Team Collaboration

This guide explores how to effectively structure your team in Aperture, assign appropriate permissions, and create efficient workflows for collaboration across your organization.

Why Team Structure Matters

Proper team organization in Aperture delivers significant benefits:

• Improved Security - Limit sensitive actions to appropriate team members, reducing risk of unauthorized changes.
• Reduced Deployment Risk - Ensure changes are reviewed by the right people before they’re released to your users.
• Clear Accountability - Know who made what changes when issues arise, making troubleshooting faster and more efficient.
• Workflow Efficiency - Streamline approvals and handoffs between teams, reducing bottlenecks in your deployment process.
• Scalable Processes - Maintain control as your organization grows, without sacrificing speed or security.

Organizations, Teams, and Roles

Understanding the hierarchy of Aperture’s organization structure is essential for effective team management:

Organization Structure

Every Aperture account belongs to at least one organization, which serves as the container for all resources:

Organization
├── Members (Users with access)
├── Teams (Groupings of members)
├── Applications (Web and Native)
└── Deployments

Why it matters: The organization structure determines who can access what and establishes boundaries between different parts of your business.

Team Structure

Teams are groups of users with similar responsibilities:

Teams
├── Development Team
├── QA Team
├── Operations Team
└── Product Management

Why it matters: Teams allow you to assign permissions and application access collectively, making management more efficient as you scale.

Role-Based Permissions

Roles define what actions members can perform:

Roles
├── Owner (Full administrative access)
├── Admin (Can manage most aspects but not billing)
├── Member (Basic access to organization resources)
└── Custom Roles (Tailored permission sets)

Why it matters: Properly configured roles enforce the principle of least privilege, ensuring users have access only to what they need.

Setting Up Your Organization Structure

Follow these steps to establish an effective organization in Aperture:

Plan your team structure

Before creating teams in Aperture, consider:

• How your company is organized
• Who needs access to which applications
• What deployment responsibilities exist
• Security and compliance requirements

Create teams

For each team, specify:

• Team name and description
• Team lead/manager
• Initial members

Why it matters: Well-structured teams simplify permission management and create clear boundaries of responsibility.

Assign application access to teams

For each application:

• Select teams that should have access
• Specify permission level for each team

Why it matters: Application-level access control ensures teams only see and interact with the applications relevant to their work.

Configuring Roles and Permissions

Aperture includes three default roles:

• Owner: Full administrative access
• Admin: Can manage most aspects except organization settings
• Member: Basic access to organization resources

But you can create custom roles to fit your organization’s needs. These roles can be tailored by:

• Selecting individual permissions
• Providing a name and description for the role
• Assign to appropriate users to the role

Common custom roles might include:

• Deployment Manager: Can create and manage deployments but not applications
• Analytics Viewer: Read-only access to performance and user metrics

Why it matters: Custom roles allow for precise permission allocation, following the principle of least privilege while still enabling teams to work effectively.

Team-Based Application Access

For each application map applications to teams:

• Identify primary owner team
• Identify secondary teams with usage needs
• Determine appropriate permission level for each

For each team configure access:

• Grant appropriate permission level
• Configure notification settings
• Set mandatory approval if required

Why it matters: Clear application ownership prevents confusion about who is responsible for maintenance and updates.

Scaling Your Organization

As your organization grows, your Aperture setup should evolve:

Startup Phase (2-10 members)

• Single team with clearly defined roles
• Simple permission structure
• Direct communication for deployments

Growth Phase (10-50 members)

• Multiple teams by function
• Role-based permissions
• Structured deployment process

Enterprise Phase (50+ members)

• Teams organized by product or business unit
• Custom roles with granular permissions
• Formalized approval workflows
• Audit logging and compliance tracking

Why it matters: What works for a small team will create bottlenecks and security risks as you grow. Planning for scale prevents disruption later.

Security and Audit

Audit logs capture:

• User actions (logins, deployments, permission changes)
• Timestamps and metadata
• Before-and-after states for critical changes

Why it matters: Comprehensive audit logs provide accountability and are essential for security incident investigation and compliance requirements.