TBM Connected Standards

Introduction: Extending TBM Through Strategic Integration

Technology Business Management (TBM) offers organizations a structured way to model, manage, and communicate the value of their technology investments. But TBM’s true power emerges when it integrates with the broader ecosystem of operational and financial frameworks used across the enterprise. These are called Connected Standards.

Connected Standards are well-established methodologies, frameworks, and models—such as FinOps, CSDM, ITSM, and Agile—that bring structure to how technology is planned, delivered, optimized, and governed. When connected to TBM, they enrich the TBM model with high-quality data and domain best practices. In return, TBM enhances these standards by applying a consistent taxonomy, enabling cost modeling, and aligning operational activity with business outcomes.

Why Connected Standards Matter in TBM

Connected Standards strengthen TBM in three essential ways:

• They improve data quality by providing structured inputs from systems that govern assets, services, cloud consumption, and delivery pipelines.
• They broaden applicability by ensuring TBM can model and optimize a wide range of modern technology practices, from agile development to cybersecurity.
• They reinforce strategic value by translating operational data into financial insights that support executive decision-making.

Each standard maps into the TBM Model Layer, where it informs the taxonomy-driven view of cost, consumption, and value. These integrations drive the TBM Outcome Layer, powering transparency, benchmarking, insights, and optimization.

How Integration Works: From Source to Strategic Insights

When integrated into a TBM model, connected standards serve as reliable source systems for:

• Technology resources (e.g., asset data from ITAM)
• Service definitions (e.g., service catalogs from ITSM or CSDM)
• Team structures and labor data (e.g., Agile tools)
• Consumption metrics (e.g., usage-based billing from cloud providers)
• Risk and control frameworks (e.g., NIST cybersecurity functions)

TBM uses these inputs to allocate costs, associate consumption with business capabilities, and enable value-driven reporting. For example:

A cloud invoice from AWS (via FinOps), mapped through CSDM service structures, enriched by Agile team delivery data, and modeled in TBM, allows a leader to see: “This $85,000 of cloud spend supported the release of customer-facing mobile features delivered by three agile teams over six sprints, resulting in a 7% improvement in customer retention.”

This is the power of connected standards: turning fragmented operational data into complete, business-aligned narratives.

A Closer Look at the Connected Standards

Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM)

SPM focuses on prioritizing and managing a portfolio of technology initiatives aligned with business strategy. TBM enriches SPM by providing cost and value visibility for each portfolio item, enabling leaders to compare investments not just by business impact but also by total cost of ownership and return on investment.

Technology Financial Management (ITFM)

ITFM provides foundational financial processes like budgeting and forecasting. TBM integrates and enhances these processes by translating general ledger data into service- and product-level insights. This enables organizations to move beyond tracking cost centers to understanding the financial performance of business-aligned technology services.

FinOps

FinOps manages the economics of cloud through visibility, accountability, and optimization. TBM complements FinOps by embedding cloud cost data within a broader hybrid view of technology. Organizations can compare cloud and on-prem costs, allocate cloud usage by service or business unit, and track unit cost trends over time.

Information Technology Service Management (ITSM)

ITSM governs service operations. When integrated with TBM, service catalogs, incident data, and configuration records feed cost and consumption models. TBM makes it possible to understand the cost of each service, highlight underused or inefficient offerings, and support service-based funding models.

Information Technology Asset Management (ITAM)

ITAM tracks asset lifecycle and usage. TBM uses this data to allocate costs to appropriate towers and services and to identify cost-saving opportunities, such as underutilized licenses or extended asset depreciation. It ensures asset-level accuracy in the TBM model.

Agile & DevOps

Agile and DevOps tools manage delivery pipelines and cross-functional teams. TBM integrates with these systems to assign labor costs to value streams, product teams, or delivery milestones. This makes it possible to understand the financial impact of development decisions and measure cost per feature or release.

NIST Cybersecurity Framework

The NIST framework organizes cybersecurity practices across five functions. TBM enables cost transparency across these domains, helping leaders measure investment in risk prevention vs. response, demonstrate cybersecurity ROI, and balance funding across the security lifecycle.

Common Service Data Model (CSDM)

CSDM provides a structured way to represent services, applications, and infrastructure in ServiceNow. TBM uses CSDM relationships to inform service mappings, enabling more accurate cost allocation, improved service ownership models, and value conversations at the capability or business unit level.

Putting It All Together: Multi-Standard Modeling

In practice, these standards often converge within a single TBM model. For example:

• CSDM structures the application-to-service map
• ITAM provides asset data on infrastructure
• Agile tools define product teams and story point velocity
• FinOps supplies cloud billing details

TBM unites them. It pulls the data together, applies a common taxonomy, and outputs a report showing which services, teams, and capabilities consume resources—at what cost, and with what business result. The outcome is not just transparency, but strategic insight.

Key Takeaways You Can Share

• Connected Standards are not competitors to TBM—they are essential contributors to it.
• Each standard feeds structured data into the TBM model, supporting a consistent taxonomy and shared understanding.
• TBM returns value to each standard by framing operational data in a strategic, financial context.
• The TBM model layer is where these connections happen, transforming fragmented information into a business-aligned narrative.
• Integration unlocks real-world use cases, like measuring cost per feature, comparing cloud vs. on-prem unit costs, or modeling portfolio ROI.

By understanding and integrating connected standards, organizations elevate their TBM practice—and unlock deeper, more actionable insights across the business of technology.