Is Your Business Case

The Executive Summary is often the first (and sometimes only) section that high-level stakeholders read in full. It needs to provide a concise yet powerful overview of your entire business case.

• Core Content: Summarise the main objectives, financial highlights, anticipated ROI, and key deliverables. Include a brief rationale for why this project or programme is critical at this point in time.

• Strategic Messaging: Stress how the proposal aligns with broader organisational goals, this could be anything from competitive differentiation to improving customer satisfaction or streamlining internal processes.

• Clarity & Brevity: While it’s important to be succinct, the summary must pique interest, prompting decision-makers to explore subsequent details. Avoid jargon where possible, ensuring any technical terms are easy to understand.

Challenge Level: Moderately challenging. It requires striking the right balance between brevity and comprehensiveness. The difficulty lies in distilling complex details into a page or two without losing critical information.

The Problem Statement (or Opportunity) section sets the stage by explaining exactly what the organisation is looking to address or capitalise on. It paints a clear picture of why the business transformation is necessary.

• Current State Analysis: Provide a snapshot of existing processes, systems, or market conditions that are driving the need for change. Include quantifiable metrics, such as increasing operational costs, declining customer retention rates, or missed revenue opportunities, to establish context.

• Opportunity Framing: If you’re pursuing a growth initiative rather than solving a specific pain point, describe the market opportunity or competitive advantage you aim to gain.

• Consequences of Inaction: Demonstrate potential risks or missed advantages if the programme does not proceed. This often helps stakeholders understand the urgency and importance of the transformation.

Challenge Level: Moderate. Organisations sometimes struggle to articulate the full extent of the problem or opportunity, especially when there are multiple interrelated drivers. Ensuring clarity and focus is key here.

The Project Scope and Objectives section defines the boundaries of what the project will and will not address, along with the outcomes that signify success. Clear scope and objectives prevent “scope creep” and ensure stakeholder alignment.

• Scope Definition: Outline precisely what the programme includes, technology upgrades, process changes, organisational restructuring, and so on. Equally important, specify what falls outside the scope.

• SMART Objectives: Objectives should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. For instance, a simple objective might be: “Reduce manual invoice processing time by 50% within 12 months.”

• Dependencies & Assumptions: Identify external factors or dependencies (e.g., regulatory approvals, third-party vendor contracts). Note any assumptions that might affect the project’s feasibility.

Challenge Level: Moderate to high. Defining scope can be contentious when multiple business units or stakeholders have competing priorities. Organisations often find it challenging to maintain focus, which is why clear, measurable objectives are critical.

The Cost-Benefit Analysis is arguably the heart of the business case. It details both the financial and non-financial benefits and compares these against the anticipated investment.

• Financial Breakdown: Provide a thorough appraisal of all costs, including implementation costs, licensing, equipment upgrades, consultant fees, training, and any ongoing operational expenses. Present these costs over a realistic time horizon (e.g., three to five years).

• Benefit Quantification: Estimate monetary gains, cost savings, or revenue growth attributed to the transformation. Where possible, use historical data or industry benchmarks for validation.

• Intangible Benefits: Include benefits that are harder to quantify, like improved brand reputation, stronger employee engagement, or enhanced customer satisfaction. These can be influential in stakeholder decisions, even if they don’t fit neatly into a spreadsheet.

• ROI & Payback Period: Offer credible calculations for Return on Investment (ROI) and the payback period, acknowledging any margins of error or sensitivity analyses where data might be less certain.

Challenge Level: High. From our experience, most organisations find cost-benefit analysis the toughest to assemble convincingly. Challenges arise around data availability and accuracy, as well as assigning monetary values to intangible benefits. 

The Risk Assessment identifies potential obstacles and uncertainties and provides mitigation strategies. It reassures stakeholders that you’ve thoroughly considered what could go wrong and have plans in place.

• Risk Identification: List possible risks, whether operational, financial, technical, or strategic. These might include data migration challenges, vendor lock-in, staff turnover, or unexpected regulatory changes.

• Likelihood & Impact: Assign each risk a rating (e.g., high, medium, or low) for both its likelihood of occurring and its impact if it does.

• Mitigation Strategies: Outline contingency plans or mitigation steps, such as phased rollouts, pilot programmes, or parallel operations to reduce risks.

• Ownership & Monitoring: Assign risk owners and define how often risks will be reviewed or updated. This ensures accountability and keeps risk management active rather than reactive.

Challenge Level: High. Risk assessments can be undervalued until something goes wrong. Many organisations struggle to anticipate “unknown unknowns” or to allocate sufficient time and resources for ongoing risk monitoring.

The Implementation Roadmap translates your business case from concept to reality by mapping out a practical, step-by-step plan.

• High-Level Timeline: Provide a phased schedule of key milestones, such as requirement gathering, system configuration, user training, and go-live.

• Resource Allocation: Detail the teams, roles, and responsibilities for each phase. For example, clarify whether you need an in-house project manager, external consultants, or dedicated subject matter experts.

• Milestones & Deliverables: Identify major deliverables tied to each phase. These might include completed software installations, pilot programme results, or final process documentation.

• Dependencies & Constraints: Acknowledge sequential dependencies (e.g., training cannot start until software configuration is complete) and any constraints (e.g., budget approval cycles).

Challenge Level: Moderate. While crafting a roadmap can be straightforward once the scope is set, aligning the roadmap across multiple stakeholder groups and ensuring everyone agrees to deadlines can be challenging, especially in large, matrixed organisations.

The Governance and Accountability section establishes how the transformation will be overseen and who will be responsible for its success.

• Programme Governance Structure: Define the hierarchy, steering committees, executive sponsors, project managers, workstream leads, to clarify decision-making authority and escalation paths.

• Reporting Cadence: Specify how and when progress updates, financial reviews, and risk assessments will be reported. This might include monthly steering meetings, weekly project updates, or quarterly executive reviews.

• Roles & Responsibilities: Go beyond job titles to detail each role’s specific responsibilities, ensuring no tasks or decisions slip through the cracks.

• Performance Measurement: Outline Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or metrics that will be used to measure success, tying them back to objectives from earlier sections.

Challenge Level: Moderate. Organisations sometimes underestimate the importance of clearly defined governance, which can lead to ambiguity in decision-making and accountability. However, once the right structure is in place, it often serves as the backbone for transparent, efficient execution.