In anticipation of his presentation at Building Business Capability in Vegas, Nov. 2 – 6, 2015, we asked Mark Edmead, IT Transformation Consultant, MTE Advisors, a few questions about pursuing business excellence. Check out his interview in relation to his BBC presentation entitled, What is the Best Approach for BAs, PMs, BRMs, and EAs to Work Together?

Q: How is your organization advancing the pursuit of business excellence and how does it impact your business units/departments?

A: Our clients are advancing business excellence by continuously focusing on activities that create value to the organization. In order to understand what is a value-adding activity, they need to first gain an in-depth understanding of the business – its mission, objectives, strategies, and tactics. This requires all business units and departments to understand the corporate strategic direction.  Many of our clients are adopting Agile/Scrum, Lean IT, and DevOps as a way to assist the IT department to deliver solutions needed by the business.

Q: Can you describe the challenges you face or have already overcome in establishing a more cohesive and productive company or organization?

A: Some of the challenges are related to the convergence between the business and IT departments. When IT is not a strategic partner with the partner, this results in IT not delivering solutions the business needs and, in turn, the business becomes frustrated with IT.  To assist with this convergence, companies use Business Analyst and Business Relationship Managers to help not only understand the business but to act as the liaison between the business and IT.

Q: What are your near term goals for creating a more agile organization at your business or company?

A: Our clients are adopting Agile/Scrum, Lean IT, and DevOps as a way of creating a more fluid and productive environment which in many organizations is not easy.

Q: What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned in 2015 thus far? What’s the most important goal/trend for [pick one or two: business analysts, business architects, business process managers and/or business rules managers] to keep in mind?

A: The most important lesson this year is the importance of relationships – especially between IT and the business. Business Analysis and Business Relationship Managers need to become better at fostering and nurturing relationships between the various departments and to help facilitate collaboration and communication.

Q: What’s the latest method/process/tool you have implemented to help your organization or business run more efficiently and effectively?

A: The ability to measure the alignment of IT to the business and the trust level the business has in IT are very important. This alignment means two things:  The business receives services it needs and requests, and the IT better understands the needs of the business and is able to deliver solutions in alignment with the business needs.

Q: If you could give your five-years-ago self-insight and advice about this industry, what would you say?

A: Besides to buy Apple stock?  Just kidding. My advice is to be open to ways of making the business more nimble and agile. Business needs are changing more rapidly than before. Companies must be ready to adapt quickly and effectively.

Q: Sneak preview: Please tell us a take-away that you will provide during your talk at Building Business Capability?

A: Organizations are complex entities.  Roles and responsibilities are constantly changing. It is common.

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Don’t miss Mark’s presentation, What is the Best Approach for BAs, PMs, BRMs, and EAs to Work Together? at Building Business Capability on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 from 11:35 am to 12:35 pm. Click here to register for attendance.