UFC vs. TBM: Introducing… the Mixed Martial Arts of Digital Transformation!

One of my fondest childhood memories always takes me back to Sunday afternoons. It wasn’t because I was looking forward to school the next day, or because most of my chores were out of the way. Instead, it was because every Sunday afternoon, I had a 3-4 hour block of Kung Fu Theater to watch.  

My favorite storylines were when one grandmaster would square off against another grandmaster but would exhibit different fighting styles – the Drunken Monkey vs. Snake, the Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang, the Praying Mantis vs. Wing Chun. Which fighting style would emerge as the greatest? Which form of martial arts is the most dangerous, lethal, effective of them all?

Enter the UFC

It is this age-old question of which fighting style is the best that sparked the birth of mixed martial arts (MMA), and ultimately, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The original concept was that the UFC would be a one-night tournament of champions, all experts in different styles of martial arts and combat, from karate, judo, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, sumo, wrestling, and grappling, to name a few. The emerging victor from this tournament of champions would be the undisputed ultimate fighter. The UFC launched as a professional MMA organization in 1993 and has since evolved (under the leadership of the Fertitta brothers and UFC President Dana White) into a vast media conglomerate and the top pay-per-view provider in the world (see the full history here). 

From UFC to TBM

What in the world does the UFC have to do with Technology Business Management (TBM)? Both the UFC and TBM can trace their origins to a central question. Both the UFC and TBM offer a unique approach, a blueprint of sorts, to unify diverse practices, methodologies, and frameworks. Both the UFC and TBM often manage conflict and chaos to deliver explosive outcomes and value.

The Question of Origin

Central, disruptive questions are in the DNA of both the UFC and TBM:

With the UFC, we ask: Among all the fighting styles and martial arts in the world, which is the ultimate fighting style? What happens when the greatest wrestler of all time goes head to head with the best Muy Thai fighter? Who wins?

With TBM, we ask: How can companies “Run IT as a Business”? Is there a set of practices, tools, and methods that are necessary to achieve this outcome? Can this capability become a key differentiator for my company?

The Blueprint

What makes the UFC so popular? What makes TBM so critical to the digital landscape of today’s business environment? The answer in both cases is the same: at their core is a blueprint deployed to unify independent and diverse practices to maximize entertainment/business value.

In the case of the UFC, the blueprint includes all fighting styles and delivers an exciting sporting event with transparent outcomes to the viewer. Components of the UFC blueprint include the fighting platform (the Octagon), the rules (the Unified Rules of MMA), and the classification system (MMA weight classes). 

In the case of TBM, the TBM framework integrates IT, Finance, and Business concerns, enabling them to speak the same language. TBM integrates technology, finance and business disciplines, like IT Service Management (ITIL), Agile (Lean, DevOps, SAFe, XP), Security and Compliance (NIST, COBIT), Enterprise Architecture (TOGAF, IT4IT), Financial Management (GAAP), Business Relationship Management (BRM), and Business Process Architecture providing them a unified model to align value with business outcomes. Finally, you can see the complete blueprint in the TBM taxonomy. It supplies us “the industry's first hierarchical taxonomy of IT services, towers, and cost sources," - a blueprint to integrate financial, technical, and business data to ensure alignment and drive business value.

From Conflict & Chaos to Explosive Value 

This blueprint has taken conflict & chaos and transformed it into explosive value!

Using a mix of fighting styles, talent, and media know-how as inputs, The UFC has provided some of the most explosive sports events the world has ever seen. Of the top 10 greatest UFC fights of all time, my top three are UFC 94 - GSP vs. BJ Penn, UFC 117 - Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen, and UFC 214 - Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones… epic displays of athleticism, strategy, and in the case of Cormier vs. Jones, a rivalry that hearkens back to Ali vs. Frazier! 

Digital Transformation can, at times, feel like a combat sport.

Finance, Technology, and Business partners come together, all passionate about delivering business value, but often with conflicting stories – different versions of the truth. Like the UFC, TBM leverages those various inputs, disciplines, methodologies, and data sources to yield a single version of the truth unlocking explosive business value! Examples of this value vary from funding innovation through IT optimization, lowering the costs of services to deliver better consumer outcomes, and enabling enterprise agility. 

The Evolution Continues

With the UFC today, you see fewer athletes that are experts in one form of fighting – most are “true” mixed martial artists… they have learned to leverage hybrid fighting styles in unique, agile, and effective ways to beat their opponents. We no longer care about which fighting style is superior; we follow the athletes that can leverage the best of them to dominate.

Although TBM still answers the core question of how to “Run IT as a Business,” the landscape has changed. Digital Transformation requires all the outcomes of running IT as a business: a) a well-established portfolio of defined services, b) transparency into costs of technology and services, and c) IT investments aligned to business capabilities and real business outcomes as table stakes. Running IT as a business is no longer optional for today’s companies... it is a must. As a result, TBM has evolved from a novel, innovative, and disruptive practice into the digital transformation command center for today’s enterprise.

How is your company leveraging Technology Business Management to disrupt silos in your organization and establish a system of record for Digital Transformation? 

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