How to write a business casePractitioner

IntroductionStrategist DPI

This article explains how to write a business case. It includes 2 business case examples and a free business case template for you to 3-day ITIL Strategist: Direct, Plan & Improve (DPI) course.downloadSpecialist: DSV .3-day ITIL Specialist: Drive Stakeholder Value (DSV) course.

You’re probably reading this article because you want to know how to write a business case. Perhaps your organisation is embarking on a major project to develop a new product. Or, perhaps you’re thinking of moving house so your family can enjoy a better life. In either case, you write a Specialist: CDS business case3-day ITIL Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support (CDS) course. to ensure the investment is worthwhile.IT Learning Library (ITLL)™

In this article we’ll give you 2 business case examples, provide you with a simple business case template for you to use, and explain how to write a business case.BUSINESS LEARNING LIBRARY (BLL)™

What is a business case?PRINCE2 AGILE COURSES

A business case is the justification for some activity (e.g. a project) undertaken by your organisation. It weighs up the timescales, costs and risks of doing the activity against the benefits to be gained. Think of it as weighing up the pros and cons and then taking a sensible decision.Select your preferred training course below:

A business case forms an essential component of the curriculum of the best project management coursesBETTER BUSINESS CASES COURSES.Select your preferred training course below:

Personal business case

You may also use a business case to justify an investment you make in your personal life. For example, when you’re thinking of moving home to another area. You and your spouse will need to understand the costs of moving, the timescales and risks involved, and weigh these up against the benefits to be gained e.g. saving time traveling to your office, or your children able to go to a better school.P3O COURSES

Why have a business case?Select your preferred training course below:

Projects should not just start on a whim or because of vanity – although a lot of money has been wasted over the years on such projectsWORKSHOPS.Select your preferred workshop below:

For business organisations, justification for a project usually takes a commercial form i.e. evaluating how much money could be made from the investment. For example, investing money in developing a new software app to bring first to market, might be deemed to bring certain monetary benefits (in terms of sales) which exceeds the costs of investment.

For government organisations, justification is probably not a commercial one, but could be based upon giving value for money to achieve certain benefits. For example, a public health campaign extolling the benefits of flu-vaccinations for elderly people, might be judged as giving greater value for money than having no campaign, and instead relying on treating patients in hospital once they have contracted the virus.AGILE QUALIFICATIONS

With so many competing claims being made on scarce funds, organisations need the assurance that the decision they are taking is the right one. After all, there will not be enough funds to pay for all the ideas for projects which are floating around the organisation.Select your preferred qualification.

Who uses a business case?

Business cases can be used by many different levels of management within an organisation. Not only are they used to justify the investment in an individual project, but also they are typically used by a AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT COURSESportfolio managementSelect your preferred training course below: office to help it decide which projects will contribute to the organisation’s strategic goals. That way, they can filter out the bad ideas for projects, and only fund projects which will contribute to strategic goals.

A business case is also often used by a project sponsor or project executive to help it decide if they should invest in a specific project.PRINCE2 AGILE COURSES

In all cases, the business case must be written and approved prior to any major commitment of resources.Select your preferred training course below:

What form does a business case take?

Business cases can take many forms – digital or analogue. The tools you use to create one are also many and varied. Common business tools such as Microsoft Office might be used. Rather than being a document or slide deck however, it could equally be in the form of an email.SCRUM COURSES

Equally, a business case could be written by hand on a whiteboard or flipchart, or on the back of a cigarette packet!Select your preferred training course below:

What you should always remember is that a business case does not have to be a huge long document. In fact, it should be as short as possible, and only include the most important information. That way it cuts out the noise and provides decision-makers with just the right information to enable them to take sensible decisions.

For those of you interested in AGILE BUSINESS ANALYSIS COURSESproject managementSelect your preferred training course below:, the project management methodology known as PRINCE2BUSINESS ANALYSIS QUALIFICATIONS focuses its decision-making on a project on having a viable business case.Select your preferred qualification.

Business case examples

We will now give you 2 business case examples. The first example is one which you might find useful for taking decisions in your personal life. The 2nd business case example is more business focused project.BCS BUSINESS ANALYSIS COURSES

Business case example 1: Moving homeSelect your preferred training course below:

Suppose you and your spouse are considering moving to a new home. You will need to weigh up the pros and cons of moving. This is done using a business case. You might not call it that, but that’s what it is. Let’s look at an example.

ReasonAGILE BUSINESS ANALYSIS COURSES

As you can see from the example, the first thing to be clear about in a business case is the reason for doing the project or activity. In this example, the couple has answered the question Select your preferred training course below:Why? In fact, there are two problems here – the local school and John’s long commute.CHANGE MANAGEMENT QUALIFICATIONS

Options consideredSelect your preferred qualification.

A business case should weigh up the competing options which have been considered. After all, there is usually more than one option. Perhaps an alternative option would have been for John to change his job to one nearer their current house. However, this wouldn’t solve the issue with the school.

BenefitsAPMG CHANGE MANAGEMENT COURSES

The benefits of a project or activity are the positive things you’re going to get back in return for your investment of time and money. In this case, the kids will get a better education, and John will save time each day.Select your preferred training course below:

Timescales

It’s also important to understand how long the investment of resources will take. This is so that the organisation (or family in this case) knows when the resources will be freed up to work on other PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT QUALIFICATIONSprojectsSelect your preferred qualification. or activities.

There are usually 2 timescales to consider. First, the timescale of the project or activity – in this case 3 months to find a new house and move there. Second, the time over which the benefits shall be realized. In this case it’s 5 years until the kids leave school.MSP COURSES

CostsSelect your preferred training course below:

The costs of doing the project or activity is the next important bit of information. On this project, the costs of moving to a new house will be £5,000. These are the project costs.

However, the couple will spend an additional £2,000/year for every year over which the business case is calculated. For a project in an organisation, this is usually referred to as the operational costs of maintaining and operating the projects outputs e.g. an IT system. At this point, the couple knows the total costs over the timescales when the benefits shall be realized.PMI COURSES

RisksSelect your preferred training course below:

For any activity or project, it’s also important to understand the major risks involved. Risks are the uncertain things which may or may not happen during the period of the investment. There is only one risk identified here, which is the risk that the couple might lose touch with friends who live close to them right now.

Executive summaryPRINCE2 AGILE COURSES

ReasonsSCRUM COURSES

The reasons for the project are clearly spelled out when describing the 3 current problems which the company faces.Select your preferred training course below:

Options

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1. strategies?
2. Is the project plan aligned with the business case? (e.g. are the costs and timescales in the project plan correctly reflected in the business case?)
3. Are the benefits clearly identified and justified?
4. Is it clear how the benefits will be realized?
5. Is it clearly defined what will judged a successful outcome?
6. Is the preferred business option clearly stated, along with the reasons why?Knowledge Train is an Agile BA Accredited Training Organization.
7. If the project requires external procurement, is the preferred sourcing option stated, and why?
8. Is it clearly stated how any necessary funding will be obtained?Knowledge Train is a Change Management Accredited Training Organization.
9. Does the business case include non-financial, as well as financial criteria?
10. Does the business case include operations and maintenance costs and risks?Knowledge Train is an MSP Accredited Training Organization.
11. Does the business case include project costs and risks?
12. Does the business case conform to organisational accounting standards (e.g. break-even analysis and cash-flow conventions)?Knowledge Train is a PRINCE2 Accredited Training Organization.
13. Are the major risks faced by the project explicitly stated, together with any proposed responses?

How do you write a good business case?Knowledge Train is an AgilePM Accredited Training Organization.

A good business case must contain certain key information including:

• The reasons for doing the project;Knowledge Train is a PRINCE2 Agile Accredited Training Organization.
• The business options which have been considered, including the base business options of do nothing, so something, or do something else;
• Project and operational costs;Knowledge Train is a Better Business Cases Accredited Training Organization.
• Project and operational timescales;
• Benefits, expressed in measurable terms;Knowledge Train is an AgilePM Accredited Training Organization.
• Investment appraisal (or cost benefit analysis);
• Major risks and their mitigation plans;Knowledge Train is a PRINCE2 Agile Accredited Training Organization.

How long is a business case?

A good business should be long enough that it contains all the information needed for the decision-makers to take an informed decision about whether to invest in the project. That means, remove any waffle, and only include information which helps decision-making.Knowledge Train is a Lean Six Sigma Accredited Training Organization.

What’s included in a business case?

The following are the most important items to put into a business case:BCS accredited training partner for Business Analysis.

• Executive summary – summarizes the key points;
• The reasons for the project (answers the question ‘Why are we doing this?’);Knowledge Train is a Change Management Accredited Training Organization.
• The options considered – e.g. do nothing, do something, or do something else – (answers the question ‘What’s the best option?’);
• The expected benefits – in measurable terms – (answers the question ‘What’s the return?’);Knowledge Train is an MSP Accredited Training Organization.
• Costs – both project and operational – (answers the question ‘How much will it cost?’);
• Timescales – for the project and for realizing benefits – (answers the question ‘How long will it take?’);AXELOS Peoplecert accredited training organisation for ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library).
• Investment appraisal – weigh up costs, times, risks against benefits – (answers the question ‘Is it worth it?’);
• Major risks – (answers the question ‘What if?’).AXELOS Peoplecert accredited training organisation for ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library).

What is a business case template?

A business case template serves as a starting point when writing a business case. It is reusable and can be used across all your projects. Depending upon its needs, your organisation may have different business case templates, each one used for different scales of projects.Knowledge Train is an AIPGF Accredited Training Organization.

The purpose of a business case is simple – it’s used to justify an investment in an activity. Typically, in an organisation this activity is a project. It helps give confidence to management that their investment is worthwhile and will realize benefits for the organisation.WHAT YOU WILL GET

Who owns a business case?

A business case is owned by the person who is funding the project. The name of this role is different across organisations, but commonly this role is known as a project sponsor, or project executive.

By owning the business case, it means this person is accountable for ensuring that any investment decisions which are taken based upon the information within the business case are worthwhile.