### 6.5.2 Business Manager (BM) As defined in PM2, the Business Manager plays a vital role in coordinating client-side activities and roles (e.g. user and business representatives) and ensures the project’s deliverables fulfil the business and user needs. The **adoption of PM2-Agile clearly extends the range of action of the Business Manager (BM)** since the inclusion of the new Product Owner’s **(PrOw) role creates a permanent and active “client’s voice” on the Provider’s side**. ==**Liaison between User Representatives (URs) and the Provider Organisation**== The Product Owner **(PrOw) drives the implementation** of the solution based on a **prioritised Work Items List (WIL)**. The prioritised WIL reflects the strategy and the needs of the client organisation and is the **outcome** of the regular **work performed by** the User Representatives (**URs**) and the Product Owner (**PrOw**) during ==refinement sessions==. Additionally, the Product Owner’s **(PrOw) ensures User Representatives (URs) participate actively in the Iteration Review** to validate the development team’s iteration output. These recurrent activities make the Product Owner **(PrOw) the right person to act as a liaison** between the User Representatives (URs) and the Provider organisation **when PM2-Agile is adopted**. ==**Empowerment and Alignment with the Product Owner (PrOw)**== Because the Product Owner (PrOw) is part of the Agile Project Core Team (A-PCT), a more dynamic and expedited interaction between the “business” and “IT” emerges. Since the Product Owner (PrOw) embodies the business strategy and vision for the product being built, he/she **must be**: - **empowered by the Business Manager (BM) to take the necessary day-to-day decisions** that allow the development team to progress towards the final product without having to wait for specific decisions; - **aligned with the Business Manager (BM) and the Business Implementation Group (BIG)** to ensure the Work Items List reflects the business strategy and vision so that the team consistently and regularly focus on the most critical things. An empowered Product Owner aligned with the Business Manager (BM) and the Business Implementation Group (BIG) allows the real benefits of PM2-Agile to surface.