Towards Web Operations That Maintain Quality: The Philosophy Behind Mitsue-Links’ Operation Center

The core challenges of website operations have not changed, even before the emergence of terms like AI or DX. These challenges include:

• Quality drops when personnel managing the site change
• Operations being treated as a black box
• Involvement in routine daily tasks leaving no time for to step-back and consider improvements
• Knowledge remaining with individuals instead of the organization

These are not tool-related issues. Rather, the fundamental issue is that operations have been conventionally designed to rely on individuals rather than the organization.

To Ensure Continued Stable Operation, Don’t Overly Rely on Individual Efforts

In many organizations, operations continue only because “capable people” keep things running. While this works in the short term, it inevitably creates strain over time. Three core issues are listed below:

• Work stops when a key team member is absent
• Handovers can take excessive time
• Maintenance of the status quo is prioritized over improvement

Unless the above situations are addressed, no matter how effective the policies or technologies may be, operations will not be made more resilient nor move forward.

The Solution: Establish Operations as an Organizational Function

Digital Agencies and website development companies face the same challenges. At Mitsue-Links, the solution we arrived at was to structure our operations not around “individual skills” but as “organizational functions.

• Breaking down roles and sharing responsibilities across teams
• Standardizing workflows
• Defining decision-making criteria and quality standards
• Sharing knowledge across the organization
• Building redundancy to avoid dependence on specific individuals

By doing the above, the approach will ensure consistent quality, even during vacations, personnel changes, or organizational restructuring, making it highly effective for stable long-term website operation. Therefore, on April 1, 2025, we established the Operation Center, an internal organization specialized in website operations management that is built around this framework.

Continuous Improvement Through Structure

When operations are dependent on individuals, improvements are almost always considered an afterthought. However, our Operations Center is designed so that the performance of daily tasks naturally leads to ongoing improvements, especially through:

• Logging all work tasks and processes
• Conducting retrospectives
• Sharing lessons learned/potential pitfalls
• Applying insights to the next improvement

While each step may seem rather minor, the cumulative effects ensure that operations management continuously improves.

For Optimal AI and Automation, Ensure Solid Fundamentals

AI and automation are not magic solutions – rather they only deliver results when:

• Workflows are organized
• Decision criteria are clear
• Quality standards are well-defined

It is only with such foundations in place that technology can truly demonstrate its full potential. At the Operations Center, we view AI and automation not as “silver bullets” for making drastic changes, but as training wheels that support more stable, efficient, better operations.

The core challenge faced by corporate web managers, and the one we as a production company have grappled with too, is the same: a “person-dependent operational structure.” The Operations Center is an organizational function designed to address this structural challenge through systematic solutions that allow us to provide robust support for our client companies’ online operations. This approach works well – and is likely to prove equally effective in addressing challenges within this Column’s readers’ organizations too.

Building Sustainable Website Operations

Web operations management is judged not only by results achieved but by their ability to be sustained over time. Our Operation Center supports this foundation with a system that reduces dependence on individuals and enables continuous improvement. Therefore, if you are considering reviewing your operation structure or planning for future web operations, we would be more than happy to discuss how we can support you.