# A setup for a large software org **URL:** \ **Category:** Workbook/Workshop\ **Created:** [May 26, 2023, 9:41am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/a-setup-for-a-large-software-org/765 "2023-05-26T09:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grignaak](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/grignaak/32/334_2.png) [@grignaak](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/grignaak)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 9:41am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/a-setup-for-a-large-software-org/765/1 "2023-05-26T09:41:14Z")
I’m in a large software organization – close to the Dunbar number – split across several teams and owning many software services. We have many ongoing projects per year; usually spanning multiple services, often spanning multiple teams. My tenets for J.D. in order 1. Easy to find documentation around services 2. Easy to find files for a project. 3. Keep it 2 levels deep – leave the three-level monikers for individuals’ systems. ```auto 10 Health and Career/ ├── 11 Work life balance/ ├── 13 Career Growth/ └── 14 DEI/ 20 Customer Contact/ ├── 21 Customers Information and Onboarding/ ├── 22 Customer meetings/ └── 23 Office Hours/ 30 Campaigns and Projects/ ├── 3+P21 Operations/ ├── 3+P22 Operations Reduction/ ├── 3+X29 Scaling for Customer X/ │ ├── 3+X29.01 Requirements │ ├── 3+X29.02 Design │ ├── 3+X29.03 Tracking │ ├── ... │ └── 3+X29.15 Post-mortem ├── 3+M41 Storage migration/ ├── 3+A10 Archive Tuning/ ├── ... └── 3+Z99 Retired Projects/ 40 Service Documentation/ ├── 4+R07 Router/ │ ├── 4+R07.01 Tenets │ ├── 4+R07.02 Architecture │ ├── 4+R07.03 Code Repositories │ └── 4+R07.04 Operations Dashboards ├── 4+C2X Control Plane/ ├── 4+Z12 Archiver/ ├── 4+X11 Index/ ├── ... └── 4+Z99 Retired Services/ 50 Team Documentation/ ├── 5+A01 Apple/ │ ├── 5+A01.01 Operations Dashboards │ ├── 5+A01.02 New Hire Guide │ ├── 5+A01.03 Kanban Boards │ ├── 5+A01.04 Ticket Queue │ └── 5+A01.05 Resources ├── 5+B06 Bridge/ ├── 5+C08 Canyon/ ├── 5+M02 Maple/ ├── 5+M07 Mountain/ ├── 5+N03 Needle/ ├── 5+S34 Sea/ ├── 5+S45 Surf/ └── 5+T09 Tower/ 60 Planning/ ├── 61 Roadmaps ├── 62 Yearly planning/ │ ├── 62.01 2021 │ ├── 62.02 2022 │ └── 62.03 2023 ├── 63 Quarterly Status └── 64 Bi-weekly status ``` My analysis: - **PRO** It’s flat; _technically_ 2 levels deep. - **PRO** Projects are grouped together, prefixed with `3` - **PRO** Services are grouped together, prefixed with `4` - **CON** The `3+A10`-style project categories seem a bit hacky; but `3.A10` feels more like an extra level and feels weird under the `30` area, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![grignaak](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/grignaak/32/334_2.png) [@grignaak](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/grignaak)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 11:07am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/a-setup-for-a-large-software-org/765/2 "2023-05-26T11:07:28Z")
Two alternatives come to mind: #### Alternative 1 As a simplification of the above, I note these particulars about my org: - A service has a 2-5 letter prefix already associated with the hosts. Some people already refer to the service by this prefix instead of its name. I hate that. But I _could_ use that for the service. - Like so: - `4.ROU.02 Architecture` - `4.IDX.04 Operational Dashboards` - I think I prefer the service name, though: - `4.Router.02 Architecture` - `4.Index.04 Operational Dashboards` - **CON** Neither roll off the tongue like vanilla J.D. `42.02 Architecture` - **CON** An extra level of hierarchy that isn’t really needed - A team already has a one-word name; why associate it with a random three-letter code? - `5.Maple.01 Operations Dashboards` - Same problems as for the service about rolling tongues and hierarchy. #### Alternative 2 Each area specifies how many digits are allowed for categories ```plaintext 1X Health and Career/ 2X Customer Contact/ 3XXX Campaigns and Projects/ └── 3-X29 Scaling for Customer X/ └── 3-X29.02 Design 4XX Service Documentation/ └── 405 Index/ └── 405.02 Architecture 5XX Team Documentation/ └── 511 Tower/ └── 511.02 New Hire Guide 6X Planning/ ``` - **PRO** flattens the hierarchy and gets rid of the three-letter pneumonic for services and teams. I don’t think those are needed. They probably are needed for projects, though. - **CON** The Librarian will have to fight entropy to keep the smaller areas from gaining un-needed digits. Hopefully having 7-9 open will help. ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/a-setup-for-a-large-software-org/765/3 "2023-05-28T19:27:29Z")
I prefer the first version. Something about those `+` pluses that I quite like, can’t put my finger on it. Maybe it keeps the mathematical nature of the ‘original’ JD? Either way. So is this a system that just you will be using, or will this be a shared company thing? And presumably these 3-letter codes already exist? And are consistent across your `30`s and `40`s and so on? I’d still like to see how this looked with those 3-letter IDs up at the top level, textbook `PRO.AC.ID` style… ---
**Author:** ![grignaak](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/grignaak/32/334_2.png) [@grignaak](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/grignaak)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/a-setup-for-a-large-software-org/765/4 "2023-05-30T21:09:19Z")
> So is this a system that just you will be using, or will this be a shared company thing? My company’s shared files are a mess. I want to clean it up for everyone. > And presumably these 3-letter codes already exist? And are consistent across your `30` s and `40` s and so on? Only the `40`s (services) have a semi-standard code, not the `30`s (projects) or `50`s (teams). > I’d still like to see how this looked with those 3-letter IDs up at the top level, textbook `PRO.AC.ID` style… I have a few issues I am trying to resolve with this idea: 1. Where do I organize _those_ for the entire org? I had them **embedded** into the structure, otherwise I’m afraid it will turn into a 4-level deep structure. 2. I figured each individual should be in charge of adding 3-letter-code/3-level-hierarchy to their own systems, and not have that dictated by the company. 3. [`D01.13.01` (link)](https://johnnydecimal.com/10-19-concepts/13-multiple-projects/13.01-introduction/) says in bold: **You should only use multiple projects if they are absolutely required.** Otherwise, it looks like so: ```plaintext Projects and Campaigns/ ├── P21 Operations/ ├── P22 Operations Reduction/ ├── X29 Scaling for Customer X/ │ ├── X29.01 Requirements │ ├── X29.02 Design │ ├── X29.03 Tracking │ ├── ... │ └── X29.15 Post-mortem ├── M41 Storage migration/ ├── A10 Archive tuning/ ├── ... └── Z99 Retired projects/ Services/ ├── ROU Router/ │ ├── ROU.01 Tenets │ ├── ROU.02 Architecture │ ├── ROU.03 Code Repositories │ └── ROU.04 Operations Dashboards ├── CP Control Plane/ ├── AR Archiver/ ├── IDX Index/ ├── ... └── Z88 Retired services/ Teams/ ├── CPY _Company & Common/ │ ├── 10 Health and Career/ │ │ ├── 11 Work Life Balance/ │ │ ├── 13 Career Growth/ │ │ └── 14 DEI/ │ ├── 20 Customer Contact/ │ │ ├── 21 Customer Information and Onboarding/ │ │ ├── 22 Customer Meetings/ │ │ └── 23 Office Hours/ │ └── 60 Planning/ │ ├── 61 Roadmaps/ │ ├── 62 Yearly Planning/ │ ├── 63 Quarterly Status │ └── 64 Bi-weekly Status ├── MPL Maple Team/ │ ├── MPL.10 Operations and Dashboards/ │ │ ├── MPL.10.01 Weekly Review Dashboard │ │ ├── MPL.10.02 Service Dashboards │ │ ├── MPL.10.03 Ticket Queue │ │ └── MPL.10.04 Runbooks │ ├── MPL.20 Guides and Resources │ └── MPL.30 Kanban/Sprint Tracking ├── BRG Bridge Team/ └── ... ``` ---
**Author:** ![grignaak](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/grignaak/32/334_2.png) [@grignaak](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/grignaak)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 9:34pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/a-setup-for-a-large-software-org/765/5 "2023-05-30T21:34:02Z")
I do like the original the best. I think a small tweak makes it better: Make the prefixes for projects, teams, etc the full two digits. For example, everything under `30 Campaigns and Projects` has the pattern `30+XYZ` so a file looks like `30+X29.02 Design`. ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/a-setup-for-a-large-software-org/765/6 "2023-05-31T01:19:28Z")
Yeah that feels better. Look it’s obviously an adaptation of vs. the canonical JD standard, but whatever. If that works for you, go for it! 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Damian](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Damian](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/Damian)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/a-setup-for-a-large-software-org/765/7 "2023-08-27T23:18:53Z")
Nice stuff @grignaak And your posts are formatted so nicely also! I’m presuming that’s just a code block where you’ve pasted your organisation? Did you use the online tree maker to make it? I would like to share my system, but I need to go through it and anonymise it all. That’s probably a 30 min job, but I’ve gone for two projects. Folder 1A for admin, and 1P for Projects. The 1 is just to keep it up the top of the alphabet. After that I think it’s pretty vanilla J.D. Hope it’s all going well for you.