Community Member Spotlights give us a chance to learn more about the people using Apptio to automate TBM.  In this edition, TBM Authority and RTBMA @Tony Wong agreed to step into the hot seat…

Tony, you’re a versatile community member. You help out with answers to questions related to theory, best practices and product functionality.  How did you develop your skills in TBM and Apptio?

I’ve been using TBM and Apptio since late 2012 when my previous company adopted Apptio to manage their IT infrastructure costs. A team of 4 staff members took a 1-week intensive learning (with @Paolo Coppa) on how to configure and run Apptio. Ever since then, I developed great interests in learning and troubleshooting the tool since the pre-R11 days. We started out with a simple project called Statement of Charge (for which I was the primary administrator, supporting the daily operation to produce monthly chargeback reports for the business units.) The weekly meeting with Apptio’s CSM also helped me gain insights to how Apptio works over the years.

Wow, I had no idea your experience went back that far. That explains a lot in terms of the questions you’re able to answer on community. You’ve seen a lot of change. For you what’s the biggest difference in the TBM space from 2012 to now?

The whole architecture of user, config and data layer within a project. It took me a while to get the concept that certain things can only be done in the config layer and where to load tables in respective to time periods. I remember training a few staff members before I left my previous company and not everyone understand that architecture in R11. With R12, it is so much easier to handle configuration and data load with the ability for multiple users to work on the same project.

What’s your actual job title? Does it have anything to do with TBM ;-)

TBM Consultant. Yes, 100%. Currently I am working as a contractor to ExxonMobil in Spring, Texas.

We’re always interested in the way other Community members work. Do you work with a team or in a TBMO? Can you share any pictures of your work space?

I am part of the TBMO which consists of 5 RTBMAs who are full time employees, 1 Tableau Consultant and 1 SQL Consultant who are contractors like myself. Our manager is currently a TBM Council member.

My workspace

doesn’t have

a lot of decorations ;-) 

All business! If we get you a TBM Superhero will you put him in the mix or do you like to keep it clean and minimal?

Although I like to keep my workspace clean and minimal, I can probably accommodate the TBM Superhero somewhere beside one of the monitors since he doesn’t take up much space. 

He doesn’t at all. @Noelle Pease can you send one flying Tony's way?  

So, 5 RTBMAs plus tableau and SQL experience. That’s a nice sized team. What are some of your group’s responsibilities?

Our team is responsible for managing and coordinating the day-to-day activities of the data model with in-depth understanding of the tool configuration and the cost allocation model. This includes data loading and the analyzing and reporting of operational data within the tool. We also work with different stakeholders to facilitate new and ongoing analytics reports to help IT groups gain insights on how their TCO is performing on a monthly basis. Currently we are trying to activate the Cloud analytic capability within Apptio to manage the Cloud spend more efficiently.

Our team also produces an annual benchmark analysis to give IT executives awareness on where the company’s industry spend (investment versus run & maintain) is among its peers.

Got it. You’ll have to keep us posted on your success with Cloud analytics. We all understand what you mean when you describe your responsibilities, but how do you explain what you do to people who aren’t in this Community? When someone says, “Tony, what do you do for a living?” What do you say?

I will use the term – TBM as my initial answer, but then I would elaborate right away to mean I am doing analytical work on financial data for IT groups to provide insights on how to manage their costs. I will go on to say that I use a SAS tool called Apptio to ‘crunch’ data to help IT management to understand how their IT costs are being used to provide quality service for the company.

It’s nice to hear the value TBMAs bring described in plain, undeniable terms.  You’ve been working in this space for so long, what brought you to TBM back in 2012?

I was a Datacenter Facilities Planner when my co-worker showed me a posting for the TBM role back in 2012. He wanted to apply for it and wondered if I knew the hiring manager. After I asked around and re-read the job description, I thought to myself – “Hey, I can do this. Why don’t I apply for it and see what happens?” After a couple of interviews, I was offered the position. I could not believe how that changed my career path and kept me doing TBM for over 6 years now.

Ha! So many interesting paths to working with Apptio. @Shaun Thangaraj had a great post about this recently The Accidental TBMA. We also always ask our spotlight members about the first job they ever had. What was yours?

I was a call center operator for a city bus transit company answering questions about bus routes / schedules / compliments and complaints of bus drivers. I had to memorize all the bus routes because the computer systems were not as reliable back then.

Oh the things we used to have to memorize! Do you still remember any of the routes or information?

Yes, but only the ones that go by my parents' apartment because the city has changed so much since I left.

Keeping in mind we have Apptio product designers and engineers on Community. What’s at the top of your wish list (today anyway ;-) in terms of product enhancements?  

The capability for the admin group members to review the performance of project / server of Apptio without engaging Apptio’s support or CSM. With a lot of discussions lately on the Community about R12 slowness / performance, it will be really helpful for the users with admin privilege to quickly diagnose why the system is slowing down. Like the Task Manager in Windows system, it would be great if something similar would give us a glimpse of how the system is behaving.

Hmm I know they were taking about performance and optimization in one of the ETBMA summits recently. @Jenny Goodwin does what Tony describes sound familiar? Tony, I'll say sorry in advance for getting your hopes up, in case I'm remembering that incorrectly ;-) 

Tony, thank you for your time. We really appreciate you giving the community a peek into how you work with Apptio.

TBM Community is an excellent resource by Apptio to let people from different experiences/backgrounds explore and share their knowledge/ideas/experience of their TBM journey. I've learned so much since I joined and I am making a habit to login daily to see what’s happening.  Thank you, Apptio for connecting the Apptians around the globe!