Maintain decentralized governance
Preserves autonomy and speed; duplication persists and capital allocation stays opaque.
The operating problem
What leadership was facing.
Avalara had grown roughly sixfold in three years through acquisitions and rapid market expansion. IT investment spanned BI, platform services, Salesforce, security, engineering, and product development, with 500–700 initiatives active or proposed at any time. Delivery velocity existed; portfolio clarity did not. Departments prioritized locally, capital allocation lacked a unified view, and executive leadership needed financial accountability without slowing growth.
Options on the table
The decision, framed honestly.
Mandate a centralized overhaul
Immediate standardization, but likely cultural resistance and slower delivery during hypergrowth.
Hybrid governance overlay
CIO/CFO-sponsored portfolio governance with standardized qualification — while preserving team-level execution autonomy.
What I put in place
The structure behind the outcome.
- Helped establish a CIO/CFO-sponsored IT governance council and formal project portfolio management office
- Consolidated initiative data into enterprise dashboards governing 500–700 initiatives per quarter
- Standardized qualification criteria and required explicit executive sponsorship before initiation
- Instituted bi-weekly governance forums across departments and a durable decision log capturing tradeoffs and sequencing rationale
- Supported cross-functional delivery teams of up to 24 contributors inside the new model
What changed
The operating difference.
Duplicate and low-value work was pruned and capacity realigned to realistic commitments. Executive conversations moved from anecdotal updates to structured capital sequencing, projects entered delivery with named sponsors and explicit value alignment, and the company gained its first enterprise portfolio baseline ahead of IPO-readiness work.
Why it mattered
The executive read.
Hypergrowth requires governance that scales without strangling innovation. The PPMO enabled disciplined integration of acquired products, protected financial controls during expansion, and restored executive decision architecture under hypergrowth conditions.
Related operating proof:
Executive role fit
PPMO formation proof