There are several types of development teams. For this question, we will focus in on Functional teams versus Capability teams.

Functional Team Definition

A functional team is center around a specific toolset, database, system, or process that is shared by multiple products. This these type of teams have significant in depth knowledge. Typically these teams don’t have much knowledge or experience with other systems in the organization. An example would be a database team. Although the team works with multiple products and teams, they are focused solely on the development and operation of the database platform.

Capability Team Definition

A capability or feature team is product based. Team members are broadly skilled in many different systems with in depth knowledge in certain areas. The focus of these teams is a “jack of all trades” approach that allows team members the flexibility to move between multiple systems. An example would be a team dedicated to the search feature of an application. The search team relies on database performance, indexing, user interfaces, and algorithms to display the best results. 

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