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“We were doing the best we could, just living with the limitations of our existing processes and tools. But our CIO started talking about Apptio, an IBM company and Technology Business Management. And that’s when we understood that things didn’t have to be this way.”
After transitioning to Agile, Skipton Building Society needed a modern portfolio and cost management solution, because spreadsheet-based reporting and Finance-led processes no longer provided the visibility, consistency, or speed the business needed. By implementing IBM Target process and integrating it with IBM Apptio and Azure DevOps, Skipton created a more trusted, connected view of strategy, delivery, and IT spend.
The result has been better, cost transparency, less manual effort, and faster, more confident decision-making. Just as importantly, the organization has strengthened trust in its data, improved accountability across teams, and built momentum for a broader shift toward more data-led portfolio management.
Part of the Skipton Group of companies, Skipton Building Society is the fourth largest building society in the UK. Through a network of 82 branches across the country, Skipton offers mortgages, savings, and financial advice to help people purchase a home, save for the future, and enjoy long-term financial security. Founded in 1853, the company is headquartered in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England.
Skipton Building Society began its transition to Agile in 2020, transforming development operations. And over the next two years, the company fully adopted SAFe and Lean Portfolio Management practices.
During those years, the company managed portfolio spending using reports from its Finance team and spreadsheets. While this process enabled them to perform basic planning activities, said Paul Haines, Senior TBM Manager at Skipton Building Society, it fell short of delivering what the company really needed to effectively manage IT investments for several reasons:
Paul Haines explained the challenges further. “When we needed a view of our finances, we would create specific spreadsheets,” he said. “But that only gave us a point in time version of the truth, not the single version of the truth that everyone was looking at. And it only gave us Finance’s view of the world, in a language only Finance could understand.”
Dominic Kirkley, Interim Portfolio Tooling Product Owner at Skipton, added, “We needed a portfolio management tool that aligned closely with our ways of working and supported our strategic frameworks. Our existing solution wasn’t meeting expectations, and managing key portfolio data through spreadsheets created unnecessary complexity and inefficiency.”
When Jenny Wood, Group CIO at Skipton, joined the organization, she brought a new way of thinking about managing IT finances. Paul Haines said, “We were doing the best we could, just living with the limitations of our existing processes and tools. But our CIO started talking about Apptio, an IBM company and Technology Business Management. And that’s when we understood that things didn’t have to be this way.”
Working with Cprime, Skipton’s partner for adopting SAFe and LPM, company leaders were introduced to IBM Targetprocess as a solution to their portfolio management challenges. After several demonstrations, Kirkley said, it was clear that Targetprocess was the best solution for them.
“One of our key solution requirements was self-sufficiency, not having to depend on a third party for new dashboards or reports or other enhancements,” he said. “We wanted to be, to a certain extent, in control of the keys to enhance and allow the solution to grow and develop with us. This was a massive learning point from our previous tooling experience where the net outcome was, we outgrew the tooling. Targetprocess aligned strongly with our needs, particularly around flexibility, intuitive visualization, and support for Agile portfolio management, and we felt confident that the solution could help us address our challenges while providing room for future growth.”
Skipton began implementation of Targetprocess in February 2025. The first step was integrating Targetprocess with Azure DevOps, followed by iterative enhancements to the tooling, layering on and proving out new capabilities, linking to strategic and tactical objectives, and finally integrating Targetprocess with IBM Apptio for full cost transparency.
“We focused on releasing a new capability every month,” Haines said. “We established a regular cadence with our CIO and senior leaders, sharing insights from the data and showcasing what these new capabilities could do for them. That really helped us get buy-in throughout the project.”
By taking an iterative approach, Skipton delivered incremental value throughout the project and created positive business outcomes for the company.
One of the most important outcomes for Skipton Building Society was establishing a single, trusted source for portfolio and IT cost data. Before adopting IBM Targetprocess and IBM Apptio, key information was managed through spreadsheets and point-in-time reporting, creating unnecessary complexity and making it harder for teams to work from a consistent view of the business. With IBM Targetprocess, Skipton has been able to reduce its reliance on manual spreadsheets and create a more reliable foundation for reporting, analysis, and planning.
For example, Kirkley explained, Skipton retired the spreadsheet that previously housed all delivery RAIDD data after a period of dual run. This spreadsheet was over several worksheets, adherence was poor, access uncontrolled other than using permissions in Excel. Assurance and governance activity was lacking and data and insights were difficult. “Targetprocess has really strengthened this with seamless access, data and insights on usage and clear assurance controls are now in place,” he said. “Value add dashboards have been produced and action-related insights are now common.”
By moving to a shared and dependable source of truth, Skipton gave stakeholders across the organization a clearer, more consistent view of portfolio and cost information, strengthening alignment and supporting better decisions.
Skipton also gained the ability to generate more actionable insight, helping leaders make decisions with greater speed and confidence. With better access to current portfolio and cost data, the organization can respond more quickly to questions, identify issues sooner, and make decisions based on timely information rather than waiting for static monthly reporting.
That shift solved a critical business problem. Previously, visibility depended heavily on Finance-led reporting, which meant decision-makers often had to wait for answers or work from information that was already out of date. By putting better insight directly into the hands of leaders, Skipton improved responsiveness at the executive level and strengthened its ability to manage both portfolio priorities and IT spend more proactively.
“Targetprocess has enabled a direct line of sight from what we are trying to achieve via strategic goals and corporate plan to the work we are trying to do,” said Jenny Wood, Group CIO at Skipton. “I’m also excited by the ability it presents to allow us to be more data and insight driven in the decisions we need to make.”
Another significant result has been a reduction in manual work. Integrations with Azure DevOps, IBM Apptio, and the broader data ecosystem have helped streamline processes and improve the flow of information across the organization. Developers can work in Azure DevOps while other teams work in Targetprocess, all using the same version of the truth. Reporting that once required teams to build spreadsheets manually is increasingly available on demand, reducing the administrative burden on teams and making insight easier to access when it is needed.
This was an important improvement because manual reporting does not scale well. It consumes time, introduces the risk of inconsistency, and limits how often information can be refreshed or used. By reducing manual effort, Skipton has made its reporting processes more efficient while also freeing teams to focus on higher-value work such as analysis, planning, and action.
“Colleagues frequently comment on how well the solution supports our ways of working—especially compared with our previous tooling—and how integrations have helped streamline processes and reduce manual effort,” Kirkley added.
Skipton’s use of IBM Apptio has also significantly improved visibility into IT costs and budget performance. The organization began by focusing on high-level spend reporting and then expanded into reporting that allows users to drill deeper into the data. As a result, cost center owners can now see budget variances more clearly and begin asking more informed questions about what is driving them.
Instead of relying on a Finance Department view that may feel removed from day-to-day decision-making, Skipton is giving stakeholders direct access to the information they need. That not only improves transparency but also helps build stronger accountability for how budgets are managed.
Skipton’s progress has been especially meaningful because it is built on trusted data. The team worked hard to make sure the numbers were credible, including securing sign-off from Finance that the data matched. That validation gave the reporting greater authority across the organization and helped strengthen confidence in the platform. At the same time, the portfolio management work focused on creating a clear and consistent version of the truth from the outset.
Even the best dashboards and insights have limited value if stakeholders question the data behind them. By building credibility early, Skipton created the foundation for broader adoption and positioned the platform as a trusted part of how the business manages cost, change, and portfolio decisions.
Beyond the operational gains, Skipton is also seeing early signs of cultural change. As cost center owners gain direct visibility into their budgets and variances, they are becoming more engaged in understanding and managing their costs. Haines described this as a move in the right direction toward stronger cost management awareness, supported by a broader ambition to become more data-led and data-driven.
This is especially important because long-term transformation requires people across the organization to take ownership of the data and use it to guide decisions. By increasing transparency and making cost information easier to understand, Skipton is helping embed stronger accountability into the business.
Skipton’s results are already creating momentum for the next phase of its transformation. The organization has taken an iterative approach, building capabilities over time and focusing on areas where it can deliver value quickly. It has already proven the integration between IBM Apptio and IBM Targetprocess and is now developing that further to unlock even greater insight and efficiency across the portfolio. Workforce Management is also emerging as a promising next area for development.
“Targetprocess is providing a strong foundation for portfolio insight and strategic portfolio management,” Kirkley said. “As we add more capabilities, I’m excited by the value and transparency we expect to unlock.”
Discover how IBM Targetprocess can help your organization achieve similar results.
Discover how TBM is helping their teams build a more data-driven foundation for future business strategy.
Discover how Skipton Building Society moved away from disconnected tools and manual processes to build a more connected portfolio management environment with IBM Apptio and Targetprocess.
