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Business  Rela+onship  Management  as  a  Role,  a  Discipline,  and  an  Organiza+onal  

Capability    

Presented by Svetlana Sidenko MsC (Admin) PMP® , ITIL® Expert, CGEIT® ITSM®, ISO 20000 Management Consultant TIPA® Lead Assessor, COBIT® 5, ISO 27002 PRINCE2® Practitioner, Certified Process Design Engineer(CPDE) ®, Change Management Registered Practitioner President of IT Chapter www.itchpater.com

BRM  Discipline:  Introduc+on  

•  The  BRM  Discipline  rests  on  solid  research-­‐based  founda8ons  verified  and  enhanced  over  a  decade  of  successful  implementa8ons  in  leading  organiza8ons  across  the  world.    

 •  Proven  to  be  equally  effec8ve  for  shared  services  including  

Human  Resources,  Finance,  Legal,  external  service  providers  and  others,  BRM  prac8ces  have  enjoyed  widespread  adap8on  in  IT.  

   

To  start  with:  short  survey  about  YOUR  organiza+on….  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  organiza+on….(con+nued)  

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  rela+onship  

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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•  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

Results : failure to reach expected business outcomes

Inevitable  shiK  

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  Rela+onship  Management  Year 2005: ISO/IEC 20000 defined Relationship Management as a process of “…establishing and maintaining a good relationship between the service provider and the customer…”

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 … »

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 … using …common language and a willingness to take ownership and accountability for key decisions”

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Business  Rela+onship  Management  Ins+tute    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  Organiza+onal  Capability  

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•  As  an  Organizational Capability  BRM  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 tools,   all   backed   by   management systems   that   create  incen8ves  for  performance  and  improvement.  

•  As   a   role,   the   Business   Rela8onship  Manager   is   a   connector   and   translator   between   a  provider  organiza8on  and  a  business  unit  

•  As   a   discipline,   Business   Rela8onship   Management   embodies   knowledge,   skills,  behaviours  that  foster  value-­‐producing  rela8onships  between  a  provider  and  the  business  units  they  serve  

Business  Rela+onship  Management  defini+on    

“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  Ins8tute  

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BRM  metaphors  

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Typical  BRM  role  

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Sits  at  intersec8on  of  service  provider  and  business  partner  

S8mulates,  surfaces  and,  shapes  business  demand  for  maximized  value  

Member  of  both  business  and  provider  management  teams  

The  “House  of  BRM”  

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

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

The  ‘founda8on’  supports  the  execu8on  of  the  role  

Aspects  to  consider…  

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It  takes  two  to  tango  

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"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

Business  Demand  Maturity  and  Provider  Supply  Maturity  

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

Climbing  maturity  levels  

Credibility = Expertise + Trust

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  earned  Not 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    

  Ac8ve  listening  

  Crea8ng  posi8ve  interac8ons  with  business  partners  

  Helping  business  partners  become  self-­‐sufficient  

  Teaching  and  coaching  

  Responding  well  in  difficult  business  partner  encounters  

  Avoiding  defensiveness  

  By  building  a  mul8year  capability  roadmap  and  delivering  or  showing  results  against  that  roadmap    

Broken  rela+onship  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  role  Partnership gets a lot of hypocrisy:

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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Strategic  Partners  con8nuously  looking  for  opportuni8es  to    add value  by:  

  Seeing  opportuni8es  that  business  partners  don’t  see  or  want  to  see  

  Selling  the  business  partner  on  the  opportuni8es  

  Knowing  when  to  cajole  

  Knowing  when  to  confront  

  Knowing  when  to  give in  

In  short,  by  political behaviour

Business  Rela+onship  Management  Competencies  

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BRM  DNA™      

Develop    

Nurture    

Advance  

Rela+onship  Maturity  

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Essen8al  Role  of  Service  Management  

The  BRM  role  in  prac+ce  

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  repor+ng  and  organiza+on  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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BRMs are typically organized by Business Unit or Business Process!

Rela+onship  Manager  career  paths  Gartner 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

•  Path to Shared Services Relationship Manager

•  Representing a broad set of shared services such as HR, Finance, and Facilities

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The  Skills  Framework  for  the  Informa+on  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  Rela+onship  Management  

BRMI Interactive Body of Knowledge

http://brminstitute.org/

Concepts

Processes

Templates, Forms, Diagrams

Community Support

BRMP® Foundation Certification course - 3 days + exam

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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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