IT VM for BAs - The Journey and The Elephant

IT Value Maximisation
for
Business Analysts
The Journey and The Elephant
for IIBA UK North & Scotland
David P Jacobs BSc, MBCS, BVMS
15th September 2022
Copyright © MaxVal Consultancy Ltd, 2022. All rights reserved.
www.Maximum-Value.co.uk
1

2
How much do the methods,
approaches and practices help
to maximise value?
Who is responsible for
maximising value?
What is your top challenge
in respect of maximising
business value from IT?

3
The Journey

4
Year Industry Me BVMF®
1981 Early desktop
computers arrive
As a marketing
information
analyst I write my
first software and
get a very good
result for the
business
The conception
starts for better
business-IT work
practices
1993 Internet/web now
going…
I start
documenting my
models and
techniques
The birth starts
for better
business-IT work
practices
1995 Business process
reengineering (BPR)
starts to appear
My first article
published in
Corporate IT
Strategy
Better business-
IT working
morphs to value
maximisation
1996 IT industry still
finding it difficult to
admit there’s a
problem…
I draft ‘A New
Breed of
Friendship’ for the
FT IT Review
Role of Business
Value
Maximisation
Specialist
(BVMS) initiated

5
1999 BCS Business-IT
(BIT) Bridging group
starts
I attend the
founding of the
BCS BIT group
70% of BVMF®
has now been
written
2000 Agile starts.
David Taylor laments
poor project success
rates
I make my first
presentation on
BVMF®
Presentation at
Business-IT
Bridging
conference
2001 I present BVMF®
at BCS PROMS-G
Presented to
BCS PROMS-G
2003 The BCS finally
admits there is a
problem with IT
projects!
BVMF® is now
10 years in the
making
to NCC
to APM

6
2012 I present BVMF® to
Post Office BA
team
THE PO BAs like
BVMF!
2020 Agile starts its
20th year.
Value Era #3
starts
I present a brief
introduction to
BVMF® for IIBA UK
North
Brief
introduction
presented for
IIBA UK North
2021 The market
starts engaging
with BVMF®
more actively
I start training IT
professionals in
BVMF®
Experiences
significant
upswing in
market interest
2022 I start certifying at
Foundation level
and licensing
BVMF®
The upswing in
market interest
continues…
2023 Value Era #3 is
now well
underway…
I aim to roll out
Intermediate level
BVMF®
certification
Intermediate
certification to
start

7
Three Eras of IT Business Value
Era 1: 1980 to 1999
Waterfall, luke warm results
IT introverted, not customer (business) focused, too techie, unrealistic, inflexible, waterfall, too
long winded
Era 2: 2000 to 2019
Agile, slightly better results but barely half the story, leaves many questions unanswered
IT better at customer focus, starts using agile, realises bus requirements change and the need
to work more granularly, continuous focus on bus value; good progress but not the whole story
by any means – too much focus on rolling out IT without sufficient recognition that it’s the
business process that delivers the value…
Era 3: 2020 to 2039
Agile/Wagile/Prince2/etc underpinned by BVMF® gives much better results, significant
even dramatic increase in business value…
Where I want to be and BVMF® has been aiming since the 1990s. We all work together, led by
Business Value Maximisation Specialists (BVMSs). IT is more than a supplier and the business
more than a customer. IT and the business are partners, co-producers, collaborators. Business
objectives and process led. Business value led – to the max!
It’s all very well to talk about ‘bridging the gap’ between business and IT which has
been a conversation point for 35+ years but you can’t do the bridging without a value
based, suitably layered set of structures! The structures are getting a bit better but so very
slowly and are still a pale shadow of what’s required. BVMF® hit into this big time in the 1990s and
has progressed forcefully ever since. I hope you will see this for yourself.

8
Pros and Cons of Methods
Method Pros Cons Notes
Waterfall Predetermination is good.
Leaf level process model
plus data model plus
glossary provide value
Slow to deploy value.
Not the whole story
* Elephant missing
BPR implicit
Agile More business focused ** Promotes that working
software is the objective
veering away from real bv
It’s not the software that
produces the value! Golf
clubs don’t play themselves
Agile More collaborative Knee jerk reaction to
waterfall.
Confusing terms: product,
‘requirement’, feature…
user stories not clear on
the ingredients of value
Confused team structure
and roles: PO (no BA!), Prod
Mgr, etc.
Hypocritical on outcome vs
output; 15k to 136k
deployments at Amazon
Agile More granular Not the whole story * Elephant missing
Agile More responsive to
changing requirements
Lost some of the
con/sequential logic of
waterfall
Threw the baby out with
the bath water
Agile Handles emergence ‘better’ Emergence is only valid in
certain situations
BVMF’s Value Landscapes
help evaluate best methods
Wagile/hybrid Good compromise, more
realistic
Not the whole story * Elephant missing
Prince2, BRM, MSP, MoV,
BABOK, etc…
They are trying to bring a
logical approach
UML/Use Cases Better on interplay between
human beings and IT func
Human/system interplay ok
* Elephant = the
fundamental,
underlying principles
by which IT leads to
business value
Explicit/deliberate/act
ive obfuscation vs **
Implicit/incidental/pas
sive
inference/implication/
effect

9
The Elephant in the Room
The IT value jig-saw has pieces
missing or not fitting properly
A set of golf clubs is not the primary
determinant for the golfer winning or
losing the match
You would not drive your car all the
way to work in reverse (although
occasionally reverse gear is valid)
You can’t bake a great cake without
knowing what the ingredients are or
how to mix and cook them properly

10
Bridging the Gap
Business/
real world/
people
IT/
computers
Colour
Shades
of Grey
Analog
Fuzzy
Human
Tolerant/
flexible
Business
process
(organisa
tional
activity
path)
IT
functional
IT
technical
Black
and
white
Digital/
Binary
Exact
Robotic
Intolerant
/inflexible
Predefined
<-- Antithetic! -->
Human activity
Information (various types)
Information Technology
Computer
hardware
Markets
It’s hardly surprising that bridging between
business and IT is such a challenge!
The Activity/Role Spectrum
(simplified)

The First Question
… what do I need to focus on, think about
and, most importantly, do …
…practically and pragmatically?!
www.Maximum-Value.co.uk 11
If I want maximum business value (MBV)
from IT enabled process / ‘digital’
transformation
for my stakeholders/value interested
parties (VIPs)…

Specifically…
• What is value?
• How does value arise?
• Where will the value come from (how much
value is there to be had?)
• What are the elements that need to be
combined? (the value cake’s ingredients)
• How best/optimally to combine the elements?
• How do you get more value?
• How do you avoid getting less value?
• How do you measure/quantify value?
12

When moving from a current manual or
IT/’digitally’ supported situation to a future
one:
Will we be better off?
By how much will we be better off?
What’s the likely net gain – and did we
get it?
How do we make sure we’ll be the best off
possible?
How will we stay the best off possible?
13
Furthermore…

14
Right, let’s put our thinking caps on…
… factoring in
Aristotle’s syllogism/s,
Plato’s writings on
Socratic Questioning
and using a bit of basic
philosophical logic…
here we go…

What is Value?
The achievement/meeting of business/organisational
goals, objectives and expectations of
stakeholders/value interested parties (*VIPs)
PLUS
The exceedance** of business/organisational goals,
objectives and expectations of stakeholders/value
interested parties (VIPs)
* VIPs include all parties affected, involved in any way
** I want to maximise the harder to predict value as well as
the easier to predict value
It’s not easy to predict all value and it accrues (or gets
wasted) at micro level - business cases have tended to be
“macro-assumptive”
Value is net benefit - all tangible and less tangible costs and
benefits must be factored in/weighed up
15

IT Technical
IT TECH
IT Functional
IT FUNC
Business process/org activity path
BP/OAP
Business value
BV
Enables
Enacts
Delivers
16
Produces
the value
What IT
is/how IT
works
What IT
does
Improved
revenue, cost
reduction,
profit,
information,
etc…
How value arises
at run-time, fully ‘automated’

How value arises
at run-time, auto-assisted
IT Technical
IT TECH
IT Functional
IT FUNC
BP/OAP
Business value
BV
Enables
Enacts
Delivers
Manual
MAN
17
This includes
‘pure’ human
activity not
associated with
the IT system but
may be auto-
simulated …
MAN Pure
MAN/IT, and
(mechanical)
equipment
function
This includes
‘pure’ BP/OAP
which is not
auto-assisted
and BP/OAP(IT)
which is
This includes
auto-
assistance at
various levels
by software
and fully
‘automated’
processes
The BP/OAP-IT
part of this
process can only
be what it is
because of the IT
enablement
Equipment
function
(electronic,
mechanical)

How value is conceived and
designed at design time, auto-assisted
IT Technical
IT TECH
IT Functional
IT FUNC
BP/OAP
Business value
BV
Is delivered by
Is enacted by
Is enabled by
Manual
MAN
18
Equipment
function
(electronic,
mechanical)

IMPROVE
MAINTAIN
D
O
H
O
W
Business Mission/Vision/Goals
Business Goals, Objectives, Measures: OKR, KPI, SLA, OLA, CSF, KSFs
Conceptual Information System (CIS) infox4 + (pure) manual + eqpt
Optimised Business Process/Activity Path (BP/OAP)
Value Conception and Design
using Layers of Focus
IT ‘Requirements’ (‘Functional’ x2 and ‘Non-Functional’) IT FUNC + IT TECH
IT Functional Design (logical, conceptual x process/data)
IT Technical Design (physical)
IT Code, Test, Train, Deploy
IT Proactive Support, Maintenance
and Enhancement
Value
Conception
and
Design
Business Value
(at run time)
Non-Contiguous Overlay / Business Process/Activity Path Spatial Domain
W
H
A
T
19
Required
Business
Process/
Org Activity
Path
(BP/OAP)
Strategy, Tactics, etc
WHO
WHY
The layer cake,
chain, jig-saw
were lacking…

20
Ingredient description Ingredient name
Business process/org
activity path (incl. creation BP/OAP 25?
and use of information INFO)
Human activity (and EQPT) MAN (‘pure’ and 10?
IT related) 10?
IT functionality IT FUNC 25?
IT technicality/technology IT TECH 10?
Morale, PR, image, reputation,
goodwill, perception, kudos,
prestige, motivation (less tangible) MISC 5?
Cost (£s absolute/reduction delta) COST 15?
* The value ingredients are not always mutually excusive; it depends how you look at them… also we
must factor in mechanical equipment’s functionality …
% of total
value to be
realised*
Where will our value come from?
What are value’s ingredients?
How much value can we get from each
ingredient, i.e. what’s the Propensity?*

What do we expect the value of IT FUNC-N
to be?
How much value (uplift in process performance) do
we expect?
21
In an averagely worthwhile, acceptable, successful
project, to what extent do we (expect to) boost the
reengineered business process’s ability to do its job by
using (improved) ‘automation’… as a starting point/general
guideline?
10% (1.1)?
25% (1.25)?
50% (1.5)?
75% (1.75)?
100% (2.0)?
Previous survey responses ranged from 1.1 to 1.6, mid-point 1.35;
due to slightly more responses in the lower range, most likely
value is between 1.325 and 1.35 – for this example will use 1.333
What is the
general number?
What do we want
our number to be
– on our specific
project/s?
How will we get
there?
Will we be faster, more
accurate, better quality, more
available/accessible/
centralised? And are we
prepared for the negatives as
one tiny fault can cause huge
damage? And wrt visibility,
computerised functionality
(and errors) can be harder to
see for the humans involved…

22
How much better off do we
expect to be?
The Business Value Equation
Net Business Gain (or Loss)
is proportional to
the Performance of the
Reengineered/Reviewed Business
Process/Org Activity Path
as helped (or hindered) by the
IT Functionality
as supported (or degraded) by the
IT Technicality/technology
plus (or minus) an element of Image,
Morale, Reputation, etc…
…all subject to Cost

23
This combines the value factors (ingredients) together
numerically to show how much value we expect to achieve (at
design time) and do achieve (at run time) and … how very easy
it is to do more harm than good!
We have:
Net Business Gain/Loss (NBG/L) is proportional to the power of the
reengineered business process/org activity path (BP/OAP-R)
as boosted (or hindered) by IT functionality (IT FUNC)
as enabled (or degraded) by IT technicality (IT TECH)
plus or minus less tangible factors (MISC)
all minus cost (COST)
Symbolically, this is:
NBG/L ∝ BP/OAP-R * (IT FUNC * IT TECH) +- MISC - COST
Some key terms:
Value = net benefit, BPR = business process reengineering/redesign/review
Information Systems Business Value = ISBV
Gross ISBV = IT FUNC, Net ISBV = IT FUNC * IT TECH
IT Effectiveness = IT TECH, IT TECH = Uptime * Efficiency/Effectiveness
E.g. 90% * 90% = 81%

24
Example Based on Predicted and Actual Output,
at Design and Run time
The existing business process (BP/OAP-0) is outputting 25 widgets a day; when
reengineered (BP/OAP-R), it outputs 30 widgets a day
Now, when ‘re/automated’ (to BP/OAP-RA), the business process’s output will be
equal to:
The output of the existing reengineered business process BP/OAP-R at 30 widgets
As boosted (or hindered) by the new IT functionality IT FUNC-N i.e. 30 * the IT
functional boost factor (expressed as n.nnn), e.g. 30 * 1.333 = 40
As supported/enabled (or degraded) by the new IT technicality IT TECH-N i.e. *
100% at full tilt (more likely to be 90% efficiency for 90% of the time i.e. 81%)
So, the equation we are looking at is: 30 * 1.333 = 40 * 81% = 32 …
The new level of ‘re/automated’ output (BP/OAP-RA) = BP/OAP-R * (IT FUNC-N * IT
TECH-N)
…we will ignore the other ingredients (MAN), MISC and COST for the time being…
Given that we are now outputting 30 widgets a week in our newly reengineered
process and we assume that IT-TECH-N will be 100% (is that realistic?) … how much
good will we do by introducing or upgrading the ‘automation’ of this process?
Upper and lower limits of the
variables are important…

Transforming Output into Net
Business Gain/Loss
Process Initial
widgets
output/
volume
IT
FUNC-
N
* n.nnn
IT
TECH-
N
* nnn%
Resultant
output
Net Business
Gain/Loss
over BP/OAP-
R
% Gain/
Loss
over BP/OAP-R
BP/OAP-0
un-reengineered
process
25 25 N/a
BP/OAP-R
reengineered
process (baseline)
30 30 0 0
BP/OAP-RA 30 1.333 100 40 10 +33.3 (unlikely)
BP/OAP-RA 30 1.333 81 32.4 2.4 +8
BP/OAP-RA 30 1.333 75 30 0 0 (‘automation’
completely nullified)
BP/OAP-RA 30 1.333 72.25 29 -1 -3.33 (worse than
the BPR’d level)
BP/OAP-RA 30 1.333 66.67 25 -5 -20 (back to prior to
the BPR)
BP/OAP-RA 30 1.333 50 20 -10 -33.3 (worse than
ever was!)
BP/OAP-RA
includes less
predictable/exceed
expectations
output
30 1.5 81 36.5 6.5 +21.7%
NB these numbers do not take (MAN,) MISC and COST into account…
you can add MISC, turn it into money, take away COST, get to profit…
25

26
Application of
BVMF®
1 Identify
value
ingredients and
your org’s
objectives
2 Design
business
process/org
act path 3 Design IT
Function-
ality
6 Use,
Assess,
Repeat 5 Create,
Mix, Cook,
Serve
4 Design IT
Technology
Application of
BVMF® is by:
1) Ad
hoc/troubleshooting
or
2) Systematic
assessment and
improvement of
value maximisation
capability
BVMF® has several
dozen models and
several hundred
concepts, principles,
guidelines and
techniques (CPGTs)
arranged into modules

27
The Conceptual Units of Benefit (CUB) Ladder (1)
What degree of value can we expect from each project, project
element, sprint, etc; at best, and at worst? How do the functions
‘requirements’ or project components relate to each other?
0
1
N
3
2
-N
Functional Hygiene factors
Technical Hygiene factors
Software generation upgrades
Technical patches
Network maintenance
Virus control
Higher echelons of value
Significant, dramatic growth
Business creativity exploited
Continuing improvement
Worth
doing, some
benefit
Running to
stand still,
negligible
positive
benefit
What we’re
aiming at!
Users ‘satisfied, acceptable ROI’
Cost ‘containment’
Improved support to business
Traditional ‘automation’
Software/project ‘success’
Conceptual
Units
of
Benefit
Limited
Value
Unlimited
Value
Hygiene
value
Little
value
Damage!
Infrastructure
Housekeeping/
Basics
Connectivity
Positive Value Low
Positive Value High
Better
Value
Positive Value Medium

The Conceptual Units of Benefit
(CUB) Ladder (2)
0
2
3
BP/OAP, IT FUNC
BP/OAP, IT FUNC, IT
TECH
BP/OAP, IT FUNC
Conceptual
Units
of
Benefit
Enabler/Dissatisfier/Hygiene/Basic
No Value (Neutral)
Negative Value (Waste)
Positive Value Factor: Low
Satisfier/Motivator/Normal/Want
Positive Value Factor: High
Satisfier++/Motivator++/Wow
Positive Value Factor: Medium
Satisfier+/Motivator+/Exciter/Delighter
28
1
Score ‘requirements’, functions and project elements at design and run
time. Use as adjunct to MoSCoW with who, why, what, etc.
BP/OAP, IT FUNC, IT
TECH
Worthwhile (expectations met)
Exceedingly Worthwhile (expectations exceeded)
More than Worthwhile (expectations met/exceeded)
BP/OAP, IT FUNC, IT
TECH
BP/OAP, IT FUNC
You can also consider MAN,
MISC and COST. And try for
granular application…
With grateful
thanks to
Hertzberg, Kano,
VSA&M and Lean.
Beware, these CUB
scores continually
move downwards –
sad fact of life!
Tech debt, vulnerabilities, live issues
Epics, features/themes, user stories

29
Would you compose your
team, like this? Or like this?
Optimal Human-Computer Interaction
using “Football Team Management”
to balance our team for maximum performance
Value arises from the combined strength of the players…
Boeing did this very badly with their 737 Max MCAS system. Pilots and system were
NOT blended together in an effective fashion. Pilots were not properly trained and the
ball (of control) could not be passed from system to human effectively at the crucial
(run) time when human override was required. Sadly, 346 people died.
BVMF® has a variety of models and techniques to help address
this challenge including Interfacial Sins Avoidance (ISA), macro
to micro correspondence (MTMC), value focused functional
design (VFFD), etc…

30
There are (so) many ways
to get this wrong, and only
a (very) few ways to get it
right; sometimes even
only one!
The Mighty
Cruel Ratio

31

32
Oh dear, oh dear…
This makes me think of
burgers and chips and
Fish Finger Syndrome…
why a 1 hr wait?

IT is potentially highly
dangerous… the more you
‘automate’ the more damage
occurs when things go
wrong, as they often do! Many
organisations still don’t get this.
In 2017, British Airways cancelled
726 flights when their check-in
system failed – there was nothing
wrong with the planes! Cost £80m.
In 2018, a report said “TSB lacked
common sense before its IT
meltdown”. Cost £100m.
From 1999 to 2020, the Post Office
persecuted and jailed many of its
sub-postmasters for fraud which
turned out to be the fault of its
Horizon IT system. Cost £100m.
Business Practice and Contingency
(BP&C) helps deal with this…
33

Continuous steps
of project,
programme &
support work
Time
Technical
Capability
The Step Diagram
Value
Value
Value
Value
To optimise value against (high)
expectations and to hit the moving
target, we need to cut steps into the
Technology capability (growth) curve
Technology
curve
34
This helps you
optimise your efforts
against a moving
target
To balance/optimise, for
each piece of
work/increment/iteration,
time vs progression in tech,
func and bus objectives
achievement… including
architectural catch up…
(A celluloid film’s 24
frames a second looks
like seamless moving
pictures…)
Our industry is(still)
young – tech
capability is rising
exponentially and,
ditto potentially
business value, but
manifestly we have
a (long) way to go
with bus value
max… here’s one
way to proceed…

35
Although Peter Drucker
said “You can only
manage what you can
measure” which is broadly
true, you can maximise
each successive tranche
of value using
comparatives and sensible
‘handles’…

36
Continual Improvement with
the Crossword Diagram
For ‘putting a handle’ on value, to identify and rectify low value
scores, to make sure the new world is much better than the old
Make
and sell
widgets
+
SOP
0
Manufacturing
+
Purchasing
+
Customer
Service
++
Maintain
Invoices
++
Maintain
Customers
+
Maintain
Credit
Details
0
Maintain
Payments
-
Comparatives:
++ = much better
+ = better
0 = same
- = worse
-- = much worse
Scores represent actuals or estimates of
performance of business process BP/OAP as helped
by IT FUNC (by function) as enabled by IT TECH.
Optionally feed in BV Equation, CUB Ladder scores
and Football Team Management (FTM) identifying
lower scoring areas and variables in order to
maximise predictable and less predictable value.
Use KPIs (against OKRs) and extend them.
Decompose
into 4 cells
and score
each cell…
Add in recent
dimensions of what to
analyse, how to
measure/assess,
granularity… can also
include Man, Cost,
Misc. BP/OAP horiz
and vertical, then
FUNC, then TECH,
then other variables..

Services
37
Service Status Chargeable
Introduction to Business Value
Maximisation Framework
(BVMF®)
Available N
Value Clinic (30 minutes) Available N
Business Analysis primer (recap
on basic BA skills)
Available Y
Foundation training in BVMF® (15
hrs, certification as BVMS)
Available Y
Intermediate training in BVMF® Under
development
N/a
Advanced training in BVMF® Under
development
N/a
BVMF® Consultancy Available Y
Value based career
coaching/mentoring
Available Y

How much better do you think
you now are at understanding,
identifying and manifesting IT
business value?
38
Better
Same
Worse
Don’t know
{Other}

Email DavidJ@Maximum-Value.co.uk
Tel 07799 036652
Web www.Maximum-Value.co.uk
39
Bonus slides
follow…

A few more models, concepts
and techniques…
40
Name Function Status
Representivity Correspondence/alignment between real world
process and data and how appropriately they
are represented in an IT system
Foundation and
Intermediate training
Predefinition, currency and
control (P,C&C)
Degree of control a user has within a given
time scale, including immediacy of mutual
communication (IOMC)
Under development
Sole working vs team sizes Optimisation of the balance between the single
mind and larger teams
Under development
The IT Effectiveness
Programme
Systematic way to improve value maximisation
capability using the IT effectiveness Spectrum
assessment tool
Intermediate/Advanced
Assess, Boost, Check
(ABC)
Way to boost value when it threatens to falter;
works in conjunction with Crossword Diagram
Foundation
Croydon Facelift Optimised way to work and communicate with
users/SMEs
Drafted, under trial
Functional Creativity To help the business community to envisage
required IT functionality
Foundation
Taking the Rap So business managers can avoid surreptitious
inclusion of work practice
Foundation/Intermediate
Value focused
‘requirements’ definition
To develop atomic, value focused
‘requirements’ for each value ingredient
Foundation/Intermediate
Specific terminology
definition
Yield more value from accurate terms
definition with glossaries that equate business
and IT terminology
Foundation

41
Some Illustrations of the Power
A construction company, a retail merchandising
brokerage, a telecoms organisation and a university have
all had deep rooted business-IT problems resolved or rife
opportunities exploited by BVMF®
The MaxVal website has case studies
and more client comments on it…
The European Purchasing Manager of a multinational
manufacturer said “Your business value approach has got
us more value then we thought possible.”

42
Eras of IT Business Value
and the 20 year time lag
Era Date Characteristics & Events Use Methods & BVMF Results
0 1960-
1979
Mainframes, IBM, DEC PDP Payroll, batch Basic Average.
Pundits sceptical
1 1980-
1999
1996
Minis, Micros, Desktops, Apple, Visicalc,
Vax/Vms (DEC), Unix, MS DOS, email,
dawn of internet/web
Research shows business-IT hybridism is
highly powerful
Saying there’s problem/telling the truth is
too controversial (FT IT Review)
IT doesn’t serve business well
RDBMS, client
server, 3GL,
4GL/GE
JAD/RAD
SSADM
Waterfall
BPR
Successful multi
faceted business-
IT ‘hybridism’
leads to birth of
BVMF®
Poor success
Takes too long
Not business focused
Many failures
1 1999 IBM survey on results of ERP
BCS Business-IT Bridging Group starts
Agile invented
ERP, BPR Software
implementation
Organisations are
missing out on value by
not reviewing their
processes
2 2000
2003
David Taylor, President of IT Dirs Assoc,
says “We need a whole new approach.”
BCS finally admits there is a problem
“We need
something
different”
I said ‘Yes David,
that’s why I’ve
developed BVMF!’
Agile authors think
software is the problem
2 2000-
2019
Agile, Microsoft prevalence
Business becomes client of IT (you
hope…)
IT starts to serve business as a supplier
to a client
SQL Server
MS Dynamics
DevOps (hm…)
BVMF® refined
IT gets more business
focused, continuous,
granular (hooray) – but
misses the main story;
agile ‘smudges’ value
3 2020-
2039
We are here!
Business-IT collaborate, become
partners which leads to much more
value
Digitisation
and ‘digital’
transformation
Increased interest
arises in BVMF®
In Era 3 – we are finally
getting there…

43
Types, Aspects & Dimensions
Macro/big picture/high Mid level Micro/detail/low
General/generic Specific
Predictable Less predictable Unpredictable
Design time Dvt & Test time Run time
Predicted/expected/forecast Actual
Tangible Less tangible Intangible
Quantifiable Less quantifiable Unquantifiable
Quantitative Handled Qualitative
Conceptual/abstract/logical Concrete/physical
Negative Zero Hygiene Positive +, ++, +++
Dependent Less dependent Independent
Objective … Subjective
Absolute … Comparative
Ongoing/at a point in time Incremental/delta
Objectives part met Objectives Met Objectives exceeded
First past the post (possibly waterfall) Proportional (possibly agile)
Perceived … Real/actual
High propensity Medium propensity Low propensity
High representivity Medium representivity Low representivity
Characteristics of the Value Landscape

44
Crossword Diagram
Dimensions of Application
Make
and sell
widgets
+
SOP
0
Manufacturing
+
Purchasing
+
Customer
Service
++
Maintain
Invoices
++
Maintain
Customers
+
Maintain
Credit
Details
0
Maintain
Payments
-
Decompose
into 4 cells
and score
each cell…
1 by BP/OAP
2 by elements:
MAN
IT FUNC
IT TECH
MISC
COST
4 at design, test, run
time…
5 at/for each Step
(iteration/increment)
3 by IT FUNC
levels:
module,
function,
form/screen,
field,
validation/logi
c/bus
rules/coded
process
Assessment Criteria:
Time to enter data and accuracy of MI
Effectiveness of process and IT
functionality
Presence of ‘bugs’
Need for surrogates, workarounds…
Presence of sins (errors) at micro
level… etc…

45
Who is Business Value Maximisation
Framework (BVMF®) for?
Business Analysts (BAs)?
Project Managers (PMs)?
Product Owners (POs)?
Product Managers (PMs)?
Actually, anyone interested in gaining much more value
from IT enabled process: business analysts, project
managers, product owners, portfolio managers,
programme managers, IT managers, IT directors, senior
developers/technicians, CIOs (misnomer), CxOs, business
SMEs/secondees, business change/organisational design
managers, relationship managers, etc.
Business value maximisation specialists (BVMSs) and
BVMF® help, and show us all how to work together in this
endeavour to engender MBV

To optimise the value of each STEP
in the Step Diagram
46
Decide for each STEP how high you will shoot for
technical, functional and process improvement – and
how long the STEP will be.
It’s not about Waterfall, Agile or a hybrid approach;
it’s about continuous progress.
For example, are you in a business marketplace
where first past the post applies, or, where a more
proportional reward system applies?
What time scales are required?
Waterfall <-> Agile is a spectrum and each piece of
work may be different in this respect
Use the Value Landscape Characteristics to help
decide which approach will be best for a given piece
of work

47
Aspects of Value
Ways of looking at value and
understanding it
Two key Landscape Value Characteristics (LVCs)
Above or below the value (Conceptual Units
of Benefit) line:
• Hygiene value
• Positive value
• Negative value
• Arbitrary value (starts neutral, becomes
potentially Negative)
Proportionality:
• First past the post; all or nothing
• Proportional

48
Business Value Maximisation Framework
(BVMF®) - Structure of Components
Analysis of problems, symptoms and causes
Macro level, outline solutions (models and
modules) with pointers to micro level solutions
Micro level solutions: concepts and principles (understanding
the problems and focus needed) and guidelines and techniques
(things to do to resolve the problems), structured into modules
Functional
Concepts
Principles
of
Automation
‘Bridging’
skills, the
value role
Decision
Strategy
Business
Practice &
Contingency
Culture
&
Assimilation
Concepts, Principles, Guidelines & Techniques (CPGTs)
Value
Identification &
Maximisation
Models, modules and techniques are being continually
developed and refined…

www.Maximum-Value.co.uk 49
Business Value Maximisation
Framework (BVMF®)
Is a comprehensive set of fundamental, underlying principles by which IT
business value is maximised, practically and pragmatically
Underpins and transcends Waterfall, Agile, Wagile, Prince2 and other
approaches and methods, significantly, even dramatically, increasing net
business (organisational) gain
Consists of several dozen models and several hundred techniques
(concepts, principles, guidelines and techniques; abbreviated to CPGTs) –
the models clarify the problem/challenge and point to a solution at a macro
level; the techniques are things you focus on and do to solve the problem/s
Uses understandable, everyday analogies to illustrate its principles and yet
has been developed from more than 35 years of first, second and third hand
experience and research, all reconciled and verified using standard
philosophical logic like Socratic questioning and Aristotelian syllogism
coupled with techniques such as hypothesis and observatory and inductive
refinement. Case studies are also continually providing input and feedback
Is as much an ethos, attitude and approach (business value focused) as a
set of models and techniques

50
Why Business Value Maximisation
Framework (BVMF)® is different
It’s the only fully dedicated, fundamental,
understandable and usable set of principles for IT
business value maximisation known to exist
It does not reinvent the wheel – you use it with
Waterfall, Agile, Wagile, Prince2, everything… and
it makes those approaches/methods significantly,
even dramatically, more effective
It’s been developed from first, second and third
hand experience coupled with philosophical logic
and reasoning (per Aristotle, Socrates and Plato) –
practice leads to hypothesis/theory which leads on
to improved practice and the cycle repeats – it
never stops progressing

51
Considerations
Be aware whether you’re measuring delta/change value or
absolute/ongoing value… i.e. the incremental value of moving from T1 to
T2, say from 30 to 40 widgets a week at a unit cost of £5 down to £4.50, or
the ongoing value of 40 widgets a week at a unit cost of £4.50…
We assume here that the full effect of IT FUNC operates on BP/OAP
boosting (or hindering) it. Depending on the degree and nature of any
‘automation’ the effect of IT FUNC will typically not be 100% but may be
85% for example…
Successive releases of business process and IT systems include changes
to processes (BP/OAPs) and IT systems and so some value gains will be
due to pure process (BP/OAP) upgrade irrespective of any improvement in
IT FUNC
What we want/expect from IT FUNC and what we get are two different
things, usually! Design time expectations may not be realised at Run time
You will likely struggle to apply this equation at a fully granular level (you
can work down from high level process all the way to function, screen and
even field level, in theory) but doing it at a sensible level will invariably
yield great dividends in Business Value

Key Points about BVMF®
52
BVMF® does NOT replace existing/traditional/conventional
methods, practices and roles – it augments, completes, focuses
and refines them. It sets out the principles of value maximisation
providing a framework to help implement ‘solutions’. It seeks to
SIMPLIFY rather than complicate.
BVMF® fundamentally aims to address IT enabled business process
but is also substantially appropriate to software enabled
technologies like aircraft operation, building management systems
and IoT. Finally, it can also be useful on non IT projects.
This slide pack has been a basic introduction. BVMF® has much more to offer as
it contains:
• Several dozen models (in PowerPoint) – these define the problems and offer a
macro level ‘solution’ for the micro activities (CPGTs) to support
• Several hundred concepts, principles, guidelines and techniques (CPGTs) (in
PowerPoint and Word) – these are the micro level points you think about,
focus on and do to enact the macro level ‘solutions’ presented in the models
• A number of models and approaches to implementing BVMF® within a
systematic programme to augment the default ad hoc, tailored approach
where you choose to use any of the framework’s tools to help you raise your
ISBV

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