What's An IT Service Broker ?

Let’s begin with a basic definition. Brokers are generally defined as trusted advisors or intermediaries who facilitate commercial transactions. Brokers provide professional services that allow buyers to free themselves from tactical time consuming tasks to focus on strategic goals and objectives.

The concept of brokering services has existed for many years in industries apart from information technology (“IT”). For example, real estate buyers often enlist the help of brokers to market property, qualify interested parties, negotiate agreements, coordinate inspections, and complete a property transition. Buyers incent real estate brokers to provide rapid results by engaging in short-term agreements.

Not unlike the real estate profession, private and public sector organizations are demanding quick results from IT experts with tangible benefits – not multi-year plans loaded with promised potential. Maintaining the status quo of traditional IT sourcing and management is no longer an option for many. The growing demand for change is giving rise to the concept of an IT Service Broker – an entity that can deliver an accessible, integrated, secure and market-differentiating IT solution which solves a business problem in a short period of time.

Industry pundits have given much hype to the concept of an IT Service Broker, especially the closely aligned cloud service broker, but have failed to explain how the role would work in practice. This blog offers my own explanation as to why the role of an IT Service Broker is needed, and how the role can be implemented. I also discuss the benefits of adopting this paradigm shift in IT organizational strategy.

IT Service Broker Role

It is news to no one that change is accelerating in the IT industry. The adoption of mobile access and cloud computing has forever altered IT delivery models. Social media platforms have re-defined communications and collaboration expectations. Short-term pay-by-use service agreements are the new norm of business and contract models. In yesterday’s world where IT product and service choices were limited and slow to evolve, it was possible for fully staffed IT departments to be “all things to all people”. Today and tomorrow, austere IT departments must selectively decide where their time and efforts are best directed to keep pace with the change that is overwhelming most every area of the IT industry.

It’s my personal belief that the primary and retained role of IT leadership inside private and public sectors organizations will be that of an architect whose objectives will be business focused, and not technology oriented. The role of the architect will include strategy, design and governance services. To implement their strategies and designs, architects will call upon the role of the IT Service Broker. An IT Service Broker will serve as a general contractor sourcing services, internal or external, based on the architect’s requirements and specifications. The functions of an IT Service Broker may vary, but can include research, planning, recommendations, sourcing, negotiation, integration, transition and ongoing management of any IT service. 

The Benefits

So what’s the benefit of the IT Service Broker role? Professional IT Service Brokers will quickly and objectively source an optimal IT solution that delivers differentiating, flexible and high-quality services at competitive market rates. The role of the IT Service Broker is designed to remove mundane and tedious tasks so that executives can focus valuable time and efforts on strategic and business-oriented programs. Unlike traditional management consulting, the goal of an IT Service Broker is to deliver high-quality results in short periods of time to minimize expense. To use a real-world example, many organizations evaluate market choices with regards to e-mail administration and support. An IT Service Broker can evaluate both internal and external e-mail support options, and recommend a tailored solution based upon architect-supplied business requirements. A professional IT Service Broker will assess and provide recommendations for services in a fraction of the time at significantly less cost than traditional IT sourcing processes. Moreover, by relying on free market principals, IT Service Brokers have the latitude to select solutions that will fast-forward technology adoption along with implementing flexible and favorable business terms.

While the qualitative benefits are intriguing, it’s the quantitative benefits that garner business leader’s attention. Organizations can lower their IT operations costs by a minimum of 10% simply by expanding the competitive base of potential service providers via IT Service Brokers. Typically, IT operational costs are 70% to 80% of an organization’s IT budget, so the potential cost-savings are significant. Once the IT Service Broker role has been implemented along with the architect role, the benefits continue to compound. The IT function can begin to organize more closely with business units and consolidate overlapping roles, thereby realizing additional overhead savings. Should organizations choose external IT Service Brokers, they can further manage their cost by employing IT Service Brokers when needed for the duration of time that is needed – this approach is particularly intriguing for small and medium sized businesses.

Summary

The IT Service Broker role will play a crucial role in sourcing IT and business services. The IT architect will also play a pivotal role in defining the specifications and business requirements that will provide the blueprint for the IT Service Broker. These roles will revolutionize how organizations design, source and deliver IT services. Organizations would do well to remember a quote that has been attributed to both Alan Kay and Peter Drucker who together blend both a technology and business perspective – “the best way to predict the future is to create it”.