How hard is it to switch TBM tools?

Written by Gboyega Adebayo

The Question: How hard is it to switch TBM tools?

What's Going On: Our TBM platform is up for renewal, and there are rumblings about switching to another tool.

What I'm Afraid Of: That we spend a year rebuilding the same model in a new tool and nothing changes.

Honestly, the tool is the easy part. Switching platforms is hard because it puts the whole program under review and the renewal tends to force that conversation before anyone is ready for it.

I’d start with what’s causing the rumblings. Organizations consider switching for myriad reasons, but underlying issues of data quality, unclear ownership, or executive sponsorship often carry over to the new platform unless they are directly addressed. That’s how you end up living out your fear, a year of rebuilding the same model with the same maturity challenges.

Instead of chasing technical parity or treating the switch as a data project, I would encourage you to do the following:

  1. Assess where you are. Look at your use cases, maturity, and processes. Map your stakeholders, including the skeptics and the people who’ve disengaged. Inventory your data and how ready it is, and write down why you’re migrating and what success looks like.

  2. Design the target state. Decide which TBM and FinOps use cases matter most, what you expect from the TBM office, and what role the platform plays in decisions. Set principles for where you’ll standardize and where you’ll configure.

  3. Transition the platform. Map current capabilities to the new tool, decide how stakeholders will interact with it, and make configuration and integration choices against the target state, not the old model.

  4. Build the roadmap and adoption plan. Set a phased plan (90, 180, and 365 days), train the TBM office, and plan the handoff of ownership so the program keeps going after go-live.

Whether or not you switch, the rumblings signal a need to do this self-evaluation. If done well, the roadmap should accelerate value with the new tool or get you back on track with the existing one.

Hope that helps!

Gboyega Adebayo

—


Have a question of your own? Submit here.

Gboyega Adebayo
Next

Getting the org to stop seeing TBM as a cost-cutting exercise