The winners of the 2016 TBM Council Awards were announced on November 8, 2016 at TBM Conference 2016. Over the next few months, we will be profiling the winners to share how TBM is transforming the way business is managed at their organizations.
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is committed to serving their customers well. Whether the audience is internal or external, the technology team takes this mission to heart. From its inception more than four years ago, the RBS Technology Business Management (TBM) office strives to deliver excellent service and maintain a trusted partnership with the business. Their commitment to TBM has enabled significant cost reductions and the ability to drive innovation.
View the RBS TBM Council Awards video
Creating a Strategic Partnership
The RBS TBM office was originally established to create more transparency around costs. There were questions about cost attribution and technology consumption that were difficult to answer. Business partners wanted to ensure they were being charged fairly for their consumption and get a better understanding on why they were responsible for certain costs.
Robert Grassie, the head of the TBM Office at RBS, has been there from the beginning and has seen how the office and team have evolved. They are no longer just being asked questions around costs; the TBM office is looked to as a strategic partner by the business. “Now we’re the ‘go-to’ source for so many aspects of the business. Whether it’s somebody asking about the Bill of IT and demand forecasting, application simplification, or cloud services; all of those activities are shaping the technology landscape and we’re involved in one way or another,” says Grassie.
The TBM program has grown to include 500+ users ranging from CIOs, functional tower owners, service owners, cost center owners, as partners look to TBM to support their business priorities. Requests that used to take 3-4 weeks to answer, now take only a few hours. By implementing TBM, establishing the office, improving their data, and establishing transparency with their customers, the TBM team has an incredible level of trust and credibility with the business.
Enabling Innovation at RBS
The ability to reduce costs significantly (20% on a continued goal of 50%) and increase efficiency, has opened the door for a renewed focus on the mission to serve customers well through innovation. “We have to be able to innovate to service our customers better,” stated John Smith, the CIO of Corporate & Institutional Banking. “Every time we spend a pound of the bank’s money on something that is not for the benefit of our customers, it’s wasted money.”
In order to innovate, RBS first had to create capacity. By putting quality data in the hands of the right people, the team has been able to eliminate waste and establish a clearer understanding of the assets they own. They discovered how they could simplify and/or remove assets that were unnecessary to the business. With an increased capacity, they were able to focus on supporting innovations such as the implementation of trading automation and the mobile banking app. Thanks to groundwork laid by the TBM Office, today the RBS technology team continues to cut costs, deliver on transformational business initiatives, and keep the customer front and center.
Interested in learning more about how the TBM team is influencing innovation at RBS? Download their 2016 TBM Council Awards case study.
Be on the lookout for continued coverage and highlights from TBM Conference 2016 and the TBM Council Awards. Follow the TBM Council on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook for the latest Council updates, membership information, and upcoming events.