Member Spotlights

March 2024 Member Spotlight: 

Kumar Singirikonda, Director - DevOps Engineering at Toyota Motor North America Inc.

What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

Becoming a TBM Council member was a natural progression for me as I recognized the need for a structured approach to managing IT spending within my organization. TBM's focus on transparency, accountability, and alignment with business objectives resonated with me. I saw it as an opportunity to enhance our IT governance practices and drive more strategic decision-making in terms of resource allocation and investments.

How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

TBM Council membership has been invaluable in providing access to a diverse community of professionals who share similar challenges and experiences in managing IT costs and value. Through TBM Connect, I've been able to engage in meaningful discussions, exchange best practices, and gain insights from industry leaders and experts. The resources, webinars, and events offered by the TBM Council have enriched my understanding of TBM principles and equipped me with practical tools to apply within my organization.

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

Being a TBM Council member has significantly enhanced my ability to apply TBM practices effectively within my organization. By leveraging the knowledge gained through membership, I've been able to establish robust cost transparency mechanisms, optimize IT spending, and align investments with business priorities more strategically. This has led to improved decision-making processes, better resource allocation, and ultimately, enhanced business value realization from our IT investments.

February 2024 Member Spotlight: 

Andrea Mendoza, Administrative Specialist II, City of Dallas, TX



Andrea Mendoza member spotlight

What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"I am currently attending WGU working on earning my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration & Information Technology Management.  I want to continue growing my career within Technology & Finance and becoming a TBM Council member is a continuous part of my career and degree path."

How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"Being a TBM Council member and member of TBM Connect have both offered me value.  I have learned so much that has helped me in my course of study and career. I appreciate being able to connect with other members who are more than willing to share their knowledge and keep you motivated along the way.  No matter what level you are in the community or in your career, you will gain more information than expected!"

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"We have been able to apply what we’ve learned from TBM certification courses, the resources available, and mesh our daily job functions within finance & technology using the TBM best practices. This has allowed us to become more cohesive as we continue our journey to improve processes and maximize productivity. "

January 2024 Member Spotlight: 

Thomas Fitzpatrick, Director ITFM Transformation, Technology, SMBC Group



Thom Fitzpatrick member spotlight

What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"I wanted to become a TBM Council member so that I can always be aligned with the latest trends in TBM and try to understand where they are in their respective journeys. I noticed that members are very forthcoming regarding their varying level of experiences in implementation. This will be very helpful for us as we move forward."

How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"The ability to review and stay current with various decks, trainings, seminars and real study cases in both TBM or FinOps. The Council membership gives us guidance to help us mature as a TBM Organization."

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"Since we are in the beginning stages of our journey, we are in the fortunate position to start from the beginning to rethink our existing structure and design our foundation to better align with the TBM Taxonomy. Our transition to TBM will be easier and we will see the various benefits sooner. We will go from providing numbers on a spreadsheet with very little insight to now providing technology financials with operational context so that the business can make more timely decisions. A mature TBM organization will bridge the gap between technology and finance."

December 2023 Member Spotlight: 

Dorota Szymczak, IT Management Information Manager, mBank S.A.



Dorota Szymczak member spotlight

What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"We have started the implementation of Apptio and TBM model and it was a new topic for me to get knowledge."

How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"Access to knowledge: materials, trainings and webinars, but also knowledge sharing among community members."

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"First of all we were looking for a standard taxonomy, which is not too detailed and not too general to be able to analyze and benchmark our IT spend. Creating own taxonomy and benchmarking is a challenging task. Therefore cooperation with market experts from TBM, has a great advantage. Secondly, TBM supports us in calculation of TCO of applications. This helps us internally to discuss real costs and value of IT business solutions."



November 2023 Member Spotlight: 

Kelley Wendelborn, Sr. Manager, Technology Business Management, Lowe's Companies Inc.



Kelley Wendelborn member spotlight

What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"I attended the TBM Conference my first year in the Technology Business Management space and the conference made it very clear the value that the Council provides, both in education and collaboration. I joined during that first conference."

How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"The TBM Council provides value to me in two ways: 1) it provides standards/framework, as well as education, that is fundamental to the space. We are not creating our own framework, we are using industry-standard guidelines that have been proven successful for thousands of others. It really stops the swirl on the “how” (everyone wants to offer an opinion) and instead focuses the conversations and the team’s energy on the value we can deliver. 2) It provides a collaboration point among like-minded or like-industry individuals who are eager to share their knowledge. I don’t have to be completely innovative on my own – I can leverage learnings from others who are further along in their journey. "

October 2023 Member Spotlight: 

Nathan Batchelder, Director, TBM Enablement, Liberty Mutual





Nate Batchelder member spotlight

What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"When the TBM Enablement practice at Liberty Mutual was formed I felt an obligation to explore as many internal and external resources as I possibly could, to ensure that we're operating as effectively and efficiently as possible. To that end, the TBM Council has been a reliable external resource for me and my team and have enjoyed networking and contributing to the community."

How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"The TBM Council membership provides access to such a diverse group of technology and finance professionals, it's really compelling to hear perspectives spanning so many different industries and regions around the world. That's a valuable asset knowing that the business problems and technologies we're trying to solve for and optimize today will look different tomorrow, and that every company is in different stages of navigating those challenges, so there's almost always opportunity to learn from one another."

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"TBM Council has been a great way to supplement my team's goal of increasing the adoption of TBM practices here at Liberty. We recognize that many of the obstacles and decisions that we work through on a daily basis are not unique to us, and that we can stand to benefit by learning from others' experiences. Additionally. there's some comfort in knowing you've researched multiple perspectives when making a recommendations. Therefore, I think it's helped to reinforce the recommendations we make internally."



September 2023 Member Spotlight: 

Justin Graff, IT Service Strategy Manager, Marshfield Clinic Health System



Justin Graff member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"The TBM Taxonomy initially led me to the TBM Council. Work I was involved in related to IT Costing efforts had a co-worker and I looking for a way to catalog and categorize costs which was to be shared back with the customer. Our first attempt was good, but left us with a few bruises as it was difficult to support and defend. Knowing we needed to do better, we dug into a few industry-specific costing frameworks, but nothing seemed to meet our needs. They were either too difficult to understand or didn't speak the language of the business. While becoming more familiar with the IT Financial Management practice we stumbled across the TBM Council/TBM Taxonomy/ATOM Model. I'm not sure which one was our Ah-ha moment as it took a while to understand their relationship to each other. The taxonomy was exactly what we were looking for, but we quickly realized the real value was the community of professionals which were at our disposal."

How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"A membership is valuable in may ways. First, the TBM Council's pursuit in establishing and constantly improving a taxonomy and surrounding practices is key as it ensures maturity over time. We know technology evolves but so does business. Keeping pace with both ensure relevancy and usability. Industry involvement is also important as it creates by-in. The TBM Council empowers its members through this community/framework to contribute and take ownership. They offer many opportunities to be heard either through attending conferences, participation on committees and/or being a voice in the community. The true value of the TBM Council is a forum/gathering/community of professionals willing to share and support each other."

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"As a member and working with several other organizations, we were able to establish the Healthcare Taxonomy 1.0 Extension which was the first extension to the TBM Taxonomy. Membership has allowed me to help shape this effort and include the perspective of my organization. I was fortunate to help lead the cohort to update it to the Healthcare Taxonomy 2.0 Extension. Working with and learning from other organizations to improve the taxonomy while being able to include the perspective of my organization helped in its adoption. At the same time, we were creating the second healthcare extension we were also reorganizing the structure of IT. The taxonomy was a valuable tool to aid in this reorganization. With applications and services mapped to the taxonomy and solution ownership also mapped to the taxonomy we were able to manage and track the shift of responsibilities. Keeping key items such as application portfolio, service catalog, departments/cost centers tagged with the taxonomy helps make the needed relationships for things like reporting, ownership, and accountability.

The TBM Taxonomy has been very valuable in leading the IT Service Management practice. Having a good understanding of both IT Costing and IT Service Management helps shape your customer connections through service delivery and service measurement. Just like in IT Costing you need to speak the language of the business; in service management the customer is central. There are lots of synergies in these practices which when working together are valuable."



August 2023 Member Spotlight: 

Jane Daniel, TBMO Finance Lead & Product Owner, Kaiser Permanente



Jane Daniel member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"I have been the Finance Director for our TBM Office since 2018. I wanted to learn how other companies are working with the ATUM taxonomy and how they use TBM to analyze their business. I also share our learnings with others. We have been using service costing as the basis for chargeback for years and have much to share about our journey."


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"By becoming a TBM Council member, I can participate in the standards organization meetings and attend various seminars on technology management initiatives. Listening to industry experts and discussing issues with my peers gives me new perspectives to consider for our business."

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"I wanted to learn more about the intersection of TBM and FinOps, so I became FinOps certified and joined the TBM for Cloud Strategy Community. This has allowed me to bring new insights to our business. I can discuss industry best practices for managing and reporting on external cloud spend. The TBM Council is a great place to share your own experience and to learn new skills."



June 2023 Member Spotlight: 

Andrew Dawdy, TBM Consultant, MetLife



Andrew Dawdy member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"When I first began my career in TBM, I joined the TBM Council to engage with the broader community of practitioners and to gain as much foundational knowledge as I could."


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"Participation in both the TBM Council and TBM Connect was extremely useful in accelerating my initial understanding of TBM principles (alongside some fantastic mentorship across the years) and has continued providing value by allowing ongoing engagement with the community. The various classes, webinars, and committee meetings that are offered through the TBM Council have facilitated many productive discussions and provided ongoing education opportunities."

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"Membership in the TBM Council has opened the door to countless opportunities to engage with others across the globe and to learn from one another. Whether it be ideas around granular formulas, modeling best practices, or general lessons learned from other companies' TBM journeys, everything I've been able to leverage to expand my own knowledge and apply to my work has enabled me to increasingly drive business value in my organization."



May 2023 Member Spotlight: 

Kyle Castro, ETBMA/ACE | ISD Analyst IV, Navy Federal Credit Union



Kyle Castro member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"I joined the TBM Council because I have good faith in the business value delivered by putting TBM into practice. We have experienced this first-hand. As a council member, I am able to 'learn from the best', which deepens my understanding of TBM and IT Finance concepts. It also inspires me to share my learnings and experiences with my fellow TBM Practitioners. "


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"The sharing of best practices, working towards standards, and having a solid common understanding of IT Finance concepts have been helpful in my role as an analyst. Learning form my peers' advice, discussions, and sharing of experiences give me new insights and perspectives. There are key tips & tricks that I've picked up from the community and fellow practitioners through the years, which I continue to use to this day."

 

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"Knowing that we're not alone in some of the challenges we face & knowing that other practitioners have navigated through these challenges encourage me. Learning about my peers' success stories also drives me to push forward and innovate in my organization. Being part of the TBM Council and an active member of TBM Connect helps me stay in-tune with new developments in the realms of TBM and IT Financial Management. At the end of the day, these ideas become best practices and distilled learnings, which I use in my role for the benefit of our organization."



April 2023 Member Spotlight: 

Ana Paula de Oliveira, Manager, Planning & Demand Management, The Canada Life Assurance Company



Ana Paula member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"My journey to becoming a TBM Council member was sparked by my recent promotion at a large insurance company, where I need to take on the subject matter expert role for Technology Business Management in my area. As my new role required me to have an in-depth understanding of TBM, I realized the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in the field. Joining the TBM Council was a no-brainer as it provides access to a vast network of TBM experts and resources, enabling me to enhance my knowledge and expertise in this critical area. As a TBM Council member, I look forward to sharing my experiences and learning from my peers to drive better business outcomes for my organization."


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"Joining the TBM Council and engaging in the TBM Connect community have been an incredibly valuable experience for me. Through these resources, I have been able to learn from the experiences of other members, gaining valuable insights into their TBM journeys and real study cases. This has provided me with a unique perspective on how to approach similar challenges in my own work. In addition, the training opportunities offered through the TBM Council have allowed me to stay current with the latest trends and best practices in TBM. Overall, being a member of the TBM Council and participating in TBM Connect have been instrumental in my professional development, and I look forward to continuing to learn and grow through these valuable resources."

 

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"As a new member of the TBM Council, I have already experienced significant benefits in my ability to apply TBM practices and drive business value for my organization. Although I am still in the early stages of my new role, the knowledge I have acquired through my involvement in the TBM Council has given me a better understanding of how to leverage the TBM framework within my area. The insights and best practices shared by other members of the TBM Council have also enabled me to identify opportunities for improving operational efficiency and optimizing spending on technology. I am excited to continue my involvement in the TBM Council and to leverage the knowledge and resources available to drive even greater business value for my organization."



March 2023 Member Spotlight: 

Phyllis Owens, Management & Program Analyst



Phyllis Owens member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"When I entered my position, I was not familiar with Technology Business Management  toolset but after my organization decided to adopt a more responsible way of managing cost, we realized just how TBM could help make this a reality. I was selected as the Project Manager responsible for implementing TBM in my organization and the rest is history. I dived right into learning as much as I could about TBM, how other organizations used TBM to improve their cost allocations, and shadowing anyone who could provide me information about TBM which ultimately led me to becoming a member of the TBM council. "


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"The TBM Council membership has been a great resource by providing knowledge which I use in my current position within my organization to consistently and reliably deliver in real-time an authentic way to explain how technology investments provide business value to other departments in my organization which in turn helps leadership adopt policies and procedures that account for IT spend.  In today’s working environment there is an expectation for businesses to become more transparent in several areas, financial responsibility being one. Being on the TBM Council provided the resources and disciplines needed to provide a roadmap for business to achieve that. The council provided the tools needed to learn and understand how valuable the Technology Business Management methodology is at delivering IT accountability to businesses, both big and small. The council has also provided opportunities to network with both government and industry partners creating a community which fosters learning, comrade and a culture which has been extremely beneficial to my career. "

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"Since implementing Technology Business Management methodology or TBM within my organization, we have seen a significant improvement in how we account for IT dollars.  In the past we didn’t have the accountability we needed to manage our IT properly.  We didn’t necessarily have a uniform way for various department to understand how their IT spend cost the organization as a whole nor did they understand how old or outdated inventory affected the bottom line .  We were often working off of incorrect or stale data, dealing with improper ordering and mismanagement of IT inventory, putting us at a disadvantage when it came to certain financial decisions pertaining to how and where dollars could most effectively been distributed.  Now after implementing and utilizing TBM, we can see a difference in how departments treat their IT dollars.  Business units as well as leadership use the TBM data to make well informed decisions while also creating a culture that is more accountable when it comes to technology and finance.  TBM has helped make sure we are properly and efficiently managing resources such as Cloud Strategy and Agile Project Management by properly facilitating a way to allocate cost associated within these activities."



February 2023 Member Spotlight: 

Anna Radke, Head of TBM Office, Zoetis Inc.



Anna Radke member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"As part of our digital transformation, our technology organization (Zoetis Technology & Digital - ZTD) is advancing how we manage the Business of IT, building new capabilities to drive transparency to our technology spend and drive efficiencies in how we optimize our services and total cost of ownership.  To support these objectives, we chose Apptio as a mechanism to drive this transformation, which led me to joining the TBM Council.

I considered the TBM Council and ecosystem as part of total package offer to us. As our ZTD organization focuses on innovation and productivity, prioritizing TBM was a key step that would allow us to better understand our spending and help achieve these objectives which are key to our transformation."


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"Directly via sharing others experience with TBM journey , challenges, and successes.  In the beginning during first TBM virtual conference I realized TBM Taxonomy, discipline and usage of Apptio as a tool by our users, will be a process. It will take the time.  Majority of other companies were in full mode of TBM taxonomy 2 years after implementation."


How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"We are still the beginners 6 month after go live. We are maturing our processes. TBM membership  allows me to imagine where ZTD can be in the next 3 months, 6 month and even in 2 years. 

Being a member of TBM Council has allowed us to learn and follow TBM's standardized taxonomy, while incorporating Zoetis' in-house hierarchical structures to make TBM more immediately understandable and consumable by our leaders. As a start, to get our community of user to be more familiar with Taxonomy, we setup ZTD Hierarchy and Account Category, slowly moving to Cost Pool concept and better mapping, which allowed to achieve one of our main goal of appropriate financial control, optimization and rationalization of spending in regular run cost and investments. We quickly expanded this capability to the level of cost center managers."



January 2023 Member Spotlight: 

Yuji Kumasaka, IT Governance Senior Manager, H2O Retailing Corporation



Yuji Kumasaka member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"When Apptio was introduced in Japan, I learned about TBM and the TBM Council from Mr. Naritsuka Apptio Japan. After that, I read TBM books to understand more about TBM, and I joined TBM Council because I wanted to learn more about TBM.

In the past, I have been an IT consultant for a long time, and I have tried to solve IT management accounting problems. I found TBM's approach consistent and organized with what I had previously experienced."


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"I was surprised that TBM books are available here in PDF format. Reading it in detail, I found some differences from the one I got from amazon. This is because we wanted to promote the book as a Japanese version. I also have a good memory that when I participated in TBM Conference, Jon Sobber's book was introduced, and I could purchase it at a discount.
I am very aware of the need for scripture to promote TBM and make it available in Japanese to disseminate this concept widely."


How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"Although TBM is still in its infancy in Japan, the application of TBM Practices has provided us with sufficient insights to persuade our stakeholders in particular.
We are investing more in IT than ever in our company, and we increasingly need to engage in dialogue with the business and finance departments to make this investment worthwhile.

New theories of IT investment management, such as FInOps and SfAE, are emerging, but we believe that the TBM approach is at the heart of these new theories.
We are currently implementing Apptio, and I realize the power of visualization and various insights gained by practicing TBM. I hope there will be a place where we can share this information, and I hope that many contents will be accessible in Japanese to promote the spread of TBM in Japan further.
"

December 2022 Member Spotlight: 

Sasha Dunford, Head of TBM Office, Nationwide Building Society



Sasha Dunford member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"As a Finance professional, passionate about Technology, the chance to join a group of like-minded individuals was a no-brainer.  The opportunity to share best practice and experience is invaluable, not something easily gained from anywhere else."


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"Where do I start!  The wealth of resources, the taxonomy, education, and great community.  It’s my go to place for support whenever faced with a challenge in our organization.  The Council events, such as the TBM Conference, provide continuous learning and discussions to keep up to speed with the ever-changing world of Technology."


How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"It provides an industry recognised validation, independent of my own organization, which has been the leading guide in our TBM journey.  When I make decisions on where to take us next with my stakeholders, it’s not just me saying 'we should do this', I have this incredible sponsor, the TBM Council, right behind me saying 'yes you should'.  We are approaching the 10-year point in our TBM practice and the Council has been there throughout."




November 2022 Member Spotlight: 

Neil Anson, Global IT Finance Architect, Eisai Corporation of North America



Neil Anson member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"Connecting with other members to share and collaborate on TBM implementation and challenges"


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"It is a great form to ask questions and be part of discussions."


How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"I have found valuable resources to use at my current company to assist them on the TBM journey."




October 2022 Member Spotlight: 

Adolfo Valencia, Service Taxonomy & Architecture Specialist, ABB Information Systems Ltd



Adolfo Valencia member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"My main driver is the amount of knowledge in the council, starting with the framework and taxonomy. It is easy to get involved and learn a lot from the community, the groups and its members."


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"Most of the times I am just listening or reading the discussions but there is a lot of very good information and ideas that I can pick up and develop in my specific context."


How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"Today, I am no longer responsible for the price architecture and cost control but in my role as service architect, being able to understand the TBM practice, stay updated and involved in TBM makes my activities and the conversation with stakeholders like the Finance, Asset management, and the Service Owners a lot easier and also allows me to better support Service Owners and leverage the conversations between all the stakeholders involved in the Service Design process."




September 2022 Member Spotlight: 

Curtis Cutler, Senior Manager, IT Finance, Smithfield Foods



Curtis Cutler member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"I was led to become a council member at a TBM conference, and learning it was “free” made it an easy choice!  The TBM community is a group of like minded people passionate about sharing best practices to advance the TBM mindset.  Connecting technology cost to business value can be hard to articulate and socializing challenges/opportunities with community members provides a lot of satisfaction."


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"When I am faced with tough decisions throughout my TBM journey I can easily find helpful resources on TBM Connect.  I also find that TBM council members make themselves available to bounce ideas off each other. 

In addition, it takes a lot of time to get someone with no knowledge of TBM up to speed, and the resources the membership provides help me take a very organized approach.  

The TBM Conference is a well-organized event, and I am looking forward to attending in person for the first time in 3 years, November 2022, in Austin, TX"


How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"My first introduction to Council membership was when I took the Certified Technology Business Mgt Executive (CTBME) course and attained the CTBME credential.  This course taught me how to connect the dots with what TBM has to offer, and provided me the chance to build an immediate network. 

I am a CPA, started my career in Accounting, then migrated over to Finance and IT Finance roles.  There was always something missing in my mind as I worked side by side as a Finance/Accounting person with IT executives.  Once I learned about TBM it opened up my eyes to so many opportunities to better contribute to my organizations, helping bridge the gap between IT and the business.  I also recommend that Council members actively engage in a TBM working group.  That is the best way to help you learn and grow in this space."



August 2022 Member Spotlight: 

Paul Matthews, Finance Director, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center



Paul Matthews member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"Originally I joined the TBM council for education, best practices, and "short cuts" to TBM success. I had no formal training in TBM outside my professional experience managing finance for IT and wanted to get up to speed quickly. Gaining access to the collective wisdom of the TBM Council was a huge value add and opportunity that I needed to leverage."


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"The greatest value of TBM Council membership has been the community. While I can go through training and read about best practices, the ability to connect with and learn from peers that have actually done the work and seen the results is invaluable."


How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"I've connected with peers through the TBM Council for years. Any time that we've considered a change in our TBM program I've sought out TBM Council members that have done something similar and tried to gain insight from them. A few changes we've implemented as a result of these conversations have been monthly forecasts for IT, extending our forecast process to other shared services, adopting the TBM taxonomy extension for Healthcare, simplifying our infrastructure costing model, and establishing formal governance for TBM."




July 2022 Member Spotlight: 

Shonna Thompson, IT Investment Manager, US Department of Veterans Affairs



Shonna Thompson member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"I became a council member because my previous Director, Sandra McGill from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), encouraged the team to become a member and purchase the book to understand how TBM would bring value to CDC and other federal government agencies. Sandra attained funding for the TBM Executive Foundation course and had it taught in Atlanta on the CDC campus. In attendance were over thirty-five technology leaders across the CDC who wanted to learn “what is TBM” and how it can help shape their IT portfolio. After taking the course, five of my team members, including myself, and others, passed the exam and obtained our CTBME. Now we are armed with this newfound information, allowing our team to start “value conversations” about IT spending, service consumption, and the tradeoffs of reducing costs while still delivering quality goods and services to business partners and customers. In the past, we were buying and buying; now, with TBM, we are thinking about agility and making better-informed business decisions to provide cost-effective services and products."


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"The TBM council and TBM Connect are communities that allow practitioners from many different industries to share their knowledge and expertise. There is a wealth of information on TBM Connect and I have learned what works for others and can ask for advice from those with similar problems or issues. Even though we all have different goals for our organization, in the end, we are all trying to run the best organization. There's nothing like having access to the movers and shakers who make things happen and the abundant access to beneficial information. TBM Connect is an excellent resource for finding solutions to any problem or issue I have experienced at work. "

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"Being a member of the TBM Council has helped me develop expert knowledge to help shape the Veterans Affairs IT Standard Investment Portfolio. Learning about the demand and supply of how our partners are consuming goods enables us to maximize funding for future products and services to serve our Veterans better. Putting TBM into practice, we have made informed decisions about the products and services and gained the trust of IT and finance leaders to justify technology costs. TBM tools and taxonomy provide a framework to make decisions based on facts to redefine our processes and ensure that customers receive quality services. I have expanded my skill set, stayed informed on industry trends, and evaluated IT portfolio spending to determine the business needs and wants since becoming a member."




June 2022 Member Spotlight: 

Melvin Baranyk, Director, Technology Business Management, The Canada Life Assurance Company



Melvin Baranyk member spotlight


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"When our organization first started applying the TBM framework I wanted a way to gain knowledge outside of a course or reading a book. I valued having a community in which I could participate. "


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"As a member of the TBM Council, I have the chance to give back to the community. As essential as it is to learn from others, I also wanted to have a chance to tell our experience. I hope that some of my insights have helped them progress TBM inside their companies as much as others have benefited me."

 

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"As a member of the strategy community, I've had the good fortune to work with people from diverse organizations to help promote the TBM discipline. These connections have resulted in talks that have given me new perspectives on certain opportunities. Hearing real-life instances of how comparable issues were overcome has helped me extend my perspective and rethink how I approach certain subjects."




April 2022 Member Spotlight: 

Monica Braun, TBM Practice Manager, Marshfield Clinic Health System



Monica_Braun_Member_spotlight_2.png


What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?

"'Community' is what led me to become a member.  At the time I became a member, our organization felt as if we were on an island, thinking through every IT management strategy on our own such as, standards – validating what we had created aligned with industry standards and Knowledge - growing knowledge about managing the business of technology.

Ultimately this was at a time in which the overall content within TBM was new to us and this was a stepping stone to at least be like someone else … adopt something someone else was doing."


How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?

"Networking, education, and standards rise to the top of the list of the value we consistently rely on from our participation in TBM

  • In terms of Networking, our go-to people are those within the TBM landscape.  We collaborate for therapy J, to learn from each other, to talk about different tooling’s, how teams are managed and reporting structures.  The networking community is very open and willing to share which makes it fun to work with.
  • Within Education – There are many options for education, which for me have been valuable to get certified in different areas, but also the education offered to others who may be on the receiving side of TBM.  The wiliness to have the TBM council educate different team levels allows for easier buy-in at all layers. The conferences stand out as an opportunity as they are filled with so much great education, product demonstrations and networking opportunities.
  • From the perspective of Standards – TBM has provided taxonomies which allows us to jump past many basic steps of defining what certain services are and how to align.  Also, standards provide an architecture of how IT services should align and where the costs best fit.  This has allowed for us to use this data and make hierarchical decisions and cost alignment decisions with little discussion."


How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?

"The TBM Council membership not only provides me value to be better at my job, but allows me to service my organization in an all-encompassing management of technology.

  • With defined taxonomies we have been able to internally benchmark/trend our service costs without getting distracted at the new shiny service.  And having the defined basics has allowed us to stay consistent.           
  • The taxonomy was a base for us to align our IT organization to.  We aligned our staffing model, along with our APM, Service catalog, PPM tool categorization to the business services defined in the taxonomy and the healthcare taxonomy. 
    • This allowed for a collaboration on ideas, and a baseline to start from
    • This additionally allowed and allows for collaboration on how to categorize new Applications or services coming into the organization
  • The overall foundational work the TBM council has provided to help communicate the importance and educate the importance of what TBM is, and how it is useful has been very meaningful to communicate the business value in which we are trying to drive … and that we do have a means to our madness"



March 2022 Member Spotlight: 

Matt Erickson, Sr. Manager, IT Governance and Controls, Hub International



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What led you to becoming a TBM Council member?


"Becoming a member in the TBM Council has been important to me since I started in TBM years ago. I am very passionate about TBM and wanted to be a part of a community that felt the same way. I knew that if I wanted to be active in the TBM community, the membership would allow me to not only interact with others, but be at the forefront of the TBM framework."

 

How does TBM Council membership and/or TBM Connect offer you value?


"The value of the membership is endless. Ranging from workgroups and communities to the education opportunities, there is no shortage of support for your TBM journey. I found enormous value in being a part of the different workgroups and learning how other organizations handled similar challenges towards achieving their TBM goals. I also appreciate being a part of a committee that continually works to maintain the standards for the TBM Taxonomy."

 

How has TBM Council membership improved your application of the TBM practice and contributed to driving business value for your organization?


"The TBM Council membership has given us the ability to utilize a standard framework and taxonomy that drives us towards our desired end-game. It keeps us attached to the market and provides us with the necessary material to push through our challenges and succeed at providing cost transparency for our stakeholders."