they create modular and adaptable infrastructure components that can be swiftly reconfigured or scaled. This dual approach allows the organization to maintain high standards of efficiency and security while fostering innovation and quick adaptation to new market demands and technological advancements. Through continuous monitoring and iterative improvements, the infrastructure team ensures that standardisation does not become a barrier but rather a foundation for sustainable agility.

Leaders of the infrastructure services team in a tech organization are pivotal figures who ensure the seamless operation and reliability of the company's underlying technology systems. These individuals typically possess extensive technical expertise and experience in IT infrastructure management, automation, and standardization practices. They are adept at coordinating complex technical projects, overseeing the implementation of efficient and user-friendly infrastructure solutions, and promoting best practices across development, operations, and engineering. Additionally, they excel in fostering collaboration between various teams, ensuring that the infrastructure supports the needs of product and platform teams effectively. Their strategic vision and operational excellence are crucial for maintaining a robust, scalable, and resilient technology foundation.

Integration and Collaboration - Key to Success

The effectiveness of an IT Operating Model hinges on the integration, resource sharing and collaboration among product teams, platform teams, and the infrastructure services team. Each team brings unique strengths and perspectives, contributing to a cohesive and innovative environment.

Product teams drive value creation through user-focused solutions, platform teams provide necessary support with robust system foundations, and the infrastructure services team ensures everything runs smoothly behind the scenes. Together, they form an interconnected network that propels the company toward sustained growth and success.