Building a Business Case for Content Management Systems Presented by Brian Moran

Key Points No difference between CMS and any other large-scale business decision Do your research and be prepared for tough questions Sell it without selling it – let them come to the conclusion Sell it again, but this time be direct

What is a Business Case (BC)? A structured proposal for business improvement that functions as a decision package for organizational decision-makers. A business case includes an analysis of business process performance and associated needs or problems, proposed alternative solutions, assumptions, constraints, and a risk-adjusted cost- benefit analysis. [GAO]

BC Broken Down 1.A structured proposal for organizational decision-makers 2.It includes an analysis of business process and associated needs 3.Proposes alternative solutions 4.Includes a risk-adjusted cost- benefit analysis, with identified assumptions and constraints

BC Broken Down 1.A structured proposal for organizational decision- makers 2.It includes an analysis of business process and associated needs 3.Proposes alternative solutions 4.Includes a risk-adjusted cost- benefit analysis, with identified assumptions and constraints

Proposal for decision-makers Factors to consider: –What drives decisions in your organization? –Who are the key players in decision making and how do you cultivate their buy-in? –What was the last project, of similar scale, that made it through this gauntlet? Is the individual who crafted the proposal around?

Proposal for decision-makers My approach: –Found a well networked staff member and used them as a conduit to the stakeholders –Performed a stakeholder analysis –Kept program area executives involved in the analysis –Kept program area executives and their staff apprised of all developments along the way

BC Broken Down 1.A structured proposal for organizational decision-makers 2.It includes an analysis of business process and associated needs 3.Proposes alternative solutions 4.Includes a risk-adjusted cost- benefit analysis, with identified assumptions and constraints

Analysis of business process and associated needs Factors to consider: –How is content currently managed? Are your procedures codified? –Are the key decisions makers knowledgeable of the current process? –Do they see the same problems you see with the current process? –Are they convinced the problems are so severe that it warrants a multi-year million dollar initiative ?

Analysis of business process and associated needs My approach: –Performed business process analysis –Codified manual processes –Exposed flaws in processes to stakeholders –Uncovered a deep desire for decentralized management of content coupled with a strong desire for improved quality assurance

BC Broken Down 1.A structured proposal for organizational decision-makers 2.It includes an analysis of business process and associated needs 3.Proposes alternative solutions 4.Includes a risk-adjusted cost- benefit analysis, with identified assumptions and constraints

Propose alternative solutions Factors to consider: –What scale? Large scale – workflows, versioning, integration with portal Medium scale – rudimentary workflows, versioning Small scale – decentralized content editing –What’s the feasibility of obtaining the required budget? –What happens if you do nothing?

Propose alternative solutions My approach: –Used rough cut requirements in an RFI –Reviewed products and determined scale –Enumerated scalar differences –Included do nothing as an alternative – with risks associated with this alternative

BC Broken Down 1.A structured proposal for organizational decision-makers 2.It includes an analysis of business process and associated needs 3.Proposes alternative solutions 4.Includes a risk-adjusted cost- benefit analysis, with identified assumptions and constraints

Cost-benefit analysis Factors to consider: –Benefits Are there increased returns from other investments? Can this be leveraged for other things in the pipeline? Are you plagued with process related errors? Do you have any COOP requirements? –Costs Size of site Training Number of users Implementation costs Content Migration

Cost-benefit analysis My approach: –Benefits Reaffirmed what they concluded during the stakeholder analysis. The project was a means to: –improve process inefficiencies, –reduce Web production costs, –reduce human error, –accelerate content delivery times, and –decentralize content control. –Costs Provided ROI % [ (Discounted Benefits – discounted costs) / discounted costs] x 100

Cost-benefit analysis What is average salary (per hour) of staff that handles the posting of documents ?$$ How many times (average) does each pose documents per day?# How long (average) does it take to retrieve the paper document?# How many times (average) does each person prepare/send communications on this topic per day?## YOUR TOTAL MANUAL PROCESSING COSTS TODAY (PER YEAR)$$ YOUR ANNUAL POTENTIAL RETURN (SAVINGS)$$ RETURN ON INVESTMENT - MONTHS UNTIL SAVINGS EXCEED INVESTMENT$$ FIVE YEAR RETURN ON INVESTMENTS$$ Cost Analysis Assumptions Time to retrieve documents# Time to post documents# Typical CMS Implementation Costs - Small Scale System $$ Typical CMS Implementation Costs - Medium Scale System $$ Typical CMS Implementation Costs - Large Enterprise System - $$ Typical Reduction in XXX Costs of XXX$$ Typical Reduction in XXX Costs of XXX$$ Typical Reduction in Time Spent on Web postings#

Building a Business Case for Content Management Systems