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A Shift to the Virtual Dimension

I need to do the most important thing first: How are you doing?

These are stressful times and organizations are facing challenges that are compounded by the personal challenges in everyone’s lives.

I sincerely hope that everyone is staying safe and taking care of themselves.  And not just yourself, but your team and your family. This is the time we all need to work on being flexible, but that new flexibility can bring growing pains. During this challenging time, we are all pivoting our normal ways of doing things in order to continue accomplishing goals and providing our respective organizations, companies, and communities the level of effort and skills they need to survive and thrive during this difficult time.

With that in mind, Thavron Solutions will be changing our on-site TBM/ITFM workshops and classes into interactive Webinar presentations until further notice. 

Hopefully, this will provide the TBM/ITFM community a way to sharpen their skills and continue on their learning path while adhering to our national responsibility to do what we can to keep social distancing.  In addition to becoming Virtual, we will be offering a significant reduction in the registration cost to attend our May Workshop.  The standard registration fee for in-person workshops is $499 per person, but in order to try to keep our community together and have at least some virtual socialization, we are reducing registrations to just $49 per person.  Although we added a few seats for the virtual session, these are not unlimited size- be sure to grab a seat before they are sold out.

We will also be offering monthly virtual live-streamed talks with featured speakers about current TBM/ITFM topics that are foremost on people’s minds.  These talks are free and interactive, so please join us and your fellow practitioners. for topical discussion.  Our next live-stream on April 16 is focused on how COVID-19 is impacting ITFM practitioners and organizations. Our guest panelists are Ginger Allen, Guidewell and Tony Rees, Minnesota IT Services.  You can register to participate in the interactive live stream here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/2215862019622/WN_Nun7lg9YTiGqMmV-6qKuMw

Some of the conferences we were planning to attend have done some virtual shifts as well, so be sure to watch for updates on how to see our conference presentations, and to interact with us virtually at those online gatherings.

We hope to see you soon, if not in person, at least in spirit.

Be well and stay safe.

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Covid 19 and ITFM: Live Streamed Discussion with Panel of experts

Join us for a live-streamed discussion about the impact of Covid-19 driven actions and changes on resources and IT Financial Management for medium to large organizations.

Nan Braun, CEO of Thavron Solutions will be joined (virtually) by Ginger Allen – the Senior Director of IT Business Management at Guidewell/Florida Blue and Tony Rees – the Budget Director/Financial Management Lead for the State of Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) for a live-streamed discussion and Q&A on April 16 at 1 PM EDT. Join us to learn how these experts are tracking costs specific to these new projects and initiatives, how they are coping with the impact to other budgeted initiatives, and the types of reporting they are doing or planning to support executive decision making in their organizations.

Register here:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/1015855890038/WN_Nun7lg9YTiGqMmV-6qKuMw

Selecting Software Solutions and Getting Started with TBM – Learn and Lead Workshop for ITFM: Sept 24, 2020

September 24, 2020 @ 09:00 – 16:00

Right Tool. Right People. Right Process….

Are you Ready?  Are you sure? 

How do you Choose a Path Forward?  

An ITFM / TBM automation platform is an investment that can bring cultural and bottom-line impact to a company.  Vendor options continue to change and grow, making the process of choosing the right platform a major challenge.

Any step forward on your journey to maturity can be fraught with uncertainty and potential failure. It can be hard to justify a large investment of time and money for the next project when you don’t know what you can confidently deliver.

Join Thavron CEO Nan Braun for a full day of workshops that will empower you to self assess and engage with Vendors confidently.

About Nan:   Nan Braun has worked in and with Corporate IT for nearly 25 years.  Nan is a featured speaker and presenter at many ITFM/TBM conferences, and has an inner drive to educate and elevate those around her to help them in their struggles.  After developing and growing a TBM practice for a general IT consulting company, Nan and her two partners launched their own company called Thavron Solutions in 2013.  Since launch, they have helped large organizations design, model, and operationalize business services – especially in Information Technology.  As a born change agent, Nan’s passion is empowering the transformation of organizations to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving and digitally powered marketplace.  Nan and Thavron have helped to shape the success for organizations in domains from Federal and State Governments to Entertainment, from Education to Healthcare, from Retail to Manufacturing, and from Energy and Utilities to International NGOs.

$499
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September 24 Thavron Virtual Classroom
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Sept 24, 2020 Topics:

Service Cost Consumption-Based Modeling- Am I ready? (Beginner)

How can you measure if you are ready to start a Service Costing Journey?

What does all this jargon mean, and how do you pick a framework?

This workshop will teach you what the input requirements are for Service Cost modeling, what optional data sources the leading practice companies use, and how to evaluate and measure if your data is in shape to give you the required insights.  We will also discuss common roles, leading operational practices and the governance recommendations that will keep your models and data from getting out of control.

This is a much-expanded workshop based on a talk we presented at ITFMA

Tool Selection Best Practices – (Beginner)

Are you in the market for an ITFM Solution?

Are you debating Build vs Buy?

Has the shifting landscape of Vendors become confusing?

This workshop will give you the knowledge to evaluate which solution will best fit your needs. We will not tell you what to buy, but give you a toolkit that will ensure you are making informed, data-driven decisions.

IT Basics for Financial Professionals and IT & Business Alignment for IT

May 12, 2020 @ 09:00 – 16:00

Filling the gaps in IT knowledge can be a daunting task.  This workshop will give you a primer on the basics of how IT and finance co-exist and explain terms and services in easy to understand concepts.  In this workshop, we will walk through the journey of alignment with the business, and discuss the road map to get there, the pitfalls to avoid, and who and what will be affected.

We have gone virtual!!

Please note that this will be an interactive online session. 

To facilitate more training opportunities, we have also lowered the price for this one-day event, so you can train your whole team and have them accelerated through the maturity learning curve.

IT Basics for Financial Professionals  (Beginner- Intermediate)

Today’s IT Finance  Manager/Analyst is required to understand Finance practices, operational IT data and data sources, as well as service portfolio management in order to help their organization thrive.  They must have skills in modeling, data analytics, report design and creation, budgeting and planning, and strategic thinking.  However, many Finance Managers and Analysts come to the role with a finance background and little to no experience with IT.  Filling the gaps in IT knowledge can be a daunting task.  This workshop will give you a primer on the basics of how IT and finance co-exist and explain terms and services in easy to understand concepts.

IT and Business Alignment  – (All Levels)

Traveling the journey to a mature IT Finance or Business Management Office can sometimes be a rough ride.  You can save costly rework, time, and headaches by pro-actively assessing your data, systems, people, and processes in ways that help align them with your goals.

Building a good roadmap can help you navigate your way logically, as well as provide you with an avenue to measure success.  Staying on target with your alignment of the goals and visions of the organization overall will ensure continual production of ROI.

In this workshop, we will walk through the journey of alignment with the business, and discuss the road map to get there, the pitfalls to avoid, and who and what will be affected.

 Location:   ONLINE- Interactive Virtual Session

$49 Discounted from normal $499 Workshop rate
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2020 Conferences and Workshops

Growing a community of professionals and educating practitioners and executives in the domain of IT Finance and Technology Business Management is a critical part of Thavron’s mission.

Here are places you can Connect and learn with us:

February 20 Thavron Workshop: Intermediate and Advanced Modeling Best Practices in Indianapolis, IN

Providing ongoing ROI for your ITFM/TBM investment means moving past the tactical deployment of reports and models to the strategic design and use of your information and analytics.

March 25, TBM Council Public Sector Conference

Planning on Attending the TBM Conference? Contact Us so we can connect onsite.

April 29- May 1, IT Financial Management Week in Austin, TX

April 30, 2020: Our CEO Nan Braun will be speaking on: Leveraging Service Portfolio & Project Management Strategies For Effectively Prioritizing IT Investments For The Business

Thavron is part of the Advisory Board and speaker faculty for the 2020 IT Financial Management (ITFM) conference. This 3-day event provides the opportunity to Connect, Collaborate, and Innovate with a Vibrant Community of ITFM Leaders.

We are excited to be working with colleagues across industries to help shape the content for the 15th iteration of this exciting event. I would like to invite you to join me this April 29- May 1 in Austin at the conference. 

Register to attend and receive a 20% discount off the standard rate with the code: ITFM2020_ADBOARD

View the program here: http://bit.ly/ITFM2020

May 12 Thavron Workshop : IT Basics for Financial Professionals / IT and Business Alignment in Indianapolis, IN

Filling the gaps in IT knowledge can be a daunting task.  This workshop will give you a primer on the basics of how IT and finance co-exist and explain terms and services in easy to understand concepts.  In this workshop, we will walk through the journey of alignment with the business, and discuss the road map to get there, the pitfalls to avoid, and who and what will be affected.

June 15-19 World of IT Financial Management in Santa Fe, NM

Thavron Staff will be presenting multiple workshops and talks at this conference. Reserve the following slots to join us:

June 15: Workshop: The Promise and Peril of Chargeback (3 hours) (Monday afternoon) [Partnership with Bryan Drake of Unisys]

June 16: Workshop: Modeling Best Practices for IT Finance/IT Business Management (4 hours) (Tuesday morning) – A condensed , but still interactive version of the Thavron Modeling Skills Workshop. Learn the skills that will allow you to grow from a report generator to an analyst.

June 16: Workshop: Managing the Vendor Selection Process (3 hours) (Tuesday afternoon) The workshop that organizations across North America have attended to get prepared for the ITFM/TBM vendor selection process

June 17: Fireside Chat with Ginger Allen of Guidewell Solutions: “Leveraging An IT Business Service Culture to Optimize the IT Budget “(Wednesday afternoon)

June 18: Service Value Metrics – Aligning and Leading the Organization (Thursday morning)

June 18: Data Maturity – Am I Ready? (Thursday afternoon)

June 19: IT Storytelling: Communicating with the CFO and Beyond (Friday morning)

August 10-14 2020 Financial World of Information Technology, Charleston,SC

Stay Tuned as the Agenda for this Conference gets Finalized. Have you gotten your tickets for Charleston yet?

September 24 Thavron Workshop: Selecting Software Solutions and Getting Started with TBM in Indianapolis, IN

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Grow your team to Grow your program

You have invested in software, data cleansing projects, and new report design…but if you have not invested in growing your team, your program will never thrive. Learn about the skills needed for great IT Finance Analysts/Modellers in this new video. Ready to supercharge your team? Scroll down for the link to our February workshop.

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Finding your IT Value: Guidewell Fireside Chat

A new operating model for IT can provide dramatic results

Being able to talk to the rest of your organization about the value of IT can be a game-changer.

Ginger Allen, the IT BMO Director for Guidewell and her team have done a remarkable job of launching that journey. With just over a year under their belts, they are already seeing marked differences in the conversations that happen around IT, and how the value of IT is perceived.

Our CEO, Nan Braun, recently had the opportunity to sit down and discuss this journey with Ginger as part of the Nicus Software Partner Insights program. Listening to this webinar on-demand is a great opportunity for you to learn from her experiences – both the successes and what she would do differently if she were doing it all over again.

https://www.nicus.com/resource/webinar-changing-the-value-conversation-a-fireside-chat-with-thavron-solutions-and-guidewell/
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Learn and Lead Workshops take your team to the next level

Woman standing in front of a chalkboard, having a good idea and a light bulb drawn above her head.

The learn and lead workshop schedule for 2020 has been announced and tickets are available now. We will be providing 3 public workshops and a fourth workshop that is available only to our Post Implementation Support Subscription Customers.

In February, our workshop is targeted to intermediate to advanced skillsets. If you have been working with a Service Cost Model for a year or more, this class is specifically for you. You might have implemented an off the shelf solution, or maybe you have a homegrown solution you have designed yourself. Providing ongoing ROI for your ITFM/TBM investment means moving past the tactical deployment of reports and models to the strategic design and use of your information and analytics. No matter what solution is working for you, having the right modeling skills is critical to get great insights for your organization.

On February 20, 2020 for those staying overnight after the workshop to beat the winter blues, we will offer a bonus free workshop in the evening that will be an IT 101 for Finance Professionals, making sure you have three domain knowledge needed to design your models.

May 12, 2020, is one of our most attended and highest demand workshops- Selecting Software Solutions and Getting Started with TBM. If you are considering implementing an off the shelf software solution like Nicus, Apptio, Upland/ComSci, or EZTBM, this workshop is a must-attend. An ITFM / TBM automation platform is an investment that can bring cultural and bottom-line impact to a company.  Vendor options continue to change and grow, making the process of choosing the right platform a major challenge. Any step forward on your journey to maturity can be fraught with uncertainty and potential failure. It can be hard to justify a large investment of time and money for the next project when you don’t know what you can confidently deliver. Join Thavron CEO Nan Braun for a full day of workshops that will empower you to self assess and engage with Vendors confidently

September 24, 2020 is a workshop for attendees of all levels. IT Basics for Financial Professionals / IT and Business Alignment provides information and tools needed to understand both the Business of IT and how to align those IT Functions to Business Capabilities.

In December we will have our last workshop of the year, focused on road mapping and service portfolio metrics. This workshop will only be open for our support subscribers. If you are interested in learning more about our post-implementation support advisory, email info@thavronsolutions.com.

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Software Selection and Requirements Assessment Workshop at Financial World of Information Technology

Workshop Group sitting around a table

The ​Thavron Solutions CEO and COO will be leading a half-day workshop on Requirements Assessment and Software Selection tools at the FInancial World of Information Technology Conference today.   “Automation Tools for ITFM/TBM like Apptio, Nicus, ComSci or EZTBM can be critical factors for organization success, but choosing the wrong software solution for your organization can be crippling,” said Nan Braun, CEO of Thavron Solutions, ” Organizations too often enter the process of decision making unprepared and strangled by what they don’t know about their organization.”  

The Thavron Workshop is designed to assist organizations who are making the Build Vs. Buy decision, as well as companies who are entering into a search for a software vendor.  Attendees learn how to assess themselves, how to prepare for the initial RFP and how to conduct an effective Proof of Concept.  “By sending them home with functional tools and templates, we hope to empower attendees to make software choices that can transform their organizations,” said COO Charles Creasy.

The workshop is also being offered as part of a Thavron Learn and Lead workshop on Nov 12, 2019, or is available for on-site or remote learning engagements. For more information about the workshop, email info@thavronsolutions.com

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Want more ROI? Become a better modeler.

In today’s business environment, the game changer is to be able to respond with data when someone asks “What if…”. IT Financial Management professionals have access to all of the data needed to help shape strategy, but too often, they lack the knowledge of how to build and leverage models that can answer strategic business questions reliably.

If you have already made the investment in developing a team of people and a suite of tools to help you define the value of your IT Services, you know that the pressure to show a Return on Investment ( ROI) is real. We want to help you exceed expectations.

At the Financial World of Information Technology Conference pre-conference workshops today in New Orleans, Nan and David Braun will be leading a 3-hour workshop on becoming a better IT Financial Management Modeler.

“Modeling is a skill that has not been taught to many folks in this domain, ” explained Nan Braun, CEO of Thavron Solutions, when asked why they wanted to lead this session, “we give them automation tools and think that solves all of the problems. However, the ability to build models that provide insights without introducing noise and confusion is a skill that needs to be taught and practiced. We are excited to be able to add core skill training to the domain.” If you have not already signed up for this conference pre-workshop, this workshop is also available to be booked for your team as an onsite half day workshop, or as a remote learning workshop. Contact info@thavronsolutions.com for information on how to become a critical strategic business partner today.