Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP®)

Complete Title: Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP®) - How to Connect, Orchestrate, and Navigate between Your Service and Business Units

The Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP)® training and certification program provides a comprehensive foundation for Business Relationship Managers at every experience level, with the training and certification designed to provide a solid baseline level of knowledge.

Business Relationship Management (BRM) embodies a set of competencies (knowledge, skills, and behaviors) to foster an effective business value-producing relationship between a service provider and its business partners. These competencies can be leveraged through organizational roles (e.g., in an IT organization, the CIO typically has a role of BRM for the enterprise), a discipline (e.g., all business partner facing service provider roles should be skilled in Business Relationship Management), and an organizational capability (e.g., a service provider organization should be effective in shaping and channeling demand to the highest business value opportunities).

Who Should Attend 

All professionals in business partner facing service provider roles, such as:

• Project managers
• Business analysts
• Architects
• External service providers 
• Representatives of shared services organizations including IT, HR, Finance, Legal, Purchasing, Sales, Strategy Planning, etc.
• All professionals in business partner facing service provider roles and anyone else interested in business value maximization
• Those interested in becoming certified as a Business Relationship Manager, Implementer or Assessor

What You Will Learn 

By attending the training and successfully passing the exam, you will be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

• The characteristics of the BRM role
• What it means to perform as a strategic partner, contributing to business strategy formulation and shaping business demand for the provider’s services
• The use of Portfolio Management disciplines and techniques to maximize realized business value
• Business Transition Management and the conditions for successful change programs to minimize value leakage
• The BRM role in Service Management and alignment of services and service levels with business needs
• The principles of effective and persuasive communication

Course Overview 

BRM Overview

• Be able to explain the goals and objectives of the BRM role
• Understand why the BRM role is gaining importance and how it is evolving in response to business and provider forces
• Explain the concepts of Business Demand Maturity and Provider Supply Maturity and how these impact the BRM role
• Understand the drivers of relationship maturity and be able to differentiate between tactical and strategic BRM roles and how these relate to order taker, trusted consultant, and strategic business partner
• Be able to explain common BRM reporting and organizing structures

Strategic Partnering

• Understand “Demand Shaping” as a means to increase value realization from provider investments, services, and assets
• Be able to use a Strategic Relationship Management Process and Tools to strengthen business partner and provider relationships
• Understand how and where to engage in your business partner’s decision cycle
• Co-develop, with your business partner, a Relationship Strategy-on-a-Page as a mutual Relationship Contract

Business IQ

• Understand the concepts of “Value Leakage” and the BRMs’ role in minimizing this
• Understand the concepts of Capability Roadmaps and how these are derived from business strategy
• Understand the concepts of Value Management and how these link business strategy, provider strategy, portfolio and the business case to shape priorities, communicate, and drive business value
• Be able to use Business Outcomes to clarify strategic initiatives, manage scope, and determine value metrics

Portfolio Management

• Understand how Portfolio Management is the central mechanism for a Value Management Process
• Understand how to apply Portfolio Management to the entire life cycle of provider investments, from managing new investments, optimizing existing investments, and retiring old investments
• Understand the relationships between Project, Program, and Portfolio Management and how these work together to optimize business value
• Be familiar with two common Portfolio Classification schemes and how they are applied to achieve Portfolio Balancing
• Understand how governance processes and structures are used in support of Portfolio Management

Business Transition Management

• Understand what Business Transition Management is, why it is important to BRM, and the components of a Business Transition Capability Model
• Understand how to create urgency for stakeholders
• Understand the key roles to be orchestrated for successful business transition
• Understand key change leadership concepts
• Understand the importance of clarifying the change details and typical methods for achieving clarity
• Understand how the Cliff Analogy illustrates all key factors in managing a transition

Provider Domain

• Understand the value-centric definition of a service
• Understand the important distinctions between Products and Services and the implications for the BRM
• Understand the different aspects of service value and how service provider constraints impact the role of the BRM

Powerful Communications

• Understand the components of “powerful communications”
• Understand how to influence those over whom they do not have direct control
• Be able to express themselves through a unique value proposition

APMG Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP®) Exam Preparation

• Review of and practice with APMG sample questions and test papers

APMG Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP®) Exam

• Traditional Classroom: The exam is taken and marked (provisionally) within the course 

Summary and Next Steps

About the Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP®) Exam:

• 40 minutes, closed-book exam
• 50 multiple-choice style questions
• 25 marks required (out of 50 available) to pass – 50% pass mark