POM for IT – processes and operating rhythms

Core IT practices and delivery model

Below is a graphic depiction of our operating model delivery process. We have outlined our product management cycle according to the Atlassian way, leveraging existing processes where we can.

Baseline delivery expectations

As a team, we are agreeing to hold ourselves accountable for implementing the following standards:

All products have a vision statement and 12-month roadmap with business outcomes clearly defined
All products or product groups are holding external and internal quarterly business reviews where they are reviewing progress against product roadmaps, reporting business outcomes, and updating roadmaps accordingly
Product groups are holding quarterly planning exercises for multi-product efforts and involving shared services where needed
All product teams are logging major epics and features in Jira
All product teams should begin tracking capacity and velocity (not yet standardized)
All product teams are on some sprint cycle (2 weeks ideally) and holding retrospectives at the end of each sprint

IT operating rhythm

Along with the delivery expectations, we will also be governing ourselves according to the below set of cadences. This is to ensure we stay consistent and agile, while also providing an extra layer of transparency between business stakeholders and the IT teams.

Cadence	Meeting	Lead	Recipients	Description

Cadence	Meeting	Lead	Recipients	Description
Annual → Shifting to Quarterly	Quarterly planning (TBD)	CIO	Whole company	Planning framework to capture work, budget and resources aligned to financial process
Quarterly	Quarterly planning / PI Planning (optional)	IT Teams	IT teams	Team/product group level planning to prioritize work for the next quarter and determine gaps in resources for budget Helps identify dependencies between product groups Allows connection point for shared service teams, eg. EA team, data team, etc. Outcomes for PI planning should be product roadmaps
	Internal quarterly business review (internal to IT)	IT Strategy	IT executives	Ensures IT-wide alignment with enterprise wide initiatives prioritized in PI planning Review of IT portfolio overall performance and delivery progress Review progress against previous goals, roadmap and budget
	External quarterly business review (optional for business)	PM/IT Strategy	IT executives & business	Ensures IT and business alignment with enterprise wide initiatives prioritized in PI planning Review progress against previous goals and roadmap Review other business-facing artifacts with stakeholders
	“Rolling 4” quarterly planning	IT Strategy	Whole company	Discuss previous quarter successes and improvements, progress against OKRs, and revision of high level roadmaps and investments Submit plans for subsequent quarters, including budget and HC requirements
	State of IT	IT Strategy	Whole company	Update on IT strategy and key metrics
Monthly	Portfolio review	Group PMs and IT Strategy	IT leadership	Review status of all projects Drives alignment across teams and provides opportunities to manage dependencies and arrange for delivery of shared services
Ad-hoc	Project review	PMs and business partners	IT and business stakeholders	Business partners sync with stakeholders to assess priorities, manage timelines, and ensure alignment between initiatives and business objectives

Standard processes

Processes and shared services	Description	Execution (centralized vs. decentralized)

Processes and shared services	Description	Execution (centralized vs. decentralized)
Intake and demand management	Intake of requests, projects, and business priorities; prioritization of work; management of approval process of requests and handling of cancelled or duplicated requests	Centralized: organizational alignment on process of intake and qualification of business priorities (e.g. request submitted through Jira, certain requests require business case, etc.) Decentralized: Product Owner will be responsible for prioritization, demand management and delivery
Resource and capacity management	Management of resource capacity and allocation for IT and per product team (via quarterly capacity analysis, run/grow framework, etc.)	Centralized: program management org tracks resource capacity and allocation at the portfolio level. May provide tools for teams to use in managing resources Decentralized: product leader is responsible for assigning resources and ensuring capacity is within target at product/project level each quarter
Budgeting and financial management	Management of investments and budgets, and quarterly review of financials	Centralized: financial (investments, budgets, etc.) planning and tracking done at org-level Decentralized: management of team budgets done at product/project level
Program management organization / Portfolio management	Define and maintain standards on methodology and templates for project execution; center of excellence for reference on how to run a product/project successfully and effectively	Centralized: program management org defines some standard templates for project/program management including roles and responsibilities, dependencies. etc. Decentralized: teams leverage tools if needed
Enterprise architecture (EA)	Develop organization’s systems and processes in line with business strategy; provide big-picture long-term view for the org; develop a system of steps and procedures for staff to support organization of data	Centralized: team defines EA standards; manages enterprise architecture Decentralized: EAs create reference architecture for product teams; ensures adoption of architectural tools; helps define 3-year roadmaps with business teams
Software development lifecycle management	Define phases of lifecycle, including requirement analysis, planning, design, development, test & QA, and delivery/ deployment	Centralized: program management org defines standards and methodologies for agile best practices for each product/project team to implement; provides training to business teams to assist with gradual adoption of agile Decentralized: product teams manage backlog and deliver independently, but follow overarching agile guidelines and principles laid out by the program management org
Story writing	Map user journeys; document business requirements and user stories	Centralized: alignment on taxonomy (e.g. epic, features, etc.) Decentralized: product owners conduct story writing and story pointing
Organizational change management	Manage and enable the change of new business processes, organizational structure, culture, etc.	Centralized: change team provides change management approaches for major releases of new technology Decentralized: individual teams execute on change management with their stakeholders
Communications	Facilitate communications at each level, within teams, with leadership, to business teams, and across other IT teams	Centralized: communications function manages comms for major programs and external facing communications Decentralized: product teams have planning and execution communications, and communications with business teams and other IT teams for cross-functional projects
Service management (ITIL process change, CM, releases, incident, QA, asset mgmt, etc.)	Implementation and management of quality IT services that meet the needs of the business	Centralized: service providers/ITIL process team is responsible for establishing guardrails for and configuring systems for core ITIL processes such as change, incident, problem mgmt. Decentralized: Teams responsible for executing ITIL processes within established framework.
Data management	Collect, keep and use data and business intelligence securely, efficiently and cost-effectively in order to create value	Centralized: definition of data strategy; implementation of data management platforms, establishment of data governance process. Decentralized: Data analysis, intelligence
Security	Ensure business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) plans are in place and process exists if needed to be executed on	Centralized: IT security team accountable for all security needs with IT org and vendors (meets with the security team, ensures BC/DR maturity by developing and maintaining standards, develops and enhances security policies, etc.)
Infrastructure operations	Administration and management of technology, information, and data	Centralized: infrastructure ops team manages computers, servers, processes, networks, storage, data, software, security, and cloud-based services
Vendor management	Manage vendor renewals, new contracts, and vendor relationship	Centralized: vendor management team works with vendors to deliver on roadmap, enhancements, and info affecting the product; manage service level agreements, metrics, and conduct quarterly business reviews