ITIL and Business Relationship Management: Show Us Some Love

Thom Salo

Today’s Objective – Key Take Aways

– “Policy of Joint Agreement”– The “Love Bank”– Find an ITSM super-hero - select the right BRM– Invest in BRM

What We’ll Cover

• Secret to Relationship Success• Why Business Relationship Management (BRM)• BRM Nuts and Bolts and How-to(s)• BRM’s Relatives – “We are Family”• A BRM’s Powers – Making an ITSM Superhero• Caution Ahead - What’s in a Process• A Process if you Must• Pulling it all together – Key Take Aways• Questions

A business relationship

is a relationship between people, right?

William F. Harley, Jr. Harley

Give and Take: The Secret to Marital Compatibility

“Policy of Joint Agreement”“Love Bank”

What is Business Relationship Management?

Integrating and improving communication with the business

Business relationship management (BRM) is central to achieving this goal

BRM was added to ITIL 2011

Purpose “to provide the link between the service provider and customers at the strategic and tactical levels.”

ITIL® and the Swirl logo™ are registered trademarks of AXELOS Limited.

Don’t do anything without enthusiastic agreement between you and your

partner

“Policy of Joint

Agreement”

• BRM process, along with its partner process Service Level Management (SLM) ensures:

• that we understand the requirements of the business

• that we are aware of our ability to meet those requirements;

• and then come to a mutual (read - joint) agreement to meet those requirements

The BRM helps bridge the divide in understanding between the business and the IT organization.

Love Bank: Keeping IT Services In the Black

Positive balance = a happy relationship

Negative balance = a deteriorating relationship, perhaps even a split-up or divorce.

Know your balance in the love bank

Deposit: Fulfill a need or do something your partner appreciates - hit, or better yet, exceed a Service Level Agreement (SLA)

Withdrawal: Do something negative – miss an SLA requirement

Show the business some love …

The BRM allows the business an outlet and a place to raise concerns or to just ‘talk.’

if you’re not communicating with the business, it may feel neglected.

The feeling of neglect can spell doom in any relationship

IT may be making withdrawals from the business “Love Bank” without even realizing it.

The business wants to know that somebody cares about its concerns and is interested in its needs

All in the Family

Service Level ManagerBusiness Relationship Manager

current and planned services delivered according to agreed targets – SLAs

point of contact for all operational or SLA-related issues

establish and maintain relationships with the business

Identify and understand customer needs

ensure the IT service provider is able to meet these needs

Strategic Tactical Operational

But what’s really important…

Understand the Business

Know IT

Expert at Relationships

Interpersonal Skills

BRM Superhero

BRM Process Design

PROCESSAHEAD

“A process has only one customer: the person who receives the final result. A process is rule-bound and tightly regulated. The quality of a process’s output can be judged by the customer at the end of the line.

A service, on the other hand, is at its core a relationship between server and served. Service is work performed in support of another person. … the measure of success is not a product but the satisfaction, delight, or disappointment of the customer”

The Connected Company, Dave Gray

But if you must …

Pulling it all together – examples & thought provokers

Advocate for Customer within IT

Partner with a Customer

Representative

Represent IT to Customer

Regular State of Relationship

Meetings

Know ITKnow the Business

Pulling it all together – key take aways

• To develop a strong relationship with the business, we need to:– adhere to a Policy of Joint Agreement– maintain a positive balance in our “Love Bank”– Institute a BRM “process” will help us achieve

these objectives– Select the right BRM

Commit to being a better partner with the business - Show the business some

love

Establish Business Relationship Management

Resources

http://info.g2g3.com/sample-it-service-level-agreement-template

Complimentary IT Service Level Agreement Template

Thom SaloExecutive Consultant at G2G3 AmericasEmail: tsalo@g2g3.comTwitter: @TheITColonelLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thomsalo

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