Business relationship management organizations take the IT-business partnership to the next level, enabling technology innovation to grow and transform business capabilities.

1. • Cognizant 20-20 Insights
Driving Innovation Through
Business Relationship Management
BRM organizations take the IT-business partnership to the next
level, enabling technology to transform business capabilities.
Executive Summary • Conducting biannual/annual satisfaction sur-
veys to assess what is working and what needs
Most companies have by now developed a strong
to be improved in order to better partner with
partnership with IT for achieving business goals
the business.
and objectives. But as new technologies emerge
and newer business models are enabled, the This white paper discusses where BRM organi-
partnership needs to evolve and focus more on zations fit in today’s enterprises; how the orga-
innovation. CIOs, therefore, are establishing a nization interacts with other business functions;
dedicated “business relationship management concrete ways you can use BRM to instill a culture
organization“ (BRM) to improve business-IT of innovation; and how to measure BRM success.
alignment and drive technology innovation to Lastly, we describe how a large U.S. insurer
grow and transform business capabilities. engaged our business consulting team to set up
a BRM organization and is now benefiting from
A dedicated BRM organization is the ”face of IT” increased client satisfaction, a fourfold increase
for business. Similar to relationship managers in the number of new ideas and a 30% reduction
in banks who advise customers on investments, in average cycle time for developing technology
a BRM organization is a trusted advisor to the initiative proposals.
business. The key responsibilities of a BRM orga-
nization include: Fitting BRM into the Enterprise
Typically, the BRM organization is either integrated
• Facilitating idea-generation through a into the IT planning and strategy organization,
well-defined innovation process.
or it reports directly to the CIO, ensuring high
• Engaging with the business in developing visibility and access to all functions in IT. The orga-
proposals for strategic initiatives or innovative nization engages with business stakeholders and
technology solutions. also interacts with other IT functions, such as:
• Performing periodic reviews (monthly or • Enterprise architecture, to provide the
quarterly) with business partners to discuss business with a greater understanding of
the overall business-IT engagement status.
cognizant 20-20 insights | june 2012

2. technology solutions or develop a strategy to area — sales, marketing, actuarial, products and
advance the overall technology roadmap for services (see Figure 1). In addition, some managers
various lines of business. may be dedicated to specific initiatives requiring
focused business interaction and communication.
• Portfolio management, to estimate and
prioritize various initiatives or projects on An IT organization of 500 or so employees
which the business would want IT to work. covering six to seven functions under one line of
• Program management, to provide expert business would typically have five to six business
advice on key program-related risks or issues relationship managers.
that need to be discussed with the business
beyond the governance structure. Driving Innovation
Although all the responsibilities of a BRM orga-
• Operations, to assess feedback from the
nization are equally important, the business is
business on day-to-day support.
increasingly looking to business relationship
The BRM Operating Model managers for advice on how to use technology
innovation to enable business transformation and
The organization is staffed by business rela-
improve competitive positioning. The business
tionship managers who possess subject matter
relationship manager plays a key role in instilling
expertise not only in the IT domain but also
a culture of innovation in the organization by:
in specific business areas. The key traits of
successful business relationship managers are:
• Defining various innovation channels, such as
innovation labs, innovation booths, innovation
• Strategic vision and structured thinking. campaigns, focused innovation workshops,
• Knowledge of industry trends in business and one-on-one meetings and innovation letter-
technology. boxes.
• Strong teamwork and interpersonal skills. • Identifying the appropriate people, ranging
• Excellent presentation and communication from business stakeholders to IT employees,
skills. who need to be engaged through these
channels.
Based on their area of expertise, business rela-
tionship managers are generally aligned with one • Leveraging appropriate systems or platforms
or more lines of business. For instance, in a typical such as idea management systems to gather,
financial services company, business relationship evaluate and manage ideas.
managers tend to be aligned with each functional
BRM Operating Model
Business Units IT Organization
BRM
BRM Head
Sales BRM: Sales
Enterprise Architecture
Marketing BRM: Marketing
Actuarial BRM: Actuarial Portfolio Management
Product BRM: Product Program Management
Service BRM: Service
All Business Units
BRM: Strategic Operations
Initiatives
Figure 1
cognizant 20-20 insights 2

3. • Developing an infrastructure to support the An equally critical task is to ensure that suitable
prioritization and proposal development for innovation channels are identified, depending
various ideas. on the type of ideas needed and the type and
size of the persona audience being harnessed
Innovation Channels and Innovator Personas for innovation. Key characteristics of various
An innovation channel is a mechanism or innovation channels are depicted in Figure 2.
means of probing the organization to garner
ideas in response to a particular challenge or Idea Management Systems
objective. Various organizational roles or indi- While facilitating innovation processes,
viduals providing innovative ideas are defined technology enablers such as idea management
as innovator personas. Start-ups and entrepre- systems can also be leveraged to simplify the
neurial businesses tend to tap the potential of process of idea gathering, idea evaluation and
innovator personas across the organization, while communication to a wide audience of innovators.
larger organizations typically work with mid- to Idea management systems enhance operational
senior-level management. Based on the purpose efficiencies for innovation processes such as
of the innovation effort, it can be critical for the innovation campaigns. Some of the key function-
BRM organization to engage the right innovator alities provided by idea management systems
personas to generate the best ideas. are rapidly customizable templates for gathering
Innovation Channels and Innovator Personas
Size of
Idea Type Persona Type Persona
Audience
Innovation Lab
A periodic (fortnightly/monthly) forum Improvement opportuni- Mid- to senior- Small
to gather ideas from the organization on ties based on key organi- level management. (5-10)
any topic or focus area. zational objectives.
Innovation Booth
A booth/stall setup during events such Top-of-mind issues/ Attendees for a Large
as sales conferences for business or IT concerns and improve- particular event. (100-500)
stakeholders to gather innovative ideas ment opportunities.
from attendees for the events.
Innovation Campaign
A finite, time-bound program/initiative to Potential ideas and All employees Large
gather ideas from the broader organiza- solutions to address from select (100-500)
tion, to address specific organizational a single objective or departments/
objectives and challenges. concern. organizations.
Focused Innovation Workshop
A focused whiteboarding exercise with Potential ideas/solutions SMEs represent- Small
select experts to drive ideation on to address a single ing different (5-10)
specific organizational objectives and objective or concern. departments or
challenges. perspectives.
One-on-One Innovation Meeting
A periodic one-on-one session with a CXO Improvement CXO/senior Small
or a senior leadership member, led by an opportunities based leadership (5-10)
internal/ external facilitator to gather on key organizational member.
ideas. objectives.
Innovation Letterbox
A channel for all employees to provide Top-of-mind issues/ All employees Large
ideas and improvement opportunities concerns and improvement from the (100-500)
throughout the year. opportunities. organization.
Figure 2
cognizant 20-20 insights 3

4. CASE STUDY >>
Leading U.S. Insurer Embraces BRM
Challenge more of the six lines of business and one manager
dedicated to the strategic initiatives.
Charged with enhancing the business-IT relation-
ship, the CIO at a large U.S. insurer engaged our To provide a working framework for the BRM
business consulting team to set up a BRM orga- organization and various innovation mechanisms,
nization. we defined and syndicated detailed packages,
including process flows, standard operating
Solution procedures, supporting process templates and
Our business consulting team engaged with client metrics. As part of enabling the creation of the
stakeholders to identify the key challenges in the BRM organization and suggested innovation
existing business-IT relationship. To address these processes, we also worked with the client to define
challenges, we recommended the establishment detailed implementation and training packages.
of a BRM organization as part of the IT planning
and strategy function. The four key functions of Benefits
the BRM organization were: The insurer has rolled out our functional recom-
mendations on the BRM organization setup and
• Facilitation of innovation to manage the idea- has implemented various innovation processes.
generation process through four key innovation
As a result, the company has realized the
channels: innovation labs, innovation booths,
following benefits:
innovation campaigns and focused innovation
workshops.
• A 20% to 25% increase in the overall business
• Business opportunity management for satisfaction score, measured by a stronger
providing consultation to the business for business-IT partnership, improved communi-
proposal development. cation, innovative technology solutions and
periodic reviews.
• Monthly business partner reviews to gather
feedback from various business units on key • A significant increase in the number of new
business performance metrics. ideas (on the order of fourfold) generated
through various innovation mechanisms and
• Semi-annual business customer satisfaction
eventually converted into strategic initiatives.
surveys to assess improvement opportunities
for the business-IT relationship. • A significant reduction in the average cycle time
(on the order of 30%) of developing proposals
Based on the four key functions, we recom-
for technology initiatives by engaging the BRM
mended that the BRM organization be staffed by
organization to drive the process.
one executive to manage the overall business-IT
relationship, three managers aligned with one or
ideas, configuring parameters for evaluating manager is also responsible for working with key
ideas, collaborative reviews and templates for IT stakeholders to identify the benefits of imple-
publishing results. menting the chosen ideas and create a proposal
for implementing them.
Idea Infrastructure
Business relationship managers also play an Measuring BRM Success
important role in identifying and bringing While CIOs are keen to engage business relation-
together a core team of experts required to ship managers to enhance the business-IT rela-
evaluate ideas, facilitate sessions for evaluation tionship, it is also critical to continuously evaluate
and identify the ideas with the highest potential and improve the value that the BRM organization
for implementation. The business relationship adds to business-IT alignment. The organization’s
cognizant 20-20 insights 4

5. success should be continuously measured using for growing and transforming its capabilities.
the following parameters:
• The degree to which the business is up to date
on key IT events and initiatives.
• Business satisfaction survey on the state of the
business-IT relationship. • Average cycle time reduction in developing
proposals for technology initiatives.
• The quality and number of technology ideas or
solutions that were proposed to the business
References
Innovation Labs, www.innovationlabs.com.
China Martens, “Hot Jobs: Business Relationship Manager,” CIO, Aug. 28, 2007,
http://www.cio.com/article/133500/Hot_Jobs_Business_Relationship_Manager.
About the Authors
Philippe Dintrans is the Vice President and the Practice Leader of Cognizant Business Consulting’s (CBC)
Strategic Services Group for North America, where he has led a number of consulting engagements on
business transformation, IT transformation and change management for marquee clients. Philippe holds
a master’s of science in engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an MBA from
INSEAD. He can be reached at Philippe.Dintrans@cognizant.com.
Amit Anand is a Senior Manager with CBC’s Strategic Services Group, with 11 years of experience in suc-
cessfully leading and managing large IT performance and process improvement initiatives for various
clients. Amit holds a bachelor’s degree from IIT Delhi and an MBA from the Indian School of Business,
Hyderabad. He can be reached at Amit.Anand@cognizant.com.
Joseph Nathan is a Senior Consultant with CBC’s Strategic Services Group, with seven years of IT
consulting experience. His specific areas of expertise include IT organization and operating models,
cost optimization and business process re-engineering. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Madras
University and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. He can be reached at
Joseph.Nathan@cognizant.com.
Jayadevan Vijayakrishnan is a Senior Consultant with CBC’s Strategic Services Group, with six years of
experience in the industry. His specific areas of expertise include IT performance and process improve-
ments, IT organization and operating model redesign and IT strategy development. He holds a bachelor’s
degree in computer science engineering and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
He can be reached at Jayadevan.Vijayakrishnan@cognizant.com.
cognizant 20-20 insights 5

6. About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process out-
sourcing services, dedicated to helping the world’s leading companies build stronger businesses. Headquartered in
Teaneck, New Jersey (U.S.), Cognizant combines a passion for client satisfaction, technology innovation, deep industry
and business process expertise, and a global, collaborative workforce that embodies the future of work. With over 50
delivery centers worldwide and approximately 140,500 employees as of March 31, 2012, Cognizant is a member of the
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and fastest growing companies in the world. Visit us online at www.cognizant.com or follow us on Twitter: Cognizant.
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