During a recent discussion with peers, it became apparent that the role and prominence of the "IT Business Relationship Manager" (IT BRM), has undergone significant transformations in recent years and, in some instances, has seemingly diminished from our collective operating models. Have others observed or encountered a similar trend, and if so, what factors may be contributing to this shift? Furthermore, are roles like 'Account Managers' and 'Demand Managers' making a comeback, and if they are, what insights and lessons can be learned this time around?
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VP, Technology Manager in Educationa year ago
Our organization has embraced a Product Model with Agile. This has really impacted the way relationships and partnerships are managed. It’s not necessarily good or bad, but it created a lot more change than I think we anticipated.VP of IT in Softwarea year ago
no, we're not seeing this really. This IT bus manager is still a valued and important role for us.Sr. Director, Head of Global Omnichannel Capabilities Delivery Center in Manufacturinga year ago
We have a distinct BRM role within IT. I personally do not see a lot of value in what they bring, other than managing expectations of the business. Overtime, these roles run the risk of becoming to business-aligned, and don't really represent what's best for IT. We have also seen a drop in their technical awareness/knowledge, where they don't provide a lot of value to the business (i.e. how to address their needs thru technical capabilities) where they become an unnecessary barrier to the business to speak to technical experts or SMEs.SVP - Software Engineering in Finance (non-banking)a year ago
We’ve gone all in on an Agile transformation with POs, Engineers, and SMEs working very closely together. BRMs playing the middle man role often felt playing the phone game where not all information gets shared down stream which often lead to suboptimal resultsVP of ITa year ago
We decided that, to be successful, all our IT teams needed strong relationships with business stakeholders. For instance, our Business Intelligence team needs to know the business context if they are to create meaningful and impactful reports and dashboards. It is a challenging journey that takes building new skills and fostering connections from the leadership level, but has paid off for us so far.Chief Information Officer in Educationa year ago
I agree. We have adopted this model as well and would rather repurpose these roles into delivery roles. The relationship building needs to happen with all levels of IT. A smaller and smaller minority of IT staff can succeed without having direct relationships with the business units they support.