Technology Business Management Council

What Technology Business Management Council does

The Technology Business Management Council (TBM Council) is a Bellevue, Washington-based nonprofit standards organization founded in 2012 to create and promote global standards for running IT as a business. It maintains and publishes the TBM Taxonomy (Version 5) and TBM Framework (Version 2.0), open standards that organize technology costs, resources, and services through cost pools, resource towers, solutions, and consumers, and that connect technology spending to business value. The standards are extensible to cloud, AI, Agile, FinOps, GreenOps, and Federal/State/Healthcare extensions, and integrate with adjacent frameworks including ServiceNow CSDM, Enterprise Agile, and FAIR.

The Council serves a global community of more than 18,000 IT and finance executives and practitioners across 70+ countries, with named adopters including Fortune 100 enterprises (Red Hat, Mastercard, Wells Fargo, Equifax, American Airlines, FedEx, Toyota, NVIDIA, Stanley Black & Decker, Smithfield Foods, Aflac, Boeing Employees Credit Union, Lowe's, Liberty Mutual, Allstate), major banks (NatWest, SMBC, Nomura, mBank, Navy Federal Credit Union, Nationwide Building Society, Canada Life), insurers (State Farm, MetLife, The Standard), healthcare organizations (Tenet Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente, Marshfield Clinic, Evernorth/Cigna, Eisai), educational institutions (McGraw Hill, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics), and U.S. federal agencies (Department of Transportation, Department of the Treasury Bureau of Fiscal Service, Department of Veterans Affairs OIT, Office of Personnel Management, plus State of Washington, City of Dallas, and County of Santa Clara). IBM, as successor to Apptio, Inc., serves as primary sponsor and technical advisor.

The Council operates a hybrid revenue model: free individual membership for eligible IT and finance professionals (excluding sales, marketing, and business development), with paid revenue generated through conference and event registration (annual TBM Conference in Miami, EMEA Summit, APAC Knowledge Exchange, weekly TBM Tuesdays webinars), paid training and certification programs (TBM Practitioner, TBM Executive Foundation, GreenOps), sponsor and partnership fees from vendors and consultancies (IBM/Apptio, Accenture, AWS, Flexera, Leanix, FinOps Foundation, Cprime, and others), and emerging advisory services under the AskTBM umbrella including Performance Insights for Benchmarking and Software Decision Intelligence. Distribution is community-led and event-driven, supported by the TBM Connect community platform (community.tbmcouncil.org), content marketing via the State of TBM report and TBM Book, and an Ambassador and Strategy Communities program.

Name

Technology Business Management Council

Legal name

Technology Business Management Council, Ltd.

Website

https://tbmcouncil.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Technology Business Management Council is a Bellevue, Washington-based nonprofit that maintains the global TBM Taxonomy and TBM Framework open standards, serving 18,000+ IT and finance executives and practitioners across 70+ countries through free membership, paid certifications, conferences, and IBM-sponsored operations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

IT Financial Management Standards

NAICS

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541), Software Publishers (51321)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Enterprise Architecture & Technology Roadmapping (BPAEAAAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Vendor & Contract Management (Software/Cloud) (BPAEAOAD), IT Procurement & Sourcing Services (Hardware/Software) (BPAEAOAG), Employee Experience (EX) & Digital Experience Monitoring Support (BPAEAJAO), Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies) (THAHACAA)

Keywords

• Technology business management
• IT financial management
• Technology cost taxonomy
• Cloud financial operations
• IT value framework

Headquarters

HQ city

Bellevue

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: The TBM Council operates as a nonprofit membership organization. Membership conveys benefits including access to the TBM Connect community, early access to research and content, qualification to attend the annual TBM Conference and regional summits, mentorship programs, and member-only content for Practitioner or Executive level members. Membership is free for eligible IT and finance professionals.
2. Conference and Event Registration: Revenue is generated through registration fees for the annual TBM Conference (held in Miami) and regional TBM Knowledge Exchange events, workshops, and TBM Tuesdays webinars. Early bird pricing is offered for conference attendance.
3. Training and Certification: The TBM Practitioner Course & Certification and TBM Executive Foundation Course & Certification are offered both virtually and in-person. Revenue is generated through course registration fees.
4. Sponsorship and Partnership: The Council provides opportunities for regional and global service providers, software vendors, and partners in the TBM ecosystem to sponsor, engage, and participate in Council activities, events, training, and standards. Primary sponsor and technical advisor is IBM (successor in interest to Apptio, Inc.).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The Technology Business Management Council is a nonprofit membership organization that develops and maintains the globally recognized TBM Taxonomy (Version 5) and TBM Framework (Version 2.0) open standards for organizing technology costs and aligning IT investments with business value. It monetizes a 18,000+ member global community through paid certification courses, the annual TBM Conference and regional summits, weekly TBM Tuesdays webinars, AskTBM advisory services (GreenOps Certification, Performance Insights for Benchmarking, Software Decision Intelligence), and ecosystem sponsorships led by IBM/Apptio.

Product overview

The Technology Business Management Council is a nonprofit professional association that provides a comprehensive ecosystem of standards, education, research, and community resources for TBM practitioners. The core offerings consist of the TBM Framework (structure for aligning technology investments with business value) and TBM Taxonomy (global standard for organizing technology costs, now at Version 5). The Council supports practitioners through certification programs (TBM Practitioner and Executive Foundation courses), the annual TBM Conference, weekly TBM Tuesdays webinars, and TBM Connect—a community platform. Additional offerings include Strategy Communities organized by industry, the Ambassador Program, regional TBM Knowledge Exchanges, the TBM Council Awards recognition program, and advisory services under AskTBM (including GreenOps Certification, Performance Insights for Benchmarking, and Software Decision Intelligence). Research products include the annual State of TBM Report, TBM Salary Survey, and Pulse Surveys. The Council also publishes the TBM Book as foundational thought leadership material.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TBM Connect: The online community platform for TBM Council members providing forums, resources, and peer networking.

Products and services

• TBM Framework The essential structure for aligning technology investments with business value, connecting foundations, practices, and outcomes to turn financial and operational data into actionable insights. Distributed as a global open standard for IT and finance practitioners.
• TBM Taxonomy The global standard for organizing technology costs, resources, and services in a way that connects spending to business value, now in its fifth major release (Version 5). Distributed as a global open standard with Federal, State/Federal, Healthcare, and Government extensions.
• TBM Practitioner Course & Certification Paid virtual or in-person instructor-led training program leading to TBM Practitioner certification, covering foundational and advanced TBM concepts, modeling, taxonomy mapping, and implementation.
• TBM Executive Foundation Course & Certification Paid executive-level training and certification program for senior IT and finance leaders to champion TBM practices inside their organizations; offered in multiple scheduled sessions per year.
• GreenOps Certification Paid certification program covering GreenOps practices and the application of TBM to sustainability and ESG initiatives, including environmental tracking through technology financial management.
• TBM Conference Annual paid global conference (held in Miami) where TBM practitioners and executives share best practices, learn about standards releases, and connect with peers; 2026 edition scheduled for Miami.
• TBM Knowledge Exchange Paid regional in-person events (e.g., Sydney, Amsterdam) where TBM practitioners exchange knowledge, hear case studies, and network locally.
• Performance Insights for Benchmarking Paid benchmarking service under AskTBM that provides performance comparison data for TBM practitioners to evaluate their organization's technology spend and efficiency against peers.
• Software Decision Intelligence Paid advisory service under AskTBM helping organizations make informed decisions about software investments, licensing, and TCO using TBM standards.
• TBM Connect Tiered online membership community (Executive and Practitioner levels) hosted on the Higher Logic-powered community.tbmcouncil.org platform, providing member-only content, forums, mentorship, conference access, and early research access to eligible IT and finance professionals.

Quantifiable outcome

• 83% of organizations improved performance and efficiency through TBM practices (State of TBM 2025 report, 200+ global leaders surveyed)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers47 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AccenturecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAccenture is a global service provider partner of the TBM Council. Managing Director Chad Doiran (Technology Strategy & Advisory) and Managing Director Latrise Brissett (Global IT) serve as session facilitators at TBM Council events. Accenture engages in TBM Council activities, events, training, and standards. Accenture sponsors and participates in Council programs and events.
• CprimeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCprime is a TBM Council partner specializing in enterprise agile planning. CEO Zubin Irani participates in TBM Council sessions discussing the intersection of TBM and enterprise agile planning as a critical strategy for driving business growth.
• Espeut Consulting IncminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerListed as a TBM Council partner with a microsite presence within the TBM Connect community portal. Toyan Espeut, Chief Customer Officer, participates as a session moderator at TBM Council events.
• Maryville Consulting GroupminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerListed as a TBM Council partner with a microsite presence within the TBM Connect community portal.
• Open GreenOpsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpen GreenOps is a TBM Council partner focused on GreenOps and sustainability practices. Nathan Besh serves as TBM-Cloud Evangelist at the TBM Council and discusses the intersection of TBM-Cloud with FinOps. The partnership addresses environmental tracking through TBM.
• Rego ConsultingminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerListed as a TBM Council partner with a microsite presence within the TBM Connect community portal.
• The Technology EconomistsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a TBM Council partner (Technology Economics Institute) with a microsite presence within the TBM Connect community portal.
• ISG (Information Services Group)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerISG appears as a TBM Council ecosystem partner. TBM Tuesdays sessions are hosted via ISG Market Lens partnership, indicating collaborative webinar delivery.
• FinOps FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJ.R. Storment, Executive Director of the FinOps Foundation, participates in TBM Council sessions exploring the intersection between TBM and the FinOps practice. The FinOps Foundation and TBM Council collaborate on cloud financial management content and best practices.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• The Open Group: Vendor-neutral IT standards consortium stewarding TOGAF, ArchiMate, and Open FAIR. Structurally analogous (consortium governance, member-funded, certification, conference), with TOGAF providing a competing enterprise architecture and technology roadmapping standard that overlaps with TBM's scope.
• ISACA: Long-established global professional association for IT governance, risk, and cybersecurity (CISA, CISM, CRISC, COBIT 2019). Comparable membership-and-certification model targeting CIOs/CFOs, with COBIT providing an arguably overlapping IT value-management framework to TBM.
• Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF): Large nonprofit foundation stewarding Kubernetes and the broader cloud-native ecosystem. Comparable as a community-driven open-standards and certification body serving enterprise IT decision-makers, though materially larger in scale and scope.
• PeopleCert (AXELOS / ITIL): Owner and steward of ITIL 4, the dominant IT service management standard. Closest direct competitor for the TBM Council's ITSM-adjacent Connected Standards positioning and shares the same enterprise IT practitioner certification economics.

Direct peers

• Green Software Foundation: Linux Foundation-hosted nonprofit advancing standards for sustainable software and GreenOps. Directly comparable as a nonprofit community stewarding cross-vendor standards (Software Carbon Intensity), with which the TBM Council has an explicit Connected Standards integration and GreenOps Certification track.
• FinOps Foundation: Nonprofit standards body stewarding the FinOps Framework for cloud financial management. Most directly comparable peer given overlapping mission (IT/cloud cost transparency), shared persona (CIO/CFO/CTO), and an explicit strategic partnership (J.R. Storment and the FinOps Foundation participate in TBM Council programming and Connected Standards).
• Scaled Agile (SAFe): For-profit community-driven organization that publishes and certifies the Scaled Agile Framework. Comparable structure to TBM Council: a single dominant open standard (SAFe) maintained by a small central team, monetized through certification training, conference (Global SAFe Summit), and partner ecosystem.

Emerging players

• International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA): Global nonprofit professional association for business analysis (BABOK, CBAP certification). Comparable structure as a member-driven standards body for an adjacent IT/business discipline, serving practitioner and executive personas.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/TBMCouncil
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/technology-business-management-council
• Xx.com/tbmcouncil

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Technology Business Management Council