Editor’s note: The following is a guest post from Mike Anderson, chief digital and information officer at Netskope.
Friction between security teams and infrastructure and operations teams is something every technology leader has experienced. Each team has different priorities, and compromise can feel elusive.
For years, the internal technology and security teams at Netskope worked this way, delivering projects independently with limited alignment. While we made progress, we often ran into bottlenecks, duplicated work, and created avoidable frustration for employees.
Over the past year, our CISO and I decided to take a different approach. We shifted away from a project operating model where teams worked in silos and moved to a product operating model built on fusion teams. This change has transformed how our teams work together and made us more effective.
In the project model, teams focused on discrete deliverables with little connection to a bigger picture. Security emphasized governance and risk while IT and infrastructure prioritized efficiency and automation. Each team’s objectives sometimes clashed, with handoffs creating delays.
The result was a clunky employee experience with recurring tension between teams.
Taking a product model solves these problems by putting outcomes at the center. Instead of separate teams working on isolated projects, we created fusion teams that bring together IT, security, and other stakeholders under a shared mission.
These teams are responsible for end-to-end delivery of a capability. Their focus is not on just completing a project, but instead on continually improving a product or service that supports the business.
A practical example: identity and access
User access is a common example of friction that most organizations deal with. Security teams are accountable for ensuring only the right people have access to the right applications, while IT help desks are flooded with requests for additional access.
The problem is employees perceive this as red tape — and IT sees it as a source of endless tickets.
With a fusion team approach, we brought IT and global information security team members together with specialists from other functions, like HR, to focus on a single mission: creating a seamless, efficient identity and access management experience.
Instead of IT reducing tickets or security completing access reviews, the team worked collectively to design an experience that served employees while still meeting compliance and governance requirements.
The fusion team defined the problem jointly, looking at both efficiency and governance needs. Then they selected solutions and policies together, ensuring both IT and security requirements were met.
But most importantly, they took ownership of execution, making decisions quickly without constant escalation. The result wasn’t just fewer tickets or cleaner access reviews; it was a better experience, less friction and a stronger alignment between security and IT.
The fusion team playbook
For leaders considering this approach, the advice is simple: start small.
Identity and access was our proving ground because it was high impact and visible to the entire company. Once the model showed results, we applied it to other areas, such as change management and network services.
Adopting a product operating model isn’t easy either. Teams need time to adjust, and leaders need to give them space to move through the forming and storming phases of team development.
But by empowering fusion teams, aligning them to outcomes — and stepping back from micromanagement — leaders can create an environment where collaboration thrives.
The move from a project model to a product model has reduced friction between our security and I&O teams and replaced it with genuine partnership. Fusion teams give people shared accountability and the authority to solve problems holistically.
This shift has improved efficiency, strengthened governance and, most importantly, delivered a better experience for both employees and the business.
