The Operating Model for a Growing Platform
As adoption grows, teams make decisions every day about what gets built, who approves it, and who owns it. When the organization doesn't make those decisions on purpose, builders make them by default.
Rudd Consulting helps organizations design, establish, and operate a Center of Excellence (COE): the operating model that defines how solutions are requested, built, governed, and owned as the platform scales.
Discuss Your Center of ExcellenceThe Operating Problem Behind Platform Sprawl
Platform sprawl rarely starts with the technology. It starts with operating decisions nobody made.
Builders solve real problems quickly. Without agreed standards, decision rights, and ownership, every new solution adds to an ecosystem no one is designing.
Three Questions Behind Every Center of Excellence
A Center of Excellence works when the operating model, the systems that support it, and the path to get there stay connected.
How Building Works
Intake, decision rights, ownership, standards, and the roles of the Core Team, Champion Network, and Community.
What Supports It
The solution registry, architecture standards, governed intake, and reporting, built on the delivery foundation of Rudd's Project Hub.
How You Get There
Launching the Core Team and first Champions, starting the operating cadence, and sustaining it as the platform grows.
Six Dimensions of a Platform Built to Last
Rudd's Center of Excellence model is built on six dimensions. Together they define a well-run platform, and we build the operating model, processes, and systems that make each one real inside your organization.
A Shared, Trusted Foundation
One source for each record, not competing versions of the truth.
Managed, Reusable Solutions
Proven builds become standards. One-off duplicates are retired by design.
Capability That Grows
Champions, builder development, and adoption that doesn't depend on any one person.
Structured Intake
Requests are routed and prioritized, builders are unblocked, and effort goes where it matters most.
Proportional Governance
Every solution is classified, and oversight scales with its impact and risk.
Consolidation and Value
Fewer redundant tools, less duplicated work, and continuous improvement you can see.
Your organization owns the Center of Excellence. Rudd designs it, launches it, and can stay on to help run it.
Five Services, One Operating Capability
Rudd's Center of Excellence Services cover the full capability: the operating model, the systems that support it, the people who carry it, and the management that sustains it. Engage us for one area or all five.
COE Strategy & Operating Model
Operating Decisions Before Enforcement
Design the structure and operating practices your Center of Excellence needs, sized to where your organization is today and where it is heading.
- Readiness assessment
- Operating model and team structure
- Roles, responsibilities, and decision rights
- Standards and success measures
COE Infrastructure & Implementation
The Systems the COE Runs On
Build the operational infrastructure behind the COE: one front door for new requests, a registry of what already exists, approval workflows, and reporting that gives leadership a view of the whole portfolio. Rudd's Project Hub, already part of how we deliver every implementation, provides a proven foundation that extends into broader COE operations.
- Solution registry and portfolio visibility
- Governed intake and approval workflows
- Documentation and lifecycle management
- COE reporting
Governance & Solution Management
Oversight Matched to Impact
Establish consistent processes for managing solutions from first request to retirement, with review proportional to risk, so small builds move quickly and business-critical ones get the scrutiny they deserve.
- Architecture standards and ownership
- Risk classification and tiered review
- Prioritization and change management
- Continuous improvement
Enablement & Adoption
More People Building Well
Build internal capability through Champion networks, builder development paths, knowledge sharing, and practical programs like the Airtable Champion Intensive. Standards are easier to follow when people learn them from those who build.
- Champion network design and development
- Builder development paths
- Community and knowledge sharing
- Training and enablement programs
Ongoing COE Management
The Capacity to Keep It Working
Rudd provides ongoing operational expertise to sustain the COE: running the cadence, managing intake, overseeing the solution portfolio, and reporting on adoption and performance. Your organization keeps ownership and decision-making authority.
- Governance coordination and operating cadence
- Intake management and portfolio oversight
- Adoption support and performance reporting
- Improvement planning
Assess, Design, Establish, Operate
Every Center of Excellence engagement starts with what already exists, because most are established around solutions, builders, and habits already in motion.
Map what has been built, who builds it, how requests arrive, and where governance exists or is missing.
You get: A clear starting point and a view of COE readiness.
Define the Core Team, Champion Network, decision rights, standards, intake, and the infrastructure the COE will run on.
You get: A COE blueprint with clear ownership.
Build the registry, intake, governance workflows, and reporting. Launch the Core Team and first Champions, and start the operating rhythm.
You get: A COE that is operating, not just designed.
Run the cadence, manage intake and the solution portfolio, support adoption, and plan improvements as the platform grows.
You get: A capability that keeps getting stronger.
Built for organizations where adoption spans multiple departments, internal builders are multiplying, and solutions have become business-critical. Already have a COE that isn't working? We start with what exists and focus on what needs to change.
Designed for Ownership
A Center of Excellence isn't finished when it's designed. It's finished when your organization can run it.
Discuss Your Center of Excellence
Whether you are establishing a Center of Excellence, formalizing one that grew on its own, or looking for help running it, the first step is understanding where you are today.
Tell us about your platform, your builders, and your goals. We'll start by understanding the environment and the operating decisions ahead.