1. Project management
Topic 4
Business Case

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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?

5. 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

6. 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

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

8. 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