Technology Business Management (TBM), also referred to as IT Business Management (ITBM), is an organizational framework or practice for aligning technology spend to business value. It connects the dots between tech investments and the benefits they generate — think revenue, customer experience improvements, and speed to production. By managing IT expenses and assets in a way that correlates them with overall business goals, IT and financial leaders can more easily communicate the value of technology and IT to stakeholders. TBM also helps to strategically position the IT department within the broader organization.
In most cases, technology spending is categorized by investments in telecom, mobile, cloud, and AI. To succeed at TBM, companies must effectively manage both IT assets and expenses. This includes maintaining an accurate inventory of all IT services and resources, tracking and monitoring IT invoices and costs, as well as tying those costs to their associated innovation projects using cost allocation and chargeback activities.
Today we know two things to be true: our world is driven by technology, and the rate of change is unrelenting. Cloud, AI, automation, IoT, and 5G are transforming how business gets done, but these technologies have created a new cost frontier for IT and finance leaders to traverse. As evolution moves at breakneck speed, digital transformation leaders need centralized visibility into IT spending and a clear understanding of how that spend translates to demonstratable business outcomes and tangible returns.
As companies make larger investments in digitization, they need a way to connect new technologies to business value, adding more discipline around technology return on investment. Consider these facts:
Combating this requires comprehensive financial management, visibility, and optimization of investments around telecommunications, mobility, and cloud across the entire business lifecycle, from strategic planning and meeting digital demands to expense management and ROI analysis.
Technology Business Management (TBM) and IT Financial Management (ITFM), also referred to as Technology Financial Management (TFM), are umbrella terms commonly used to summarize IT asset management and IT expense management at a broader, strategic level.
Whereas Technology Business Management connects technology investments to business value, ITFM involves managing all the financial information necessary for IT teams to manage and optimize technology investments to deliver the best value. This includes but is not limited to budgeting, cost transparency, cost allocation, and forecasting.
Tangoe views TBM and ITFM as the “left and right hands” of IT management – you can’t have one without the other – however, this view is subjective. Some industry analysts view one term as being superior to the other, while others view these terms as close if not identical to each other. Regardless, it’s widely accepted that Technology Business Management and IT Financial Management have critical interdependencies for driving IT success and maximizing business outcomes.
An IT expense management solution solves for these challenges by bringing all the tools, technologies, and activities associated with Technology Business Management into one simplified, integrated platform for key stakeholders to use. For example: real-time reports based on service usage and costs, automatic notifications of cost overruns based on established thresholds, and cost allocation based on corporate financial rules. IT expense management solutions support FinOps practices and can double cost savings on cloud services.
Tangoe One is the industry’s leading platform that wraps Technology Business Management and IT Financial Management in one. The solution provides all the tools and capabilities IT and finance teams need to effectively work together in managing cloud assets, mobile devices, and telecom services to minimize costs, fully utilize resources, streamline financial management, and translate IT investments to measurable business value. On average, Tangoe saves its customers a collective $340M annually.
Tangoe One supercharges results with hyper-automation, a rich ecosystem of integrations, and fully managed services for every need, fueling greater operational efficiencies and cost savings simultaneously.
The Smartest AI-powered Platform for Technology Business Management
Automation built on 20+ years of experience finds IT waste, drives efficiencies in resource use, and strengthens compliance and security. Hyper-automation spans an array of workflows for IT, finance, and procurement teams:
Expert IT Asset and Expense Management
Not only does Tangoe One simplify, manage, and optimize IT spending across telecom, mobile, and cloud technologies, the platform comes with full management support from Tangoe’s extensive team of technology experts. As a fully managed solution, Tangoe One offloads the tedious day-to-day administration of IT asset and expense management so teams can focus on what they do best. Tangoe offers additional bespoke cost management consulting via Tangoe Advisory Services.
Case in point: see how Velaspan, a high-performance network service provider, is saving 370+ productivity hours each year on mobile device management using Tangoe One.
“We no longer have to provide technical support on multiple operating systems or jump through hoops to deploy devices. Tangoe handles it all. When we have issues with carriers, we tap Tangoe and they take care of the rest.” – Kerry Kulp, Velaspan’s Founding Partner and CTO
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