Project management Topic 4 Business Case

What is the Business Case? A description of the reasons for the project A justification for undertaking the project based on the estimated costs, risks and expected business benefit Covers the entire scope of the project and the impact of the project to the business

What is in the Business Case? Reasons Why the project outcome is needed Options or alternatives All the various options that have been considered One option is recommended Benefits Each benefit described in measurable terms

What is in the Business Case? Risks The key risks and their impact if they occur Cost and timescale Outline of costs and timescale Investment appraisal The development, operational, maintenance and support costs against the value of benefits over time – compared with doing nothing! Evaluation GAP analysis Are the benefits reasonable or overly optimistic? What is the best case/worst case scenario?

Who creates the Business Case? The executive is responsible for the Business Case The executive may delegate the development of the Business Case to the Project Manager Data for the business case is provided by the experts in the business Is a ‘live’ document Business Case is updated in initiation phase as more information is available Formal Approval of the Business Case is made at the end of the Initiating a Project Stage

How is the business case developed? Hold a stakeholder workshop to: Discuss and clarify the business objectives Discuss the impact of the project and the expected benefits

Business Case documentation Input Project Mandate Project Brief Project Initiation Business Case Input Project Issues End of Stage Report Output Post Project Review

Overview IF the business case is not valid the project is not valid The business case is reviewed before every major decision is made If circumstances change and the business case becomes invalid the project should be terminated