This document discusses establishing effective business relationship management and enterprise governance. It identifies common IT challenges such as lack of strategy alignment, operational silos, and underutilized applications. The document recommends forming governance committees with business and IT representatives to prioritize initiatives and ensure accountability. It also advocates investing in a dedicated business relationship management team to improve communications and implement quick wins that address business priorities and pain points. Regular reporting is emphasized to demonstrate the value of IT investments and maintain strategic alignment.

1. Business Relationship Management & Enterprise Governance
Carissa Venuto
Found Leadership Lessons
Issue 1 November 7, 2014
Carissa Venuto
214.402.4100
Carissa.Venuto@gmail.Com

2. Application ROI
Not Met or
Undetermined
No Time for
Change
Operational Silos
Everything is
Urgent
Separated
Knowledge of
Application and
Business
What Cohesive
Strategy?
Carissa Venuto

3. • Detailed
Operations
Workflows
• Business
Pain Points
• Application
Utilization
• Integrations
& Reporting
• Business
Partners
Carissa Venuto

4. -There’s more work to do; Priorities aren’t in the
pipeline at all.
-There are disconnected, duplicated and
inefficient work processes.
-Application features not used or unknown.
- Yes, Excel is still used for that.
Take Action Immediately:
 Are the right people in the right roles?
 Is there any “wrong work” in progress to stop?
 Deliver valuable Quick Wins as soon as possible
 Focus on the Business Relationship
Management practice now….
Carissa Venuto

5. Intake & Demand Shaping
Strategic Partnership with Business
Business Readiness
Portfolio Management
Business Analysis
Roadmap Development
Continuous Engagement
Functional Solutions
Business Process Engineering
Enterprise Governance
Align People, Process & Technology
Carissa Venuto

6. Source: http://brminstitute.org/professional-development/business-relationship-management-dna
speaks the language of business
uses metrics for decision making and to drive value realization
demonstrates high competence in “demand shaping”
prioritizes and aligns the service and product portfolio with business strategy
understands the available capabilities of software and
services
well-grounded in the management disciplines
highly skilled in managing the politics and complexity associated with large-
scale changes
master of communication, listening, persuading, influencing, shaping understanding
coordinates and brokers services such as Enterprise Architecture, Solution Delivery
and Service Management
understands the industry, ecosystem and financial business drivers
Carissa Venuto

7. “Relationship Management and Change
Leadership will be the domain of as many
as 20% of the IT Workforce by 2016”
- Gartner, 2012
Strategic + Fluent in Technical and Business Languages + Deep Understanding of Enterprise Software +
Analytical Thinker + Influencer + Resource Planner + Change Leader + Highly Customer Drive =
Focused BRM, Transparency & Accountability to lead the Vision to Value Journey of Each Day.
This team will provide tech & business savvy
stakeholders a new way to work with
Information Systems.
Business Partner perspective and
engagement begins to change as soon as
you begin to walk along with them to
understand their pain and celebrate
success.
Carissa Venuto

8. Any Questions Yet???
Identified Business Pain Points & Priorities
Invested in a highly focused BRM team
Carissa Venuto

9. 1. Confirm, Categorize, Assign Business
Owner
2. Focus on Quick Wins Most Aligned to
Business Pains/Developing Strategy
Carissa Venuto

10. Establish Governance Committees
Carissa Venuto

11. Include
key
stakeholders
from all areas
of the
organization.
Executive Steering Committee:
C Level
EVP Level
Principal Steering Committee:
The C and EVP Level appoint their
“lieutenants”
Information Systems Team:
Business Relationship Manager
Sr. Business Analysts
Development Manager
Release Manager
Project Management Office:
Manager
Sr. Project Managers
Change Management:
Manager
Sr. Change Managers
Thought Leaders
CoreTechnologyTeam
Example Committee Structure
Carissa Venuto

12. Principal Steering
Committee Rating &
Rankings
Executive Steering
Committee Review &
Decisions
Steering Committee
Informational Sessions
Invite both committees + all interested
people throughout the business

13. Principal Steering
Committee
Agenda
• Brief Overview of In Flight
Items
• All Previously Ranked
Requests in Backlog
(Scheduled and Not Scheduled)
• New Requests
New Ranking
Recommendations
Carissa Venuto

14. Executive Steering
Committee
Agenda
• Status of In-Flight
• At Risk/Reforecast Items
• New Requests from Steering Committee
(With Business Case)
• Intake New Initiatives/Urgent Requests
Approved Rankings
Carissa Venuto
New to Review

15. Steering Committee Informational
Sessions
Ground Taken
In Flight
What’s Next (On Deck)
Committee Decisions Made
Carissa Venuto

16. Carissa Venuto

17. User Testing
Business Readiness
• BRM guided User Testing
• Business owns end- user
documentation, training and
communication
Into the Funnel
• A single funnel early in the cycle
• Not everything is actually urgent
• BRM to evaluate, communicate
and route
One Size Does Not Fit All
• Standard Release
• Hotfix/Emergency Release
• Configuration Release
• Project
Carissa Venuto

18. Intelligent Intake is Key
Business Relationship Management = the funnel.
Only an emergency/outage can bypass.
Define routing criteria carefully. Consider the development life
cycle and business use specific to the application.
Death by Evaluation? Have clear guidelines on when to “go”, what requires a
business case & governance decision, and when it’s ok to say “no”.
Carissa Venuto

19. Carissa Venuto

20. Visual Comparisons
Performance Trending
• Regularly present the Roadmap as the current plan; Ensure it is never perceived
as “just a target”.
• Frequent references will strengthen the governance process and prevent it from
becoming just a buzz word.
• Maintain both a visual and detailed list. Capture impact & status and categorize
by Business Objective.
• A capacity model must always back up the roadmap. This data must be
accessible for tasks such as budget planning or to make a decision about a
competing request.
Carissa Venuto

21. Carissa Venuto
Deliver Project Reporting
• Easily Consumed
• Consolidated Project Portfolio
• Single Project Key Details
• Multi-dimensional
• Accurate & On-Time

22. On the Truck, Heading Your Way…..
Q4
1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
Q3
1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
Carissa Venuto

23. The Investment is
Visible &
Measureable
The Most
Important Work
Gets Done
Operational
Workflow
Alignment
Urgent Really
Means Urgent
Joined Knowledge
of Application &
Business Processes
Strategy
Vision
Roadmap
Carissa Venuto

24. Found Leadership Lessons
Issue 1 November 10, 2014
Carissa Venuto
214.402.4100
Carissa.Venuto@gmail.com
Business Relationship Management & Enterprise Governance
Please feel free to contact me for questions, speaking engagements
or leadership opportunities within your organization.
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