Introduction
Hello! I’m Carol Duff, and I’ve been with Apptio for almost six years, working with the advisory team in EMEA, within the Customer Success Organisation. One of the most important tasks in any TBM project is to make your allocation costs as accurate as possible.
The first step is enriching your financial data with operational data from the IT organization. On the surface, this sounds like a simple exercise! You know the data exists somewhere and is already used in some capacity. You may have seen that data referenced in reports or presentations. It’s just a matter of identifying the relevant Owners and requesting their data… right?
Unfortunately, many projects stall in this crucial step, regardless of their TBM maturity or experience. What should be a straightforward exercise in communication and sharing often reveals itself to be a time-consuming, politically charged journey of frustration. The impact? delays and risks to the delivery of a successful project.
Over the years, I’ve gathered some advice from Senior IT Managers on how to avoid these impasse situations, specifically when engaging data owners and the IT organization from within your TBM practice. Garnering support from your IT Managers should help you achieve goals quicker and avoid time wasted by engaging with the wrong people.
Excuses and Blockers
As a TBMA you may be tasked with gathering a particular data set for the first time, or perhaps participating in a programme for the continual data quality improvement. You’ve identified a potential source for the data, and it seems logical to send a time dependent data request directly to the relevant owner. Sometimes this works okay but, in many instances, it is common to see the following complaints about Data Owners:
Slow or zero response to data requests.
Lacking engagement with established procedures.
Missing committed delivery dates.
Why would your colleagues or other data providers refuse to embrace a tool that you know will ultimately help them with their responsibilities? Are they being deliberately obstructive?
The answer to this question is mostly no!
There are of course some reasonable explanations for a lack of response:
Too Busy! The Data Owner may simply have a heavy workload: like day-to-day IT operations, fixing performance issues, creating backups, handling security issues, etc.
Security Clearance: The request hasn’t come from a manager or trusted contact, so the Data Owner is unsure if the request is authentic or appropriate.
Take a Ticket: You may be competing against other, more pressing data requests, and the Data Owner is prioritizing those first.
Tell Me Why: The Data Owner may not understand why you need this data, or your explanation is unclear to them.
And some excuses that may create a hesitant or reluctant response:
What is TBM? The Data Owner may not be aware of new contexts or uses for their data. For example, if data was originally pulled to satisfy CMDB project requirements, and Apptio was not a consideration at the time, there is a misalignment of expectations.
What’s in it for me? The Data Owner may be reluctant to commit time or resources to a project that is perceived as helping others or outside of their scope.
Is This a Test? The Data Owner may worry that the quality of the requested data will be a reflection on them. Will data inherited from a previous owner be used at a Senior level to make the Data Owner look bad? What is the impact of associating costs to data they control?
Tough Conversations: Is the provision of this data taking the Data Owner into conversations they are not inclined or ready to have? As data providers for a new system, how much time will the activity consume, and how could it negatively impact them?
Old Habits: The Data Owner may have a history of data hoarding and simply like their current tools or solutions and don’t want change!
Sponsorship – How to get it!
Whether the explanation is reasonable or not, what is the solution to these blockers?
Garnering direct support from Senior IT Managers in your organization should provide subsequent sponsored access to the Data Owners, but again they need to understand the value to them before committing their resources.
While the main goals of Senior IT Managers are usually focused on use cases such as TCO and Optimization, these take some time to deliver. To gain initial buy-in and sponsorship, consider the following as short-term value opportunities discussions:
Understand the OOB Data Quality reports and position them as a positive opportunity to quickly understand the quality of existing data. Whether it is good, bad, or otherwise, do they currently know the quality of the data they’re working with?
Explain how Apptio can be used as a correlation engine for data inconsistencies across multiple platforms, (e.g., inconsistent Server counts between CMDB, Backups and Application Master sets) caused by legacy systems, mergers and acquisitions or multiple geographies.
Provide a snapshot of data for your IT Manager’s platforms and identify areas of focus. Follow this up by monitoring improvements over time.
Be transparent about the need for a resource investment but reassure it’s an initial exercise that can be automated.
Identify ‘duplication of efforts’ with Data Owners.
Educate yourself on discovery questions for each persona, your Apptio Account Team can help you with Use Case alignment.
Be familiar with the OOB Use Cases relevant to the different IT Managers, again use your Apptio Account Team for support.
Tips for initiating meeting with Senior IT Managers:
If you have no sponsored intro into the IT Org, take some time away from the TBM practice and invest it developing relationships as early as possible.
Make some friends at any level, have a quick coffee, and navigate from there. It is easier to gain access to the right people, with the help of others, than approach an already busy person with a meeting request. Continual networking and nurturing relationships within the IT Org are essential for the success of the TBM roll-out.
Start gathering and documenting any stake holder information you become aware of as early as possible. Identify Stakeholder characteristics such as influencer, blocker etc, your CSM can supply templates to support stakeholder management.
While striving to initiate meetings with IT Managers, continue to do your homework; understand and document as much as you can about the existing systems of records, much of this information will have been identified in the initial delivery phase. Do not waste IT Managers time asking questions that can easily be answered elsewhere!
Still dealing with negativity?
Even with manager sponsorship, you may still have negative engagements with Data Owners. Fortunately, you can use your newfound connections to mitigate stakeholder management challenges with the following guidelines:
It is crucial to identify and understand the root cause for negativity. Address all concerns or objections they may have: lack of understanding, fear of change, concerns of any impact on their role.
Focus on how Apptio may alleviate any pain point you’ve identified and how it supports their Sponsors goals. Provide updates on how their data is used by Apptio and the use-cases supported.
Involve them in the adoption process for testing and training. Ask for regular input and feedback. Achieving buy-in and an understanding of how Apptio transforms their data will support successful adoption.
Pivot the conversation to the ways Apptio will directly benefit them! Highlight features relevant to their work and show how Apptio can make their job easier when compared to their existing tools. This allows them to find areas for improvement in the quality and accuracy of contributed data.
In Summary
Knock on the door of your IT Managers before approaching Data Owners directly. Spend time building relationships with the IT Org to access influencers and open doors and find champions!
If the IT Manager supports your access to Data Owners, employ a traditional approach to stakeholder management, bearing in mind that some Data Owners may be third parties.
Leverage your Apptio CS Team for their support and any resources they can provide.
If you are still facing challenges, be mindful of any committed timelines and escalate sooner rather than later!
This approach should help gather data more efficiently, lessen the risk to project timelines and subsequently provide faster delivery of value to your organisation!
Have you met with such problems when dealing with Data Owners? What impact did It have on the project? What steps did you take to resolve the situation?