Scaling DevOps: Empowering People and Structuring Teams for High Performance

Author: Thales Faggiano, SRE Specialist | DX & TPM Consultant at NTT DATA, Inc., and DEVOPS INSTITUTE and ITIL Ambassador

In today’s digital economy, IT teams play a critical role in enabling business success. However, achieving high performance in software delivery requires more than just adopting new tools—it demands a shift in mindset, team structures, and ways of working.

DevOps, a movement that emphasizes communication, collaboration, automation, and continuous improvement, has transformed how organizations develop and operate software. At the same time, the Team Topologies framework provides a structured approach to team design, helping enterprises optimize workflow (Fast Flow) and reduce inefficiencies.

As a DEVOPS INSTITUTE Ambassador, VSM Consortium Ambassador, and Team Topologies Advocate, I have seen firsthand how these approaches can reshape IT organizations. This article explores how individuals and enterprises can apply DevOps and modern team design principles to build high-performing IT teams.

The Individual’s Role in DevOps

High-performing teams begin with high-performing individuals. Whether you are a developer, an SRE, or a platform engineer, your mindset and skill set contribute directly to the success of your organization’s DevOps journey.

1. Adopt a Systems Thinking Mindset

Understanding the broader system in which you operate is crucial. This means looking beyond individual tasks to identify bottlenecks, dependencies, and inefficiencies across the software delivery pipeline.

2. Commit to Continuous Learning

The technology landscape is constantly evolving, and professionals must stay ahead of the curve. Upskilling in areas such as Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Continuous Deployment (CD), and Platform Engineering can significantly improve effectiveness.

Certifications from the DEVOPS INSTITUTE provide suggested learning paths and validate expertise. Value Stream Management (VSM) Foundation certification helps individuals understand how to identify and optimize value streams, the Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) Foundation covers principles for building and operating reliable systems, and the DevOps Leader (DOL) certification focuses on the strategic aspects of leading a DevOps transformation.

3. Foster a Culture of Collaboration

High-performing IT teams thrive on open communication and shared responsibility. Whether through blameless postmortems, pair programming, or cross-team knowledge sharing, individuals can create an environment where collaboration drives innovation.

4. Embrace Automation

Automation is a key enabler of DevOps success. Reducing manual, repetitive work through CI/CD pipelines, testing automation, and infrastructure provisioning frees up time for higher-value tasks.

Scaling DevOps at the Enterprise Level

While individual contributions are critical, enterprises must also create an environment where teams can operate efficiently. Team Topologies, a model developed by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais, provides a blueprint for structuring IT teams to optimize flow and reduce friction.

1. Establish the Right Team Structures

Enterprises should design teams based on cognitive load considerations and workflow efficiency. Team Topologies identifies four fundamental team types:

• Stream-Aligned Teams – Responsible for delivering end-to-end value aligned with a specific business domain.
• Enabling Teams – Help other teams adopt new tools, technologies, and practices.
• Complicated-Subsystem Teams – Focus on specialized areas requiring deep technical expertise (e.g., complex databases or AI models).
• Platform Teams – Build internal platforms that reduce cognitive load for other teams.

Before defining Stream-Aligned Teams, it's crucial to identify the actual value streams. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a powerful technique to visualize workflow, pinpoint delays, and clearly delineate the business domains or service areas suitable for end-to-end ownership by these teams. Effectively mapping value streams, a practice central to my work as a VSM Consortium Ambassador, is a foundational step for successful Team Topologies implementation.

2. Optimize Team Interactions

Unnecessary dependencies between teams slow down delivery. Team Topologies defines three key interaction modes to enhance collaboration while maintaining autonomy:

• Collaboration – Short-term close work for innovation.
• Facilitation – Providing guidance and knowledge-sharing.
• X-as-a-Service – Offering self-service capabilities to reduce dependencies.

3. Reduce Cognitive Load

Teams overloaded with excessive responsibilities struggle to deliver efficiently. Platform Engineering plays a crucial role in reducing this burden by providing self-service capabilities for development teams, allowing them to focus on delivering business value rather than managing infrastructure.

4. Measure and Improve Performance

To ensure DevOps success, organizations should track key performance metrics. DORA metrics—Deployment Frequency, Lead Time for Changes, Change Failure Rate, and Mean Time to Recovery (MTTR)—offer insights into software delivery efficiency. These data-driven measures help teams identify bottlenecks and continuously improve.

Bridging the Gap Between Individuals and Enterprises

The most successful IT organizations align individual development with enterprise-wide goals. Psychological safety, autonomy, and a well-designed team structure create an environment where teams can perform at their best.

By integrating DevOps principles with Team Topologies and leveraging practices like Value Stream Management, organizations can build IT teams that are not only fast but also resilient, adaptable, and efficient.

Conclusion

For individuals, succeeding in DevOps means continuous learning, automation, and collaboration. Pursuing relevant certifications like those from the DEVOPS INSTITUTE (e.g., VSM Foundation, SRE Foundation, DevOps Leader) can significantly aid this journey.

For enterprises, scaling DevOps requires structuring teams effectively, using techniques like VSM to identify value streams, reducing cognitive load, and tracking key performance indicators.

Want to see these ideas in action? Join the upcoming DEVOPS INSTITUTE Insider webinar, "DevOps for individuals and enterprises: Building high-performing IT teams," on Thursday, 5 June 2025. We’ll explore how DevOps is transforming IT organizations.