Agile into the future with the new ID Product Centers
At present, specialist knowledge within IT Services is spread across many specialist areas. With the first newly introduced Product Centers, we have therefore defined how we want to work together more efficiently in the future. The biggest change? Our collaboration model in the Product Centers is organized directly around customers and products. This allows us to work together efficiently, independently and in a self-organized manner to optimally implement our heterogeneous customer needs.
The Client and Server Engineering specialist area deals with the configuration, maintenance and further development of clients and servers, the provisioning of applications and ensuring system security. In this area of IT Services, we face the challenge that similar system development work takes place in multiple team silos. This leads to several difficulties, including the lack of a central point of contact for technical questions, best practices and coordination.
We are currently developing various solutions for our customers - e.g. for setting up clients and servers - some of which are then managed by these individuals. This leads to various challenges due to different levels of knowledge and varying quality in decentralized management. For example, systems in operation may no longer be maintained over time or the technology may be so outdated that it becomes vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
The solution: agile Product Centers
With the newly introduced, agile Product Centers, we are precisely meeting these challenges by:
- creating central coordination and knowledge points.
- promoting improved collaboration and a more optimal exchange of knowledge.
- developing standardized and high-quality solutions.
- providing customer-oriented services.
- strengthening know-how and skills within the organization.
By implementing the product center organization, we are striving to make our system development in the form of products more efficient, consistent, and customer-oriented in order to ultimately guarantee a high-quality and reliable IT infrastructure for our customers.
Where are we with the implementation of the Product Centers?
So far, we have tackled the implementation of three Product Centers with a focus on Client & Server Engineering. We started developing the Linux Product Center in July 2023, launched the Windows Product Center in October 2023 and established the macOS Product Center in February 2024. In total, around 70 employees underwent a dedicated training program and now work in one of the five product teams that are grouped together in the Product Centers.
The most important element of the new collaboration is that agile teams collaborate with employees from different specialist areas and different organizational units. Initial experience shows that the agile way of working and collaboration in cross-functional teams is highly appreciated by employees. We see challenges in the interaction between the line organisation and the product centers, particularly with regard to employee work load, which we must continue to work on. Further Product Centers are already being planned, and it is conceivable that this modern form of collaboration will also be adopted for other areas at ETH.
What can our customers expect?
The active involvement of our customers is a central component of our agile way of working. This involvement can take various forms. For example, customers can contribute their needs via suitable channels or participate directly in product development. Depending on the type of involvement, the corresponding needs can be implemented more quickly and comprehensively.
We look forward to embarking on this joint journey with our colleagues and customers and working together to achieve innovative, customized, and efficient solutions.
Further information and contacts can be found in our .
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