How Important is Business Relationship Management to your IT Department?

How Important is Business Relationship Management to your IT Department?

As a CIO, CTO or Sr. IT Manager what level of importance do you place on creating, nurturing and improving relationships with your business? Do you have a well defined Business Relationship Management function in your department?

Business Relationship Management is all about maximising value for the business from Information and technology solutions and ensuring your IT department is the provider of choice for your business for all their Information and Technology needs.

Business Relationship Management focus is on alignment of Business and IT to improve the value of IT services to the business.

On one hand the Business Relationship Manager (BRM) needs to have a deep understanding of their business. Understanding what their business strategies are, and what they are trying to get done. Of course this is all done with the objective of maximising the value Information and technology solutions bring to the business to help them achieve their strategies and goals.

On the other hand the Business Relationship Managers needs to have an extensive knowledge of the IT department and its capability to deliver.
The BRM needs to be aware of the the IT departments portfolio of services and program of work, so they know what solutions they can offer and when it can be delivered. BRMs must know the IT department's who's who and where to go to get stuff done. They must have a very effective relationship to the program and portfolio management team so they are able to assist in prioritising the program of work to match the needs of the business.

BRMs also play a key role in Demand Management they must also always be on the lookout, investigating and surfacing demand new and existing IT solutions. this results in increasing the value the business gets from their investment in IT by extending the existing use of IT solutions where they haven't yet been taken up or adopted by business groups who could benefit from them.

Business Transition is a key element of Business Relationship Management. Business Relationship Managers are not expected to be Organisational Change Management specialist. however they are expected to have enough Business transition knowledge to engage with their business partners to ensure the business is taking action to ensure business benefits are achieved with smooth transition and adoption of new and/or major changes to IT solutions.

Communications

Everyone knows that the term Relationship implies communications where there is nor communication there is no relationship. Therefore "powerfull communications" is a critical element of what business relationship management does. Great relationships are where there is great communications. I am not talking about just broadcasts messages on a regular basis. I am talking about great dialogue. Business relationship managers must spend time and effort on understanding who their business partners/customers are. What do they do? What is their role? What are they trying to get done? what is their story? Who are they? Where do they go? What do they read? What do they listen to? What are their personal interest? If you don't know these elements about your business partner you will find it increasingly more difficult to carry on an effective relationship with them. Know your business partner/ Customer's story it will significantly improve the way they engage with you at a personal level and at a professional level.

All relationships are different. However as a business relationship management goes it is important to classify and rate the quality of each relationship this assist you in clearly understanding the value and benefits within the relationship. It also provides you with the knowledge you need to plan and improve relationships as needed.

If you would like to know more about how Business Relationship Management can benefit your IT department or other service department within your organisation then join us at one of our internationally recognised accredited Business Relationship Management Training Courses.

We would love to work with you to help build a better Business Relationship Management capability in you organisation. Click here if you would like to connect with us.

Regards, George George Reynolds