Projects stalling while they wait for IT sign-off. Shadow IT spreading as teams work around the function. The service desk handling the same incidents week after week. Nobody quite sure who owns what. These are not technology problems. They are structural ones. Starkhorn assesses how your IT function operates today, identifies where it creates friction rather than value, and designs a target operating model that fits your organisation. We work across structure, capability, the balance of run versus change, sourcing, and governance, so the function is built for the size and goals you actually have, not a generic blueprint.
In most organisations, the way IT is structured, governed, resourced, and connected to the business is rarely examined directly. Decisions get made without clear owners. Capability gaps go unaddressed because nobody mapped what the function actually needs.
The executive gets vague answers on what IT can deliver, or no answers at all. And every quarter, the gap between what the function could contribute and what it actually costs widens. We bring an operating model perspective built specifically for mid-market and non-profit organisations.
Every finding, every recommendation, and every report is framed in terms of structure, capability, the run versus change balance, sourcing, and governance, not infrastructure jargon.
Led the structural review and reorganisation of a fragmented IT function operating across multiple businesses brought together over time.
Built standardised ways of working to replace ad-hoc approaches across hundreds of sites.
Delivered a clearer organisational design, supplier consolidation, and a defined balance between keeping the lights on and driving change.
Served as CIO and CISO through a period of significant structural change, redefining how the function was organised and governed.
Modernised infrastructure, hardened security posture, and positioned technology as a capability the business could rely on across a high-volume, operationally complex environment.
Led operating model design and IT function restructuring across healthcare, automotive, and services organisations.
Responsible for supplier rationalisation, duplicate cost removal, system consolidation, and the rapid build of capability where it was missing.
The first step in most engagements.
Over two to four weeks, we review how your IT function operates today across six dimensions, strategy and alignment, governance and decision rights, organisational design, service management and delivery, capability and talent, and the supplier and partner ecosystem, using structured interviews, documentation review, and service data where available.
This assessment becomes the foundation for everything that follows: a clear picture of strengths, gaps, and root causes, and a brief for what a target operating model needs to address.
Not a technical audit.
A structured assessment that identifies the real root causes of friction, distinguishing between structural problems, governance gaps, and capability shortfalls, all set out in plain language.
The output is a prioritised picture you can act on, not a comprehensive list of every possible improvement.
In many functions, run and change are tangled together, so neither is done well.
Which work is keeping the lights on. Which work is driving change.
Where capacity is being consumed. Where the function is overstretched.
We separate the two, define how each should be resourced and measured, and design a service model that lets the function deliver day-to-day service while still making progress on change.
The TOM design takes the as-is findings and builds a credible, costed picture of where the IT function should get to. It covers organisational structure with role definitions at team level, a governance model, a service model, a sourcing and supplier strategy, and a capability roadmap.
It also sets out an implementation sequence, the order in which changes should be made, with dependencies and risks identified. The goal: a working document a leadership team can pick up and use, not a presentation that sits on a shelf.
Every finding framed in terms of structure, capability, sourcing, and governance, with evidence and root-cause analysis rather than bare observations. A prioritised picture across the six dimensions, with an implementation sequence at 30 days, 90 days, and 12 months.
Written to be read by both the IT leadership team and the executive or board. No technical jargon where the audience is business leaders. No management-consultant abstraction where the audience is practitioners.
When the structure is wrong, even modest drift compounds. Duplicated tools, unclear ownership, and capacity lost to firefighting quietly add cost year after year, cost that comes straight out of what the function could otherwise deliver.
The organisations that get the most from IT are the ones that fix the operating model early, not after years of friction.
Every quarter without a deliberate structure is a quarter where supplier costs drift, capability gaps widen, and the function falls further behind what the business needs from it.
Not a technical audit. A structured assessment of your supplier and partner ecosystem that identifies how third parties are selected, governed, and held accountable, and whether the function has the commercial competence to manage them well. We find where spend is drifting, set out what to consolidate, and show you how to bring it under control.
Capability gaps are where good intentions stall. We assess the skills the function has, the skills it needs, and how to build or acquire the difference, then set out a capability roadmap covering what to develop, what to hire, and what to retire, so the function can actually deliver what is being asked of it.
A prioritised picture across the six dimensions, with an implementation sequence at 30, 90, and 365 days. Presented to your board in person, in the language of structure, capability, sourcing, and governance, with clear evidence and root causes. Not emailed as a PDF. Not written in jargon.
Decision rights defined. Ownership made clear. Funding allocation set out. Escalation paths agreed and the rhythm of oversight established. Everything that determines how technology decisions get made and resolved, designed, documented, and ready to use. Governance becomes a help to the function, not a source of friction.
The Technology Health Check
Use Starkhorn’s free Technology Health Check to benchmark your function before any conversation. Your team self-assesses across the operating model dimensions in around 15 minutes. The result is a structured, prioritised view of where the operating model sits today, at zero cost.
Complete the free Technology Health Check
It takes around 15 minutes
Review your prioritised operating model output
Where the Health Check raises questions worth working through, a scoping call is the next step. No cost. No obligation. Starkhorn only engages where we can genuinely move the needle on how your IT function operates.
“The Health Check takes 15 minutes. The conversation takes 20. Over more than fifteen years, we have consistently given leadership teams clarity on how their IT function really operates.” Daniel Jacobs, Founder, Starkhorn
The Technology Health Check is a free self-assessment built for mid-market and non-profit organisations. It scores your IT function across the operating model dimensions: strategy and alignment, governance and decision rights, organisational design, service management and delivery, capability and talent, and the supplier and partner ecosystem. It shows you where the structural gaps sit before any conversation with Starkhorn.
Operating model dimensions. Around 15 minutes. Immediate results. No obligation.
We will talk through how your IT function is organised today, where the friction sits, and what the structure is doing to delivery, then give you a 15 minute view on what we see. No preparation needed from you. No obligation.
Free for leaders weighing a restructure, reorganisation, or change of leadership.
Whether you want to understand how your IT function operates today, design a target operating model for the next two to three years, or get an independent read before a structural decision: start with a conversation.
Common questions
How long does the as-is assessment take?
For most organisations in the 100 to 1,000 employee range, it takes two to three weeks from kick-off to final report. For more complex or multi-site organisations, four weeks is more realistic. The timeline depends mainly on stakeholder availability for interviews and access to documentation.
Do we need the as-is assessment before the TOM design?
Not necessarily. If you already have a recent assessment or clear documentation of the current state, the TOM design can begin from that baseline. In practice most clients find the structured as-is surfaces issues that existing documentation missed, and the TOM is stronger for it. Each engagement can be scoped and delivered on its own.
We are a charity with a small IT team. Is this relevant to us?
Yes. Operating model challenges are not specific to large or commercial organisations. Many charities run IT functions that have grown organically without a deliberate structure, and are now asked to support more ambitious programmes with the same or fewer resources. The work is adapted to non-profit governance, funding cycles, and workforce constraints. Alzheimer's Society is a current Starkhorn engagement, with operating model and governance improvement at the core of it.
How is this different from a large consultancy?
The person you brief does the work; there is no handoff to a junior team. The engagement is scoped to produce a usable output rather than a report that sits on a shelf. Starkhorn does not resell software, take broker commission, or receive referral fees, so there is no incentive to recommend any particular tool or supplier. The advice is independent.
What does implementation look like after the TOM is designed?
The design includes an implementation sequence with dependencies and risks identified. Some clients take that sequence and implement it themselves, using the document as a brief for their own team or an incoming IT leader. Others engage Starkhorn on a fractional or interim basis to lead the implementation. Both paths are available; the design is built to be handed over and used, not to create dependency.
The Technology Health Check shows where your technology leadership has gaps, scored across eight dimensions with a one-line recommendation for each.
Weekly technology leadership insights.
Read past editions →
An IT operating model is the blueprint for how a technology function delivers value. It defines how people, process, technology, governance, data and sourcing fit together so IT reliably supports business goals. It connects strategy to day to day delivery, clarifies decision rights, and sets how services are funded, run and continually improved.
An IT transformation consultant advises on how to redesign technology delivery. Starkhorn goes further than advice. Daniel is a hands on fractional and interim CIO and CISO who has actually run IT operating models at scale, so the design is shaped by what works in practice and stood up alongside your team, not handed over as a report and left.
| Aspect | IT operating model | Target operating model |
|---|---|---|
| What it describes | How technology runs today | The future state you are designing towards |
| Time horizon | Current reality | Destination and roadmap |
| Main use | Diagnose what is holding the business back | Set direction across people, process and governance |
| Scope | Often IT specific | Can span the whole organisation |
| Starkhorn role | Assess and stabilise | Design, implement and hand over |
An IT operating model is the blueprint for how a technology function delivers value. It defines how people, process, technology, governance, data and sourcing fit together so IT supports business goals reliably. It connects strategy to day to day delivery, clarifies decision rights, and sets how services are funded, run and improved.
An IT operating model describes how technology runs today. A target operating model (TOM) describes the future state you are designing towards. The TOM sets the destination across people, process and governance, while the operating model is the current reality. We design the TOM, then close the gap so your team runs it.
A practical target operating model has six layers: people (roles and skills), process (how work flows), technology (platforms and tooling), governance (decision rights and controls), data (information and reporting) and sourcing (what you build, buy or partner for). Designing all six together avoids gaps that quietly hold the business back.
An IT operating model framework is a structured way to design and assess how technology delivers, usually across people, process, technology, governance, data and sourcing. It gives leaders a common language to spot weak layers and prioritise change. We use it as a working tool to redesign and stand up models, not as a document that sits on a shelf.
A widely used model identifies four operating model archetypes based on standardisation and integration of business processes: diversification, coordination, replication and unification. They help leaders decide how much to centralise. For mid market IT we treat them as a starting lens, then tailor the design to your structure, growth plans and appetite for shared services.
Start from business outcomes, not the org chart. We assess the current state across all six layers, define a target operating model, then sequence the change so risk stays managed. Our Embed to Independence method means we run it alongside your team, then hand over a model they can operate confidently without us.
A common example is a mid market group consolidating fragmented local IT into a shared service: clear roles, standardised processes, a governed technology stack, defined data ownership and a deliberate sourcing mix. Daniel has redesigned and run models at this scale, including across a PE backed group with 850 plus sites in 9 countries.