Business Relationship Management as a Role, a Discipline, and an

Organizational Capability

Presented by Svetlana Sidenko

MsC (Admin) PMP® , ITIL® Expert, CGEIT®ITSM®, ISO 20000 Management ConsultantTIPA® Lead Assessor, COBIT® 5, ISO 27002PRINCE2® Practitioner, Certified Process Design Engineer(CPDE) ®, Change Management Registered Practitioner

President of IT Chapter www.itchapter.com https://ca.linkedin.com/in/ssidenko

To start with: short survey about YOUR organization….1. Is IT critical to the success of YOUR business?

A. Yes

B. No

2.Is the business in YOUR organization able to effectively and efficiently communicate what they need?

A. Absolutely, at all times

B. Yes, most of the time

C. Hmmm…Sometimes

D. No, never

3. Is YOUR IT department getting enough information in order to support strategic business needs?

A. Certainly, always.

B. Usually we are informed sufficiently

C. Often we do not get sufficient information or learn about business initiatives at the last minute

D. We struggle. Business never gives us enough of information

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To start with: short survey about YOUR organization….(continued)

4. Is business in YOUR organization seeking IT help outside of YOUR IT organization?

A. Yes

B. No

5. If the business needs support and is not getting help internally, business is getting frustrated with it’s own IT department. Business must get help elsewhere. In YOUR organization, do they:

A. Utilize outside resources

B. Hire their own IT resources to perform the work they need

C. Use their budget to purchase services from unauthorized providers (“Shadow IT”)

D. Outsource IT to global or local providers

E. All of the above

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Signs of broken business and IT relationship

• Interpersonal problems

• “Us” and “them” mentality

• “Blame game” and finger pointing

• Defensiveness

• Non-constructive criticism from both sides

• Failure of both IT and business team members to communicate critical information

• IT is not invited to important business meetings

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Results : failure to reach expected business outcomes

Inevitable shift

Today, with the pervasive and ‘user friendly’ nature of IT, and available access to global sourcing opportunities, IT functions and capabilities are converging with the business and the Business Relationship Management has to help pave the way for inevitable shift.

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Let’s start with Business Relationship Management

Year 2005: ISO/IEC 20000 defined Business Relationship Management as a process with main objective of “…establishing and maintaining a good relationship between the service provider and the customer based on understanding the customer and their business drivers”

Year 2011: ITIL® 2011 Service Strategy defines Business relationship management as “the process that enables BRMs to provide links between the service provider and customers at the strategic and tactical levels. The purpose of these links is to ensure that the service provider understands the business requirements of the customer and is able to provide services that meet these needs”

Year 2012: CobiT® 5 defines “Manage the Relationship” Process as a formalized and transparent way of ensuring common “focus on achieving a common and shared goal of successful enterprise outcomes in support of strategic goals and within the constraint of budgets and risk tolerance. Base the relationship on mutual trust, using open and understandable terms and common language and a willingness to take ownership and accountability for key decisions”

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Business Relationship Management Institute

BRMI Incorporated in March 2013 with a mission to:

“Define, inspire, value, and promote the key traits of effective Business Relationship Management”

This mission is fulfilled through:

A learning community of BRM professionals

A Wiki collaboration platform

BRM Interactive Body of Knowledge™

Professional BRM training, development and certification

BRM research and publications

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BRM as a Role, a Discipline and Organizational Capability

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An Organizational Capability is everything it takes, both visible and behind the scenes, that makes producing a good or providing a service possible, meaning having people with the right competencies to play the roles required by defined processes, and armed with useful techniques and tools, all backed by management systems that create incentives for performance and improvement.

• As a role, the Business Relationship Manager is a connector and translator between a provider organization and a business unit

• As a discipline, Business Relationship Management embodies a set of competencies (knowledge, skills, behaviours) that foster productive, value-producing relationships between a provider and the business units they serve

Business Relationship Management definition

“Business Relationship Management stimulates, surfaces and shapes business demand for a provider’s products and services and ensures that the potential business value from those products and services is captured, optimized and recognized.”

Source: BRMI Institute

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BRM metaphors

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BRM$as$navigator)

BRM$as$connector)

BRM$as$orchestrator)

Typical BRM role

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Sits at intersection of service provider and business partner

Stimulates, surfaces and, shapes business demand for maximized value

Member of both business and provider management teams

The “House of BRM”

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Demand''

Shaping'

Exploring'

Servicing'

Value'

'Harves8ng'

Clarity'of'the''BRM$Role$in'the'context'of'the''Provider'Strategy$and$Opera2ng$Model$

BRM$Competencies$•  Strategic'Partnering'•  Business'IQ'•  PorAolio'Management'

•  Provider'Domain'•  Powerful'Communica8ons'•  Business'Transi8on'Management'

The ‘‘roof’ protects the integrity of the BRM role

The ‘pillars’ define the BRM space in terms of Core Disciplines

The ‘foundation’ supports the execution of the role

Aspects to consider…

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Clarity(of(the((BRM$Role$in(the(context(of(the((IT(Strategy$and$Opera2ng$Model$

In#the#Strategic#Context#

#In#the#Cultural#and##Poli4cal#Context##

In#the#IT#Opera4ng##Model#Context#

Business Transition Management

Portfolio Management

Program Management

Ini$a$ves)

Governance) Service Mgt. Services(

Processes'

Organiza(on* Metrics(

It takes two to tango

"It takes two to do the trust tango-the one who risks (the trustor) and the one who is trustworthy (the trustee); each must play their role”

-Charles H. Green, The Trusted Advisor

You can sail on a ship by yourself,

Take a nap or a nip by yourself.

You can get into debt on your own,

There are a lot of things that you can do alone!

But ...It takes two to tango!

Al Hoffman and Dick Manning, 1952

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Business Demand Maturity and Provider Supply Maturity

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Time%

“Tac)cal”%BR

M%

“Strategic”%BR

M%

Business'Efficiency'

Level'1'IT'Focus%•  Provide%basic%systems%and%services%•  Stabilize%opera)ons%and%support%•  Improve%service%delivery%•  IT%management%fundamentals%

Business'Effec5veness'

Level'3'Business'Needs%•  Business%growth%and%Innova)on%•  Rapid%reconfigura)on%capability%•  Market%informa)on%•  Business%integra)on%orienta)on%

Level'3'IT'Focus%•  Con)nuous%strategy%and%planning%•  Converge%business%and%IT%•  Expand%and%extend%infrastructure%•  Enable%flexibility%and%agility%•  Embrace%‘Consumeriza)on%of%IT’%

Demand'

Supply'

!%%

Level'

"%%Level'

Level'

#%%

Supp

ort%

Improve%

Inno

vate%

Value%

Level'2'IT'Focus'•  Establish%common%IT%infrastructure%•  Build%IT%credibility%•  Improve%solu)on%delivery%•  Establish%Enterprise%Architecture%•  Respond%to%‘Consumeriza)on%of%IT’%

Level'2'Business'Needs'•  Business%network/process%redesign%•  Enable%business%and%partnerships%•  Management%informa)on%•  Process%orienta)on%

Level'1'Business'Needs%•  Founda)on%systems%•  Cost%savings%•  Opera)onal%informa)on%•  Func)onal%orienta)on%

A tool for calibrating supply and demand maturity, and BRM role

Climbing maturity levels

Credibility = Expertise + Trustworthiness

The elements of trust:

Similarity

Prolonged positive interactions

Appropriate behaviour (in business partner’s eyes)

Consistent behaviour – do what you say you will do!

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Trust can be earnedNot by expertise alone…

We view as experts those we trust

But we don’t necessarily trust experts!

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…But by relationship management

Active listening

Creating positive interactions with business partners

Helping business partners become self-sufficient

Teaching and coaching

Responding well in difficult business partner encounters

Avoiding defensiveness

By building a multiyear capability roadmap and delivering or showing results against that roadmap

Broken relationship can be repaired

In case if the problem is in lack of business partner trust due to prior bad IT experience…

But they may not tell you that – it’s hard to diagnose….

Can’t be resolved by saying “it wasn’t me”

Can’t be resolved by improving technical performance

You must build back the relationship:

Start small;

Have positive interactions;

Give help and jargon-free information;

Locate near your business partners and see them often.

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The Strategic Partnership rolePartnership gets a lot of lip-service:

We want to be loved for what we’re doing now

We want them to change, not us

We want them to give it to us; we don’t want to earn it

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Partners add value by:

Seeing opportunities that business partners don’t see or want to see

Selling the business partner on the opportunities

Knowing when to cajole

Knowing when to confront

Knowing when to give in

In short, by political behaviour

Business Relationship Management Competencies

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BRM DNA™

Develop

Nurture

Advance

Relationship Maturity

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LEVEL 4TRUSTEDADVISOR

Cooperation based on

mutual respect and

understanding

LEVEL 3SERVICE

PROVIDERThe routine is

routine; innovation

is a challenge

LEVEL 5STRATEGICPARTNER

Shared goals for

maximizing value,

shared risks &

rewards

LEVEL 2ORDER TAKER

Frequent

misperceptions

build distrust &

reactive course-

changes

LEVEL 1AD HOC

Loudest-in, first-out

Embrace BusinessValue Realization

Engage Providerin Strategic Thinking

Embrace BRM Role &Service MGMT

Embrace the Reality ofExisting Capabilities

Embrace ContinuousImprovement

Portfolio & TransitionMGMT Excellence

BRM & ServiceMGMT Excellence

Establish DemandMGMT Discipline

Our business partners

understand our capabilities,

works with them, and

helps improve them

We work together

with our business

partners to survive

and prosper

Our business partners help

set priorities, but we are

always behind

We are asked to be predictable

but there is no way to forecast

demand so we know we

disappoint our business partners

more often than not

I’m too busy to think aboutanything other than

being too busy

My Provider is

integral to business

success and growth and

helps me succeed

My Provider is

helpful and reliable

My Provider prevents me

from making big mistakes but

I’m not always sure of thedirection we’re heading

I engage my Provider when

I need something so they

stay out of my way when I

don’t need them

If I’m lucky enough to get myProvider’s attention, the

result costs too much,

delivers too little, and

takes too long

Essential Role of ITSM

The BRM role in practice

Seniority – and level of business executive with whom the BRM partners.

Purpose – especially in the balance of focus between supply (the view from the Provider out to the Business Partner) and demand (the view from the Business Partner back to the Provider).

Title – e.g. Business Partner Director, Account Manager, etc.

Supply side focus – e.g. IT, HR, Finance, Line of Business, etc.

Demand side focus – e.g. Line of Business, Business Process, Geography.

Team size – from sole practitioner to leader of a team of 10+.

Numbers of BRMs per enterprise – from 1 to 100s.

Career trajectory – often moving from major project or program management role to leadership role in Provider domain (e.g. to CIO).

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Varies widely from organization to organization…

Common BRM reporting and organization structures

Reporting relationships

• Solid line to Provider lead, dotted line to Business Partner lead

• Dotted line to Provider lead, solid line to Business Partner lead

• Some BRMs report to Provider Strategy and/or Architecture lead, PMO, etc.

BRM staff

From none (BRM as individual performer)

To multi-level

• BRM Lead

• BRM Manager

• BRM Analyst

To small supply team (e.g., mini-CIO organization, ‘Shadow’ provider organization)

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With many variations!

How The BRM role aligns with Business Partners

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81%$

22%$

11%$

3%$

By$business$unit$

By$business$process$

Other$

By$geography$

0%$ 10%$ 20%$ 30%$ 40%$ 50%$ 60%$ 70%$ 80%$ 90%$

By$business$unit$ By$business$process$ Other$ By$geography$

BRMs are typically organized by Business Unit or Business Process

Source:((BRMI(survey(of(47(Business(Rela7onship(Managers(from(9(countries(

Relationship Manager career pathsGartner predicts that the percentage of IT personnel dedicated to relationship management and change leadership functions will reach nearly 20 percent by 2016.

Diane Morello, “IT Professional Outlook, 2012 to 2016: Prepare for a Future Unlike the Past”

Optimally, BRMs have the role as a full time position

Heads of provider organizations (e.g., CIO) fill the BRM role for the enterprise as a part time role

Where Do Successful BRMs Come From?

• ITSM

• Business Analysis

• Portfolio Management

Business background, with provider acumen, or provider background with business acumen?

• Both

What types of career progression are available to the BRM?

• Path to CIO or head of provider function

• Path to Business Leader

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The Skills Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA)

SFIA defines 96 professional IT skills, organized in 6 categories, each of which has several subcategories. It also defines 7 levels of attainment, each of which is described in generic, non-technical terms

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In conclusion…some important points

BRM is critical organizational capability

The BRM role can be tactical or strategic – but not both

Provider supply maturity is the key factor in determining type of BRM role

Not all BRMs in an organization will be of the same type

Business units that have greater maturity will look to the BRM role to be more strategic

Those units with less maturity will look for tactical help from the BRM

Business demand maturity is a factor in determining how the BRM role is deployed

ITSM plays essential role is growing the Relationship Maturity

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To learn more about Business Relationship Management

BRMI Interactive Body of Knowledge

http://brminstitute.org/

Concepts

Processes

Templates, Forms, Diagrams

Community Support

BRMP® Foundation Certification course - 3 days + exam

http://itchapter.com/training/business-relationship-management-professional-brmp-montreal/

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–Bertie Charles Forbes, founder of Forbes magazine

“If you don't drive your business, you will be driven out of business…”

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