Discover business needs before anyone collects solutions.
A facilitation guide for the Digital Business Relationship Manager (DBRM) discovery workshop. Five stages, twenty core questions and 150 minutes take a function from business evidence to a ranked, owned set of digital planning inputs, before a single technology is named.
Most digital demand arrives as a solution request. Someone needs an AI tool, a dashboard, a new platform. The request may be right, but it is not yet a business need, and a plan built from a pile of such requests is a shopping list rather than a strategy. This workshop reverses the order. It asks for the business outcome first, then for the last real event that fell short of it, then for the evidence, the cause and the scale, and only then for the options, digital or otherwise, that could change the result.
The DBRM facilitates and the business owns the outcome. Function leaders and business owners answer the questions; the DBRM probes, quantifies, records evidence confidence and keeps solutions parked until the need is clear. The session ends with a Pain and Opportunity register of numbered items (PO IDs), a prioritization scorecard, four decision lanes and a forced choice of the three needs that will progress, each with an owner and a next decision gate.
What leaves the room is not a digital strategy. It is one of four evidence streams that the enterprise digital strategy is synthesized from, alongside strategic direction, outside-in intelligence and the inside-out capability assessment. The guide ends with the handoff that makes the function's backlog strategy-ready.
5
Stages: business outcomes, business pains, business opportunities, digital enablement, prioritization.
20
Core questions, each with four probing questions, an underlying method, three application steps and a capture line.
150
Minutes, from the KPI baseline to the top three commitments and an owned action plan.
Purpose
Surface business outcomes, pains and opportunities, each backed by evidence.
Participants
Function leaders and business owners. The DBRM facilitates; the business owns the outcome.
Duration
150 minutes across five stages and 20 core questions.
Output
Ranked PO IDs, the top three commitments and an owned action plan.
Session details to record before starting: function or business area, facilitator (DBRM), date. Adapted from the Business Needs Discovery and Prioritization facilitation guide for the DBRM discovery workshop.
Elicit business challenges. Shape prioritized digital planning inputs.
The DBRM facilitates an evidence-led conversation with each function, validates its pains and opportunities, and provides a business-owned, prioritized input for enterprise digital planning and strategy synthesis.
Discover
Identify objectives, operational pains, unmet needs and future opportunities.
Validate
Probe concrete examples, quantify impact and test root-cause hypotheses.
Prioritize
Separate mandatory duties, business value, evidence strength and readiness.
Consolidate
Normalize needs across functions; flag duplication, shared enablers and dependencies.
Accountability. Business owns the outcome. DBRM facilitates discovery and synthesis. Digital specialists test solution options. Planning governance decides investment.
DBRM discovery is an essential input, not the digital strategy.
Enterprise digital strategy is synthesized from four complementary evidence streams, rather than from an aggregate list of functional requests.
Business discovery
DBRM + business functions. Business outcomes, pains, unmet needs, value hypotheses and ranked PO IDs.
Strategic direction
Corporate strategy + leaders. Enterprise ambition, objectives, strategic choices and risk appetite.
Outside-in intelligence
Strategy + innovation. Industry, customers, external regulation, benchmarks and technology shifts.
Inside-out assessment
EA + digital specialists. Capability maturity, existing portfolio, architecture, cost and change capacity.
The four streams are integrated, reconciled and chosen between in strategy synthesis, which produces enterprise value pools, strategic themes, target capabilities and investment choices. The output is the digital strategy itself: portfolio priorities, a sequenced roadmap and measurable value outcomes. Discovery feeds that synthesis; it does not pre-empt it.
Who contributes what to the strategy and planning cycle.
The DBRM owns the integrity of discovery and consolidation, not the enterprise digital strategy or the funding decision.
| Role | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Business leadership | Own desired business outcomes, approve facts and impact assumptions, and rank functional needs. |
| Digital business relationship | Elicit, probe, validate and normalize PO IDs; identify strategic links, shared needs and accountable owners. |
| EA + digital domain specialists | Validate capability gaps, reuse, cyber, data and AI needs, feasibility, architecture and dependencies. |
| Strategy + portfolio governance | Synthesize all evidence streams, select digital strategic themes and authorize investment and sequencing. |
What the session should produce.
The goal is not a shopping list of IT, AI or data solutions. It is an evidence-backed set of business opportunities and constraints.
Business outcomes
Agreed objectives, beneficiaries, critical journeys, baseline metrics.
Pains and opportunities
Observed incidents, bottlenecks, hidden workarounds and future value.
Enablement options
Non-digital changes and potential IT, data, AI and cyber capabilities.
Prioritized decisions
Mandatory commitments, ranked candidates, evidence gaps, owners and next steps.
Five stages in 150 minutes.
Ask for business evidence first; technical options come only after pains and opportunities are understood.
| Stage | Questions | Time | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Business outcomes | Q01 to Q03 | 15 min | Outcome and KPI baseline |
| 02 Business pains | Q04 to Q09 | 40 min | Evidence-based pain statements |
| 03 Business opportunities | Q10 to Q13 | 25 min | Value-creation hypotheses |
| 04 Digital enablement | Q14 to Q17 | 20 min | Option hypotheses linked to PO IDs |
| 05 Prioritization | Q18 to Q20 | 50 min | Top three commitments and action plan |
The discovery sequence
Use the 20 questions as a conversation sequence, not a survey or a technology shopping list. Each stage opens with one question, carries one facilitation action and captures one kind of result.
| Stage | Open with this question | DBRM facilitation action | Capture / result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 · Q01 to Q03 Outcomes | What must improve, and for whom? | Agree measurable outcomes, customers, accountable owner. | Objective · baseline · target |
| 02 · Q04 to Q09 Pains | Where did work recently fail, stall or create risk? | Probe real examples, workarounds, handoffs and root causes. | Pain statement · impact · proof |
| 03 · Q10 to Q13 Opportunities | What value is currently out of reach? | Surface unmet needs, future demand and reinvention ideas. | Opportunity · beneficiary · upside |
| 04 · Q14 to Q17 Enablers | What change would remove the constraint? | Test process, people and policy before IT, data, AI and cyber. | Option hypotheses tied to PO ID |
| 05 · Q18 to Q20 Priorities | Which needs matter most, and why now? | Quantify, classify obligations, compare value and agree next gates. | Ranked top 3 · owner · action |
Ask like a diagnostician, not an order taker.
Use a repeatable question ladder to turn an opinion or solution request into an evidenced business need.
The five-probe question ladder
Clarify the outcome
What business result are you trying to change?
Ask for the last example
When did this last occur? Walk me through it.
Follow the cause and journey
Why did it happen? Who else was affected?
Quantify and validate
How often? What cost, delay, risk or lost value?
Reframe the need
What measurable future state would be better?
Non-negotiable
Separate observed facts, assumptions and proposed solutions.
The ladder in use
When a stakeholder says
“We need an AI tool for invoice approvals.”
The DBRM explores
- Where exactly do invoices get stuck?
- How often, with what consequence?
- Are policies, handoffs or data the issue?
Reframed business requirement
Reduce invoice approval cycle time to an agreed target; validate causes before selecting solutions.
Convert discovery into agreed business priorities.
The DBRM facilitates evidence, trade-offs and ownership; technology teams validate solution options and delivery feasibility.
Business need before solution
One PO ID per pain or opportunity. Who is affected? What is the baseline, desired outcome and accountable owner?
Output · Need statement
Evidence and obligations
What supports the impact? What is still assumed? Is there a binding safety, regulatory, cyber or resilience obligation?
Output · Confidence and flags
Value distinct from readiness
Score business impact, strategy, urgency, risk, reach and upside. Assess readiness and dependencies separately.
Output · Ranked options
Make choices and assign gates
Agree top three to progress: validate, explore or deliver. Capture owner, next action, decision gate and target date.
Output · Actionable backlog
Six rules that improve discovery quality.
When a stakeholder asks for a technology, capture the idea, but return to the desired business outcome and evidence.
Ask for the last real event
“Tell me about the last time this happened.”
Quantify scale and impact
How often? For whom? How much time, cost or risk?
Probe causes and workarounds
Symptoms are not yet a validated root cause.
Follow the end-to-end journey
Include handoffs, customers and other business functions.
Keep options open
Process, governance, people, IT, data, AI and cyber.
Record evidence confidence
Documented ≠ observed ≠ anecdotal ≠ unverified.
Turn observations into defensible investment decisions.
Use PO IDs as the link between stakeholder input, quantified business needs and potential digital interventions.
Every item in the register carries the same seven-link chain, so a priority can be traced back to the observation that produced it and forward to the owner who will take it through the next gate.
Business outcome
Recent observation
Pain or opportunity
Root cause and evidence
Non-digital and digital options
Business priority
Owner and next gate
Behavioral check
“We need a chatbot” is an option. “Customers wait 48 hours for an answer” is a business pain.
Start with what the business must achieve.
Establish objectives, customers, critical services and performance gaps. Fifteen minutes, questions Q01 to Q03, output: an outcome and KPI baseline.
Q01 · Which 3 to 5 business outcomes must your function deliver in the next 12 to 24 months, and how will success be measured?
5 minutes · Outcome framing
Probing questions
- Which enterprise strategic objective or value driver does this outcome support?
- Who is accountable for each outcome and which stakeholders benefit?
- What would change materially if this outcome were achieved?
- What KPI, target and time horizon would demonstrate success?
Underlying method · Outcome and KPI framing
Start with measurable business success, not a requested technology.
Apply it
- Translate strategy into 3 to 5 business outcomes.
- Name one business owner per outcome.
- Define a first KPI and target hypothesis.
Capture: enterprise objective · KPI · target · owner
Q02 · Whom does your function serve, which services or value streams matter most, and what do those users need to accomplish?
5 minutes · Outcome framing
Probing questions
- Who consumes your services: business teams, customers, suppliers or partners?
- What job is each group trying to accomplish through your function?
- Which journeys or value streams are most business-critical?
- Who experiences poor outcomes or hidden effort outside your team?
Underlying method · Stakeholder and jobs-to-be-done mapping
Follow the beneficiary and the end-to-end work they need completed.
Apply it
- Segment beneficiaries and their key jobs.
- Map service start, end and critical handoffs.
- Identify high-consequence journeys first.
Capture: beneficiary · service · value stream · customer job
Q03 · Where is performance below ambition today? Which baselines, targets and trends confirm the gap?
5 minutes · Outcome framing
Probing questions
- Which KPIs are currently off target or deteriorating?
- What is the current baseline, target, reporting period and trend?
- Which source reports or operational records confirm the gap?
- Which gaps matter most to value, service, risk or obligations?
Underlying method · Performance gap analysis
Use a measured gap to turn ambition into a discoverable business need.
Apply it
- Compare actual, target and recent trend.
- Flag data quality and unknown baselines.
- Focus discovery on the most material gaps.
Capture: KPI · actual · target · period · evidence source
Observe what breaks, delays or creates risk today.
Use real incidents, bottlenecks, workarounds, complaints and disruption scenarios. Forty minutes, questions Q04 to Q09, output: evidence-based pain statements.
Q04 · Tell us about the last time a critical outcome was missed or a process failed. What happened, and what was the business consequence?
7 minutes · Evidence-based diagnosis
Probing questions
- When did this last happen? Walk us through the specific event.
- What outcome was missed, and who experienced the consequence?
- What was done to recover, by whom, and at what cost or delay?
- How often does it recur; where can we verify it?
Underlying method · Critical incident technique
Specific recent failures reveal real work, consequences and recovery patterns.
Apply it
- Reconstruct one recent event in sequence.
- Distinguish what happened from why.
- Estimate frequency, impact and evidence.
Capture: incident · pain · frequency · consequence · source
Q05 · Where in an end-to-end journey does work wait, bounce between teams or require repeated approvals?
7 minutes · Evidence-based diagnosis
Probing questions
- At which steps does work queue, bounce back or wait for approval?
- Does this constraint recur across functions or depend on a shared capability?
- Where are rework, duplicate checks and exceptions concentrated?
- What are elapsed time, active time and handoff volume?
Underlying method · Value-stream and handoff analysis
End-to-end delay often lies between departments rather than within one system.
Apply it
- Sketch start-to-end work and handoffs.
- Locate queues, rework and exception loops.
- Estimate elapsed time lost at each constraint.
Capture: value stream · bottleneck · shared capability · lost time
Q06 · What manual workarounds, reconciliations or duplicate activities keep operations running, and why are they necessary?
6 minutes · Evidence-based diagnosis
Probing questions
- Which shadow spreadsheets, emails or reconciliations are used?
- Why was each workaround created; what breaks without it?
- How many people and transactions are affected each period?
- What deeper cause is plausible, and how will we test it?
Underlying method · Workaround mapping and five whys
Manual work can be a symptom of policy, data, ownership or process design.
Apply it
- Observe and classify the workaround.
- Probe causes iteratively; avoid blame.
- Capture testable cause hypotheses.
Capture: workaround · effort · volume · cause hypothesis
Q07 · Which recurring decisions are too slow, inconsistent or poorly informed? What information is missing?
6 minutes · Evidence-based diagnosis
Probing questions
- Which decisions recur, who makes them and how frequently?
- When is the decision needed versus when information arrives?
- What information is missing, inconsistent or not trusted?
- What is the consequence of a delayed or incorrect decision?
Underlying method · Decision journey and information flow
A decision issue may be about timing, authority, evidence or process, not dashboards.
Apply it
- Map trigger → data → judgment → action.
- Identify decision owner and information gaps.
- Quantify latency, error and missed value.
Capture: decision · owner · latency · source · consequence
Q08 · What recurring complaints, frustrations or exceptions are experienced by customers, employees, suppliers or partners?
7 minutes · Evidence-based diagnosis
Probing questions
- What recurring complaints or exceptions are recorded?
- What happened in a recent customer or employee interaction?
- Which journey moment causes the greatest frustration?
- What do frontline staff see that management reporting misses?
Underlying method · Voice of customer and journey evidence
Direct user evidence counters management-only perceptions of service quality.
Apply it
- Collect complaints and journey examples.
- Compare internal views with user evidence.
- Map pain points to journeys and reach.
Capture: persona · journey step · complaint · frequency
Q09 · What operational, cyber, data, third-party or resilience scenarios could materially disrupt value delivery? What evidence or near misses exist?
7 minutes · Evidence-based diagnosis
Probing questions
- What material failure or disruption scenario concerns the business?
- Which services, information, customers or obligations are exposed?
- What near miss, incident or control gap supports the scenario?
- At what duration or severity does impact exceed tolerance?
Underlying method · Business-impact scenario analysis
Risk matters through interrupted business outcomes and exposure, not tool inventories.
Apply it
- Describe event → dependency → consequence.
- Capture impact and plausible failure pathways.
- Flag non-discretionary control obligations.
Capture: scenario · consequence · tolerance · evidence
Discover value beyond fixing existing problems.
Explore unmet outcomes, scalability, reinvention and external change. Twenty-five minutes, questions Q10 to Q13, output: value-creation hypotheses.
Q10 · Which valuable outcomes, services or customer experiences are impossible, impractical or too expensive today?
6 minutes · Future value discovery
Probing questions
- What do customers or stakeholders want that you cannot provide?
- What new services, products, business models or sources of value are possible?
- Who benefits, and how much additional value could be created?
- What constraints make the opportunity too difficult or expensive?
Underlying method · Opportunity and unmet-needs discovery
Look beyond broken processes to valuable outcomes that cannot happen today.
Apply it
- Identify a beneficiary and unmet need.
- Describe desired gain without solution choice.
- Test attractiveness and constraints.
Capture: opportunity class · beneficiary · value hypothesis
Q11 · If demand doubled without doubling resources, what would break first, and what would need to change?
6 minutes · Future value discovery
Probing questions
- Which step would fail first if volumes doubled?
- What volumes, costs or backlogs define today’s capacity ceiling?
- Could rules, roles and workflow scale without proportional staffing?
- Which future capabilities would change the cost-to-serve curve?
Underlying method · Capacity stress test
Doubling demand exposes structural constraints and scalable operating-model needs.
Apply it
- Model demand growth against current capacity.
- Identify bottleneck and incremental unit cost.
- Specify the scalable future capability.
Capture: demand scenario · constraint · cost per unit
Q12 · If designing the function from scratch, what would you simplify, eliminate or redesign across the entire value stream?
6 minutes · Future value discovery
Probing questions
- If starting fresh, which steps or controls add little value?
- Which approvals, handoffs or reports could be eliminated or simplified?
- What must remain for safety, risk and accountability?
- What downstream teams would gain or lose from redesign?
Underlying method · Zero-based value-stream redesign
Challenge unnecessary work rather than automating every existing step.
Apply it
- Describe an ideal outcome and minimum steps.
- Remove, simplify, standardize, then automate.
- Test enterprise and control consequences.
Capture: redesign idea · eliminated steps · dependencies
Q13 · Which market, regulatory, workforce or technology shifts create an opportunity, or threaten your current operating model?
7 minutes · Future value discovery
Probing questions
- What are peers doing differently, and what external shifts make that relevant?
- What credible 2 to 3 year scenarios could change your demand?
- Which capabilities would give options across several scenarios?
- What is the cost of reacting too late to the change?
Underlying method · PESTLE and scenario scanning
External change can create strategic demand absent from today’s pain backlog.
Apply it
- Identify major external change drivers.
- Construct plausible upside and downside scenarios.
- Translate scenarios into capability needs.
Capture: external signal · scenario · horizon · source
Consider interventions only after the business need is clear.
Test non-digital options, IT, data and AI, and cyber resilience capabilities. Twenty minutes, questions Q14 to Q17, output: option hypotheses linked to PO IDs.
Q14 · For each high-impact pain or opportunity, what non-digital change should be considered before new technology?
5 minutes · Solution-neutral options
Probing questions
- Could simplifying a rule or process remove the problem?
- Are unclear accountabilities or handoffs part of the cause?
- What is the smallest change that would test the root cause?
- Which non-digital alternative should be compared with technology?
Underlying method · Root-cause-first option framing
Consider process, policy and ownership before creating a technology requirement.
Apply it
- Link every option to a numbered PO item.
- Compare remove, simplify and standardize.
- Document alternatives and open hypotheses.
Capture: PO ID · non-digital options · root-cause test
Q15 · Which IT capabilities or integrations, if any, could materially enable the desired business outcome?
5 minutes · Solution-neutral options
Probing questions
- Which current systems or services partly support this outcome?
- Where does integration, workflow or access break down?
- Which business or digital capabilities should be created, improved or shared?
- Which architecture, supplier or legacy dependencies matter?
Underlying method · Capability gap and architecture fit
Test reuse, integration and architecture constraints before proposing new platforms.
Apply it
- Trace the PO outcome to the required capability.
- Assess current capability and reuse paths.
- Record potential gaps and dependency owners.
Capture: PO ID · capability ID · shared reuse · dependency
Q16 · What trusted data, analytics, AI or automation could improve specific decisions or tasks, and what human oversight is required?
5 minutes · Solution-neutral options
Probing questions
- Which decision or task would measurably improve, and why?
- Which data are required; are they available, lawful and trustworthy?
- What error tolerance, human review and audit trail are necessary?
- What simpler rules, analytics or automation alternatives exist?
Underlying method · Decision, task, data and AI fit assessment
AI is an option only if the work, data and controls support measurable improvement.
Apply it
- Identify task, outcome and process context.
- Test data readiness and use-case risk.
- Compare AI with simpler approaches.
Capture: PO ID · task · data · oversight · benefit test
Q17 · What cyber, privacy, identity, continuity or third-party safeguards are needed to make improvement dependable and safe?
5 minutes · Solution-neutral options
Probing questions
- What disruption, misuse or exposure must the business prevent?
- What resilience, privacy or cyber control outcome is required?
- Which obligations and risk appetite thresholds apply?
- Who owns the control; what evidence would show effectiveness?
Underlying method · Control objective and resilience design
Define required business protections rather than building a shopping list of security tools.
Apply it
- Describe business exposure and objective.
- Check mandatory and policy requirements.
- Link safeguard options to the PO item.
Capture: PO ID · risk · control objective · obligation
Make value, evidence and trade-offs explicit.
Quantify outcomes; distinguish mandatory commitments from value ranking and delivery readiness. Fifty minutes, questions Q18 to Q20, output: the top three commitments and an action plan.
Q18 · For each candidate, what outcome would change, from which baseline to which target, for how many people or transactions?
15 minutes · Decision and portfolio triage
Probing questions
- What KPI would change, from what baseline to which target?
- How many people, transactions or services would benefit?
- What annual cost, capacity, risk or experience impact is plausible?
- What supports the estimate; who will own benefit realization?
Underlying method · Benefits hypothesis and value case
A priority needs a baseline, target, scale and accountable benefit owner.
Apply it
- Draft baseline → intervention → target.
- Estimate reach, period and benefit type.
- Rate evidence and assign a benefit owner.
Capture: baseline · target · reach · value · confidence
Q19 · What is the cost of inaction, urgency, mandatory obligation and evidence confidence for each candidate?
15 minutes · Decision and portfolio triage
Probing questions
- Is there a binding regulatory, safety, cyber or resilience duty?
- What is the real deadline or trigger for action?
- What is the cost of waiting 6 to 12 months?
- Which claims are documented, observed, estimated or unverified?
Underlying method · Obligation, urgency and evidence triage
Binding commitments, time-critical options and speculative ideas need different lanes.
Apply it
- Gate non-discretionary requirements first.
- Differentiate urgency from preference.
- Route weak evidence into validation work.
Capture: mandatory flag · deadline · inaction · evidence
Q20 · If only three can progress, what will we select, validate, sequence or defer, and who owns each next action?
20 minutes · Decision and portfolio triage
Probing questions
- Which three needs should progress now, and why these three?
- Which needs create more value as shared enterprise rather than local investments?
- What is business priority versus delivery readiness for each?
- Who owns the next gate, evidence task and decision date?
Underlying method · Portfolio trade-off and staged commitment
Translate function preferences into a decision-ready backlog, not implied funding approval.
Apply it
- Compare value, evidence and constraints.
- Agree select, validate, sequence or defer.
- Assign PO owner, next action and date.
Capture: top 3 · local or shared · trade-offs · gate
One business issue per ID, not one technology request per row.
Use the Pain and Opportunity register (PO001 onward) as the source of truth before filling the digital option and priority sheets.
Who
Beneficiary, process, owner.
What
Evidence-based statement of pain or opportunity.
Proof
Recent example and source.
Scale
Frequency, reach, baseline, annual impact.
Why
Root-cause hypothesis and dependencies.
Future
Target outcome and non-digital alternatives.
Business priority is not implementation readiness.
First determine whether the need matters. Then determine whether the organization is ready to deliver and realize value.
Strategic bets · High value, low readiness
Plan dependencies or validate.
Quick wins · High value, high readiness
Consider accelerated delivery.
Reassess value · Low value, low readiness
Defer unless mandatory.
Tactical or defer · Low value, high readiness
Avoid ease-of-delivery bias.
Score business priority on six dimensions
Assess each candidate from 1 to 5 against agreed anchors. The default weights total 100 percent and are editable in the workbook. The score is 20 times the weighted average of the 1 to 5 scores. Business priority is not a delivery feasibility score.
| Dimension | Default weight |
|---|---|
| Business impact | 30% |
| Strategic contribution | 20% |
| Urgency | 15% |
| Risk and resilience impact | 15% |
| Reach and scale | 10% |
| Opportunity upside | 10% |
Four decision lanes, one defensible portfolio conversation.
Use obligation flags and confidence to decide what must be done before debating relative priority.
Mandatory
Obligation is binding
Capture required outcome, deadline, control owner and funding path.
Validate
Evidence is weak or unverified
Request data, observe the process, test hypotheses and assign an owner.
Score
Business assessment incomplete
Rate value, strategic fit, urgency, risk, reach and opportunity upside.
Prioritize
Sufficient evidence and scores
Consider sequencing, portfolio capacity, readiness and trade-offs.
From an AI request to a measurable business problem.
This example is fictional. It demonstrates how to avoid technology-first solution bias.
What was requested
“We need AI for invoice processing.” A proposed solution, not yet a validated requirement.
What was discovered
Approval delays from PO mismatches, manual reconciliation and handoffs. Test the root causes before choosing technology.
What success could mean
18 → 7 days average approval cycle. Process simplification, integration and automation are all options.
Force choices: which three needs will progress?
Use scored evidence and explicit trade-offs. “Progress” may mean validate, explore or deliver, not automatic funding approval.
PO ID / business outcome
Evidence · owner · next gate. What will we deliberately delay or decline?
PO ID / business outcome
Evidence · owner · next gate. What will we deliberately delay or decline?
PO ID / business outcome
Evidence · owner · next gate. What will we deliberately delay or decline?
From business discovery to enterprise strategy and digital plan.
The session produces ranked business needs. Strategy synthesis integrates these with strategic direction, external evidence and capability assessments.
Function backlog
Agree ranked PO IDs with accountable business owners, quantified impact, evidence and mandatory flags.
DBRM consolidation
Normalize need statements, group duplicates, identify common capabilities and cross-functional value streams.
Digital validation
IT, data, AI, cyber and architecture assess alternatives, dependencies, complexity and indicative cost.
Strategy and plan
Strategy and portfolio select strategic themes, shared investments, delivery sequence and funding disposition.
The DBRM ensures a strategy-ready handoff; strategy, EA and portfolio confirm enterprise choices and investment decisions.
Leave with commitments, not just a list of ideas.
The session is complete when every item below is true.
- One owner for every PO item selected or needing validation.
- A business metric and initial baseline and target where possible.
- Mandatory obligations recorded separately.
- An agreed top three, trade-offs and next decision gate.
- Evidence and follow-up actions assigned with dates.