Developing the Business Case

Challenge

Identifying the departments and individuals that are likely to benefit directly from the project implementation. Understanding these individuals, and their business information requirements, is key to defining and scoping the project.

Description

The following four steps summarize business case development and lay a good foundation for proceeding into detailed business requirements for the project.

1. One of the first steps in establishing the business scope is identifying the project beneficiaries and understanding their business roles and project participation. In many cases, the Project Sponsor can help to identify the beneficiaries and the various departments they represent. This information can then be summarized in an organization chart that is useful for ensuring that all project team members understand the corporate/business organization.

• Activity - Interview project sponsor to identify beneficiaries, define their business roles and project participation.
• Deliverable - Organization chart of corporate beneficiaries and participants.

2. The next step in establishing the business scope is to understand the business problem or need that the project addresses. This information should be clearly defined in a Problem/Needs Statement, using business terms to describe the problem. For example, the problem may be expressed as "a lack of information" rather than "a lack of technology" and should detail the business decisions or analysis that is required to resolve the lack of information. The best way to gather this type of information is by interviewing the Project Sponsor and/or the project beneficiaries.

• Activity - Interview (individually or in forum) Project Sponsor and/or beneficiaries regarding problems and needs related to project.
• Deliverable - Problem/Need Statement

3. The next step in creating the project scope is defining the business goals and objectives for the project and detailing them in a comprehensive Statement of Project Goals and Objectives. This statement should be a high-level expression of the desired business solution (e.g., what strategic or tactical benefits does the business expect to gain from the project,) and should avoid any technical considerations at this point. Again, the Project Sponsor and beneficiaries are the best sources for this type of information. It may be practical to combine information gathering for the needs assessment and goals definition, using individual interviews or general meetings to elicit the information.

• Activity - Interview (individually or in forum) Project Sponsor and/or beneficiaries regarding business goals and objectives for the project.
• Deliverable - Statement of Project Goals and Objectives

4. The final step is creating a Project Scope and Assumptions statement that clearly defines the boundaries of the project based on the Statement of Project Goals and Objective and the associated project assumptions. This statement should focus on the type of information or analysis that will be included in the project rather than what will not.

The assumptions statements are optional and may include qualifiers on the scope, such as assumptions of feasibility, specific roles and responsibilities, or availability of resources or data.

• Activity -Business Analyst develops Project Scope and Assumptions statement for presentation to the Project Sponsor.
• Deliverable - Project Scope and Assumptions statement