Business Case Development

Business Case Development

Table of Contents

• Overview
• When to Use
• Quick Start
• Reference Guides
• Best Practices

Overview

A strong business case combines financial analysis, strategic alignment, and risk assessment to justify investment decisions and secure leadership approval.

When to Use

• Requesting budget approval
• Justifying technology investments
• Planning major initiatives
• Evaluating vendor solutions
• Resource allocation decisions
• Strategic priority setting
• Change management planning

Quick Start

Minimal working example:

Business Case Template:
Project: Customer Portal ModernizationDate: January 2025Prepared By: Product ManagerFor: Finance & Executive Review
---
## Executive Summary
Proposal: Modernize customer portal with cloud-native architecture,improve UX, and enable real-time features.
Investment Required: $800K (one-time)Annual Operating Cost: $150K (vs $200K current)Payback Period: 18 monthsNPV (5-year): $2.1MIRR: 45%
Recommendation: APPROVE - Strong financial case with strategic benefits
---
## Strategic Alignment// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)

Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:

Best Practices

✅ DO

• Tie business case to strategic goals
• Quantify benefits wherever possible
• Be realistic about timelines and costs
• Include detailed risk assessment
• Show multiple scenarios/alternatives
• Get stakeholder input early
• Executive sponsor support
• Use professional presentation
• Address tough questions proactively
• Define success metrics upfront

❌ DON'T

• Over-promise benefits
• Underestimate costs
• Ignore alternative solutions
• Skip risk assessment
• Rely solely on intangible benefits
• Present without executive support
• Use overly optimistic assumptions
• Forget to include contingency
• Present incomplete financial analysis
• Ignore competitive pressures