From silo’s to autonomy: a conversation about how Cloud technology reshapes org design

Jesse: "In our recent work with clients, we noticed that many organizations focus primarily on the technical aspects of cloud migration. With our governance framework we help our customers understand that the real challenge often lies in organizational adaptation required to fully leverage cloud capabilities. Cloud has an impressive array of around + 30.000 scalable services. However, to leverage this tool correctly and for the right purposes, organizations need, among other capabilities, the right organizational strategy & structure to do so."  

Anouk: "Exactly. We saw organizations struggling with siloed functional teams trying to work in a cloud environment that demands autonomy and quick response times. It became clear that we needed to help organizations understand how their delivery models needed to evolve alongside their cloud transformation. Delivery models distinguish themselves by the modus operandi related to specific workload types. For example, workloads enabling online sales within a competitive market (high pace of change) have a different modus operandi then workloads enabling the publishing of research papers (low pace of change). Therefore at Kruso we’ve developed a structured micro approach to explore the fit-for-purpose modus operandi” 

Can you tell us something about the framework you’ve used the analysis of the organization? Can you explain why this framework is particularly relevant? 

Anouk: “We’ve used Org Topologies, developed by Roland Flemm and Alexey Krivitsky, for analyzing how organizations can elevate their current org constellation with a specific optimizing goal in mind. It uses two key dimensions: team capabilities and scope of work. This helps organizations understand where they are and where they need to go."  

Jesse: "What makes this thinking tool particularly valuable for cloud transformation, is it can quickly highlight the amount of dependencies between teams and people. It maps the journey from individual contributors with single skills to fully autonomous, fast-flow teams. This directly correlates with the capabilities needed to effectively operate in a cloud environment."  

Anouk: "Org Topologies mapping looks at team evolution across two axes. On the horizontal axis, we see the progression of team capabilities from individuals with single skills, through functional units, to multi-skilled units, and finally to fast-flow units. On the vertical axis, we track the scope of work, moving from task-oriented focus through feature focus and business domain focus, up to entire business context focus." This mapping helps organizations understand their current state and plan their transformation. For instance, many traditional IT organizations start with siloed functional groups focused on specific tasks. But in the cloud, we need to move toward teams that can handle end-to-end delivery."  

Anouk: "We recently observed a cloud migration project that was initially estimated to take three weeks but took significantly longer. When we mapped this situation on the Org Topologies map, we could clearly see the problem: the team was positioned as a functional unit with task focus and many dependencies. What we needed to do was to remove the dependencies and get the team to focus on the application migration as a whole instead of individual tasks.”  

Jesse: "That project actually became a valuable learning experience. It showed how traditional project-based approaches, where you bring people to work, don't align well with cloud operations. Cloud environments thrive on autonomous teams that can take end-to-end responsibility for services.” 

Anouk: “Yes and in discussion with the client we found out it wasn't feasible to go ‘all in’ on creating feature focused DevOps teams. For good reasons, the client needed to find suitable candidates to start with.  

Anouk: "The key is to recognize that different parts of your organization might need to be at different places on the map. Some functions work perfectly well as component teams, while others need to evolve into teams with feature focus. It's about finding the right fit for each context."   

Jesse: "Agree, and how these parts of the organizations get there is often a gradual progression. Organizations typically start by moving from individual contributors to functional units. Then they begin developing multi-skilled capabilities within these units. Finally, they evolve into fast-flow teams that can handle end-to-end delivery. The key is to keep monitoring and adjusting. Keep in mind: This also sets about a cultural shift within your organization."  

Jesse: “Well, it depends. You'll need to determine which cloud capabilities will help you achieve your goals with the cloud. And no surprise: organizational development is one of them. Cloud thrives best when we have cross-functional teams that can operate autonomously and take full responsibility for their services. These teams can fully utilize cloud capabilities like Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD pipelines because they have all the necessary skills and authority within the team.   

Anouk: " In practice however, companies encounter power play, priority shifts, legal issues, etc. This all might delay or hinder such a setup. To get moving, it's important to note that this transformation doesn't happen overnight. We recommend an organic growth model where organizations gradually evolve their delivery models. It starts with creating focus, then moves to predictable delivery, and finally optimizes for agility.”  

Anouk: "We developed a fit-for-purpose framework that considers various factors: the amount of change management needed, required customer knowledge, lifecyclemanagement, technical expertise requirements, and reusability potential. These factors help determine what type of team with certain context would work best.”  

Jesse: "Context is crucial here. Different business units and applications have different needs. Some might require deep customer knowledge and frequent changes, making them ideal candidates for teams with feature focus. Others might need specialized technical expertise."  

Jesse: "Remember that cloud and agility go hand in hand. The cloud provides the technical capabilities for rapid, autonomous deployment and scaling. But you need the right organizational strategy & structure to leverage these capabilities. To help you navigate your cloud journey, have a look at the Rapid Circle cloud governance framework (published on our website) and use Org typologies to start analysing your organization. And don’t forget to strategize and organize for tomorrow." 

Anouk: "Focus on organic growth and use scaling framework agnostic thinking tools as your guide. It helps you understand where you are and where you need to go. Start small, perhaps with a pilot team, and learn from the experience. Use that learning to gradually transform other parts of the organization. It's about finding the right balance between maintaining stability and enabling the autonomy that cloud operations require. If you’re interested in org design exploration, you can find our structured micro approach on Kruso.nl”  

Jesse: “One last remark for all organizations who started their cloud journey years ago, keep reiterating over the cloud strategy & capabilities and its usage within the teams. Especially with AI coming into play, organizations need to keep reassessing their org design in relation to utilizing cloud capabilities, such as co-pilot and agentic workflows.”  

This interview provides insights from a recent study on cloud transformation and organizational design. While the technical aspects of cloud adoption are important, the organizational transformation is equally crucial for success. By understanding these dynamics organizations can better prepare for their cloud journey and the organizational changes it entails.