Pulse Surveys
Insights from the TBM Community
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Every few weeks, the TBM Council shares a short survey to assess topics of interest to the broad TBM community. These simple but powerful surveys help us understand how organizations are practicing TBM, what challenges they face, and where the discipline is headed.
This page brings those results to life—not as a list of charts or raw statistics, but as a cohesive narrative that tells the story of a global community navigating the evolution of Technology Business Management. Each section below reflects a recurring theme surfaced through our surveys: visibility, barriers, maturity, and integration. By following this journey, you’ll see how TBM is being adopted, challenged, and refined in real time.
We invite you to participate in our latest pulse survey, found here, and to explore our other research efforts like the State of TBM and the TBM Salary Survey, which you can take part in today.
Reporting and Visibility: TBM as an Engine for Insight
In our most-answered survey, we asked:
"How often do you report Cloud Consumption Cost as showback or chargeback for stakeholders?"
The answers show that TBM is powering increasingly frequent and transparent reporting. A growing number of respondents report weekly or even daily, demonstrating how real-time visibility is becoming standard.
In a separate pulse, we asked:
"Which of the following cost-related KPIs receives the most visibility in your organization today?"
The leading responses were:
- Technology Spend vs. Plan
- Application TCO
- Total Spend by Initiative
These results reflect how TBM insights are central to conversations with Finance, Product, and Executive stakeholders. To see how organizations use TBM to drive intelligent and sustainable reporting, check out our eBook TBM & FinOps: A Guide for Connecting FinOps Teams, Data, and Insights to TBM for Comprehensive Technology Financials or our page on TBM & FinOps, read this case study to learn How UBS Is Using TBM and FinOps to Successfully Enable Their Cloud Journey.
Challenges and Barriers: What Holds Us Back?
As more organizations adopt TBM, the need for foundational strength becomes clear. When asked:
"Which organizational or cultural challenge is most impactful to TBM data collection?"
Resistance to change, inaccessibility of key stakeholders, and lack of prioritization stand out.
In another survey, we asked:
"What are the most significant challenges for your organization when reporting, managing, and optimizing on-premises cloud spend?"
Top challenges included:
- Quality of available data
- Integrating financial systems and Cloud Management Systems
- Forecasting cloud consumption
These answers confirm a critical reality: TBM only works when the underlying data is trusted, and the organization is aligned to act on what it reveals. If you’re just beginning your TBM journey, or struggling with these exact barriers, the TBM First Steps Guide is a helpful resource. You might also explore our Foundations page or our page on Organizational Change Management for TBM.
Operating Models and Maturity: Shaping the TBM Foundation
How organizations structure their work has a big impact on TBM success. One survey asked:
“How does your organization manage technology from a product vs. project orientation?”
The majority said they are still mostly product-oriented but are beginning to shift.
Another pulse asked:
"Which of the following statements best describes how your organization leverages the role of Business Relationship Manager (BRM)?"
Most said BRM is recognized but not fully embedded. A small but important cohort reports a mature BRM function that is strategically aligned with TBM.
We also asked:
"Which of the following best describes your organization's incorporation and utilization of location data in its TBM model and decision-making processes?"
Most organizations are currently using location data in some way, with a minority reporting no usage of location data.
These answers tell us that maturity is a moving target. TBM is expanding—but not evenly. Check out the TBM Maturity Assessment to determine and track your organization’s TBM maturity. The following publications will also support your TBM success:
- Initiating Virtuous Cycles with TBM
- TBM: Moving Beyond Costs
- Top Five Best Practices for Successful TBM Adoption
From Strategy to Structure: The Architecture Behind TBM
The final layer of this story deals with the how of TBM—the connections between strategy, enterprise architecture, and data-driven modeling.
We asked:
"Which of the following statements best describes the degree to which your Enterprise and/or Business Architecture is integrated with your organization's instantiation of the TBM Taxonomy and TBM Cost Allocation Model?"
and:
"Which of the following responses best describes your organization's use of consumptive versus assumptive data in the TBM cost allocation model?"
The results suggest a community in transition:
- Most organizations are still building stronger integration between EA and TBM
- A balanced approach exists between consumptive (data-derived) and assumptive (business-derived) mappings
As organizations evolve, they’re prioritizing automated, traceable, and scalable cost allocation. This shift mirrors the changes introduced in the TBM Taxonomy, and aligns with connected standards like ServiceNow CSDM.
For practical help, see our Allocation Methods page to better understand mapping logic and model design.
What Comes Next
Pulse surveys are just one way we gather insights from the community. These snapshots, when taken together, reveal an evolving narrative:
- TBM is becoming more operational, visible, and embedded
- Challenges remain, especially in foundations and data
- Maturity takes time—and support
You can continue to shape the direction of TBM by participating in upcoming pulse surveys and by taking fifteen minutes to contribute to the TBM Salary Survey itself.
Explore More: Want to dive deeper? Visit our Research section or explore topics like FinOps, Cloud, OCM, Agile, and AI.
And don’t forget: new pulse surveys are always on the way. Keep an eye out—and make your voice heard.
Join the TBM community: where innovators and leaders converge
The TBM Council is your gateway to a treasure trove of knowledge: think cutting-edge research papers, insightful case studies, and vibrant community forums where you can exchange ideas, tackle challenges, and celebrate successes with fellow practitioners.
We’re calling on organizations and forward-thinking individuals to dive into the TBM community. Participate in our events, engage in our discussions, and tap into a vast reservoir of knowledge. This isn’t just about networking; it’s about contributing to and benefiting from the collective wisdom in navigating the dynamic world of cloud computing.
