Often our work involves looking at the structure of technology functions within firms, and so for this article I thought I’d share our current thinking on optimal arrangements. The example I am using is split-out for larger firms, but for smaller firms the approach remains valid, just with some roles collapsed to fewer people.

Before I get into the detail, I’ll make two general observations.

Firstly, the role of Technology in a firm really is changing. More than ever, it needs to perform as a *profit* centre and not a cost centre, and demonstrate how the investments it requires, with the exception of risk and security needs, will directly contribute to helping the firm achieve its strategic goals. Technology for the sake of technology is very hard to justify.

Secondly, the traditional divisions of different Technology disciplines are being eroded. So, whilst the structure here is well delineated, in fact, resources are often multi-skilled and optimal delivery is achieved by treating the structure as nominal for management and reporting purposes but actually assembling virtual teams to address particular products and needs. An organisation structure is useful but should not hinder cross-functional working when this is the most effective approach to defining and delivering a solution.

Infrastructure
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‍Let’s start with infrastructure. We think it is time to adjust the infrastructure part of the model. The increasing move to cloud is likely to remain the trend for the foreseeable future (whatever that means in IT!) and the emphasis is moving away from traditional knowledge and into security. Therefore, we propose that infrastructure services, which includes management of cloud providers, SaaS, and MSPs/comms providers, is grouped under SecOps, perhaps with a CISO, depending on the size of firm.

Development
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Some firms like to have a development capability, and for these, a DevOps function is next. Our general view is that development should be kept to a minimum, and so a full-stack DevOps function would be overkill. But, light development, automation, integration, bespoke front-ends and so on are incredibly useful, bringing real value to users who are pressed for time.

We would put AI, data management and so on into DevOps if present. In addition, business and process analysts are placed here. DevOps isn’t generally user-facing (except for analytical work) but rather teams up with the other units to provide specialist skills and support.

Business Operations
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‍BizOps represents the application of Technology to optimised, efficient operations across the firm, particularly supporting HR, Marketing and similar, as well as enterprise applications (in addition to those supporting these functions) such as DMS, PMS and CRM.

Production Applications
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RevOps may not be a term familiar to all; it encompasses – at an accountancy practice – the production applications for service lines, such as Audit, Accounts, Payroll and so on. The RevOps team works closely with business partners from these service lines to select and implement applications, to ensure that maximum value is obtained from them, and (along with BizOps) to look for out-of-sector solutions that might be applicable to a firm’s specialist needs.

A few other points: If a firm offers a client-facing support desk (for example, portal or Xero support), this lives in RevOps, whereas a user-facing support desk more usually would be in BizOps, as production system users often know more about their applications than the Technology team. And you’ll notice procurement is not present; we think this a Finance function, albeit one closely informed by Technology. Lastly, we haven’t put the PMO, if present, into Technology; rather, Technology projects ought to be overseen by a central PMO function, with specialist project managers embedded in the function if needed.

As I observed at the beginning of this article, every firm is different, both in aims and scale, and of course this is just a general guide. If you’d like to chat through your current or planned resource structures, feel free to get in touch.

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