Capabilities

Digital operating model

Design how digital capabilities, accountabilities and delivery models should operate across business and technology.

Organize digital capabilities around how products, technology and business outcomes actually need to come together

We connect digital capabilities, accountabilities and delivery responsibilities to define how business and technology should operate together.

Digital execution becomes difficult when organizational boundaries separate the capabilities required to produce one outcome. Business teams may own priorities, technology teams own delivery and specialist digital capabilities sit elsewhere, creating handoffs and contested accountability. Centralizing everything can weaken proximity to business needs, while fully distributed models duplicate scarce expertise and technology. A digital operating model makes these trade-offs explicit, determining where capabilities should reside, how product and technology responsibilities interact and which mechanisms allow distributed teams to operate with enterprise coherence.

Focus

A digital operating model defines how digital work gets done at scale

It connects product ownership, technology, governance, talent and funding across business and delivery teams.

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Strategic Challenges

Can digital teams move quickly without fragmenting the enterprise?

The challenge is balancing autonomy with shared standards, integration needs and clear accountability across functions.

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Strategic Impacts

A coherent operating model improves how digital teams coordinate and deliver

Clear roles, funding mechanisms and interfaces reduce duplication while preserving speed where local autonomy matters.

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Observed Patterns

Digital models often copy agile structures without changing real authority

New team labels achieve little when funding, decision rights and functional control remain anchored in the old model.

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Strategic Challenges

Can digital teams move quickly without fragmenting the enterprise?

The challenge is balancing autonomy with shared standards, integration needs and clear accountability across functions.

Read now

Strategic Impacts

A coherent operating model improves how digital teams coordinate and deliver

Clear roles, funding mechanisms and interfaces reduce duplication while preserving speed where local autonomy matters.

Read now

Observed Patterns

Digital models often copy agile structures without changing real authority

New team labels achieve little when funding, decision rights and functional control remain anchored in the old model.

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POV

Agile ceremonies do not create a digital operating model

The model only changes when authority, accountability, funding and work design change with the new delivery structure.

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Our approach

Design digital organization around the capabilities and accountabilities required to deliver outcomes end to end

Our approach begins by identifying the digital outcomes, products and capabilities the enterprise needs before mapping how responsibilities currently span business, technology and specialist teams. We examine where centralization creates scale, where proximity improves decisions and where fragmented ownership produces handoffs or duplication. Target capability placement, product accountabilities, governance and delivery interfaces are then designed as connected choices. We test the model against real workflows and decisions before defining the organizational, talent and management changes required to make the target model work in practice.

The data and estimates presented are indicative and intended for illustrative purposes. Actual outcomes may vary based on each company’s specific context, market conditions, operating model, implementation choices, and the quality and consistency of execution, including actions undertaken by the client.

Keypillars

Explore the key pillars that define this capability and shape how we create focused, measurable business impact.

Operating structure

Defines roles, responsibilities, governance, funding, and delivery interfaces across business, technology, product, data, and digital teams

Delivery integration

Connects strategy, product, engineering, operations, and enabling functions through clear workflows, ownership, and shared management routines

Capability alignment

Organizes talent, processes, technology, and decision rights around the digital capabilities the enterprise needs to operate and evolve

Is your operating model enabling digital execution, or forcing new capabilities through old structures?

Get in touch with our Digital operating model team to examine roles, governance, workflows and cross-functional digital execution.

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Strategic Framework

Explore our Strategic Framework

Explore our strategic framework applied to page_title and discover which model we apply to help you achieve your goals and objectives.

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01. Define mandate

Clarify how digital capabilities contribute to strategy, operations, customer outcomes, and enterprise priorities

06. Measure performance

Track delivery effectiveness, decision speed, resource use, capability maturity, and cross-functional friction

05. Build capacity

Align talent, sourcing, tooling, funding, and management routines with the target digital operating model

01 DEFINE MANDATE 02 ASSESS DELIVERY 03 DESIGN MODEL 04 ALIGN INTERFACES 05 BUILD CAPACITY 06 MEASURE PERFORMANCE 6 STEPS STRATEGIC MODEL
02. Assess delivery

Evaluate structures, roles, skills, processes, technology, governance, sourcing, and business interfaces

03. Design model

Configure teams, accountabilities, delivery structures, capabilities, governance, and collaboration mechanisms

04. Align interfaces

Define how digital teams interact with business units, technology, data, risk, finance, and external partners

How we help

Clarify how digital capabilities and responsibilities should be distributed across business, technology and product teams

We provide digital operating-model designs spanning organization, capability placement, product ownership, governance and delivery interfaces. The work can include operating-model diagnostics, centralized-versus-federated choices, capability architecture, accountability design, product and technology interfaces and transition roadmaps. Outputs define where digital capabilities should sit, how end-to-end outcomes should be owned, which responsibilities require enterprise coordination and how teams should interact without recreating functional handoffs or duplicating scarce specialist capabilities.

  • Digital operating model assessment
  • Target digital operating model
  • Digital organization design
  • Digital capability architecture
  • Product operating model
  • Platform operating model
  • Digital delivery model
  • Business-technology collaboration model
  • Digital governance design
  • Digital role architecture
  • Digital workforce strategy
  • Digital sourcing strategy
  • Digital center of excellence design
  • Digital hub-and-spoke model
  • Digital service model
  • Digital performance framework
  • Digital operating rhythm
  • Digital operating model transition

Explore our FAQs

Find answers to the most common questions about this service, including key features, processes, and practical considerations. Explore our FAQs for additional insights and guidance.

It should clarify roles, capabilities, governance, funding, delivery processes and interfaces across business and technology teams.

When digital work scales, ownership fragments or existing structures create persistent delays, duplication or weak accountability.

The choice should reflect capability scarcity, scale benefits, product ownership and the need for proximity to customers and operations.

Through shared outcomes, clear decision rights and coordinated planning rather than sequential handoffs between business and technical functions.

Ambiguous ownership, competing priorities, fragmented funding and inconsistent delivery practices often create recurring execution problems.

Funding should reflect the nature of the work, distinguishing enduring products and platforms from finite projects and transformation initiatives.

Track delivery speed, decision quality, accountability, duplication, capability utilization and performance at key organizational interfaces.

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Get in touch with our experts to discuss your priorities, explore potential opportunities, and understand how our capabilities can support your organization.

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