A business case is developed during the early stages of a project and outlines the why, what, how, and who necessary to decide if it is worthwhile continuing a project. One of the first things you need to know when starting a new project are the benefits of the proposed business change and how to communicate those benefits to the business.
In contrast, the business case, which is first developed during the project initiation phase, contains much more detail. It should be reviewed by the project sponsor and key stakeholders before being accepted, rejected, canceled, deferred, or revised.
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Many projects start life as a walk in the fog, which is fine in itself, but never see the light of day or stumble along aimlessly for too long because the clarity of scope, time-scale, cost, and benefits are not defined adequately during the first stages of the project.
The business case is needed when resources or expenditure on a project has to be justified. Approval is usually sought from the project sponsor and other interested parties. For instance, the finance function may authorize funds and the IT department provide resources.
This example of a business case is a simplified version for a small company with few staff. The bigger the project, the bigger the risk, which means the more detail you will need to provide for your investors and stakeholders.
Our current website is just a static page with no interaction available to possible customers. With a website upgrade to incorporate an e-Commerce store, we can entice users to purchase all their training online, in return increasing productivity and efficiency within the office. An estimated $25,000 could be saved a year through this upgrade.
Since 2020 and the outbreak of Covid-19, many more people have been working remotely and wish to access their training requirements online. We need to update our systems to provide our customers with a purely online system that can provide them with their required training courses in a virtual environment, from purchase through to attendance. This new e-Commerce website is the first step in this process.
The limitations of this project remain with staffing, as we do not have a web designer or developer within our company, meaning this will still have to be outsourced if anything arises at a future date.
The executive summary is the first section of the business case and the last written. It is a short summary of the entire business case. It succinctly conveys vital information about the project and communicates the entire story to the reader.
The purpose of this section is to give a clear introduction to the business case and project. It should contain a brief overview of the reasons why the project or business change has come about: the problem, opportunity, or change of circumstances.
For instance, if the business case and proposed solution makes use of technology, make sure to explain how the technology is used and define the terms used in a glossary. Since most problems have multiple solutions an option appraisal is often needed. This will explore the potential solutions and recommend the best option.
The last section of the business case template is of most interest to the project manager, project team, and managers responsible for delivering work to the project. This project organization section describes how the project is set up.
This section of the business case template shows the reader how the project is structured and the different levels of decision-making. Usually, a business will already have implemented a project governance framework that will support the project through each stage.
Finally, the business case should define how project progress is recorded and the project board updated on project performance. Usually, the project manager does this by preparing a concise progress report or highlight report at regular intervals.
The completed business case provides structure for the project and project organization throughout the project lifecycle. Therefore, it should be used routinely for reference and not consigned to the shelf.
Accordingly, the project sponsor and project board should review and update the business case at key stages to check that the project remains viable and the reasons for doing it are still valid. Ideally, the review should take place before starting a new stage to avoid unnecessary investment in time and money.
Having the right foundation in place from which to launch a business case can be critical, especially if your organization is relatively new to digital preservation. The first section of this toolkit, Understand your digital preservation readiness, provides a detailed discussion of actions that may be useful to undertake before developing a business case, including:
In order for your business case to be successful, it is important to gather some key information about your organization and its stakeholders before you start writing. Initially you could establish expectations for the business case itself by:
Understanding the context within which your business case will function is an essential part of preparing to develop the case itself. It is important to factor in the many different aspects of your organization that your business case will depend on. A PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal) analysis is one way to structure and guide an assessment of these contextual issues but some critical elements to consider are discussed in more detail below.
Some organizations will have established policy frameworks which can define constraints within which operations are conducted. Alignment with a digital preservation policy may prove beneficial (see Understand your digital preservation readiness).
Growing concerns about the impact of our actions on the environment and the climate make it especially important to consider how the activities outlined within a business case might have an ecological impact. Most organizations will have an environmental policy which should be considered carefully in relation to your business case.
Before you start writing your business case, you need to determine your audience(s) so that you can adopt the right tone and language, as well as being prepared with the right background knowledge. This will ensure that your document is impactful. Consider the following: which organizations, departments or individuals will assess your business case? Which parts of the organization (like teams or committees) will be affected by it, and to what extent? By identifying the people to whom you are presenting your business case, you will gain a better understanding of your audience and their priorities. Think about who will be evaluating your business case or making the decision to implement your proposal, even if they are not a part of your organization. These external stakeholders might have different needs and expectations. Other practical tips include:
Choosing the right time to develop and submit a Business Case can be crucial in achieving success, aligning with organizational processes, avoiding distractions and maximizing the potential support for building your case.
Avoiding periods of busy, or peak activity within your organization could be important. There may be periods of organizational downtime, for example outside term times at an academic institution. Staff turnover might leave critical posts empty or lead to the loss of critical champions for your business case.
Decision-makers will want to know how much money you will need to realize your plans. It is crucial you provide them with a clear overview of all costs involved, including staffing, training, procurement, maintenance, and development. Make sure you have an idea of available budgets before you start with your business case, for example by looking at previous examples for similar activities or projects within your organization. Consider the following questions:
Consider breaking your proposal into separate phases, each with clearly defined objectives and success criteria if you think that will be more acceptable to your organization than making a significant one-off commitment to fund a single large proposal.
When it has been established that the full business case is required, the sponsor of the proposal (ideally someone as senior as possible in the organization) should authorize commencement. Work should then begin to populate the most appropriate template with well-written, clear and focused content.
The document will almost certainly benefit from being checked by at least one person who can objectively assess the proposal without confirmation bias, especially if they have prior experience of assessing other business cases. Authors should approach the creation of the proposal with a flexible mindset and be open to ideas and changes to content and structure as the proposal comes together. Independent advice and feedback on your business case might be especially valuable. If possible seek guidance from the Digital Preservation Coalition and/or your peers at other organizations.
In many instances, organizations may prefer to initially respond to a summary pitch (often a slide deck) that represents the fuller proposal. The quality, clarity and persuasiveness of this summary is a critical component in establishing the value of the idea. If the purpose of the pitch is to provide a decision-making group with a foundation for discussion on the merits of the idea, it is vital that they start that discussion with positive feelings about the effort that has gone into drafting the proposal.
Get your idea off the ground. You've got a great idea that will increase revenue or boost productivity--but how do you get the buy-in you need to make it happen? By building a business case that clearly shows your idea's value. That's not always easy: Maybe you're not sure what kind of data your stakeholders will trust. Or perhaps you're intimidated by number crunching. The "HBR Guide to Building Your Business Case," written by project management expert Raymond Sheen, gives you the guidance and tools you need to make a strong case. You'll learn how to: Spell out the business need for your idea; Align your case with strategic goals; Build the right team to shape and test your idea; Calculate the return on investment; Analyze risks and opportunities; Present your case to stakeholders. 152ee80cbc
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