A COMPLETE GUIDE TO CREATE COMPELLING PRESENTATIONS THAT

ALIGN IT TECHNOLOGY BENEFITS TO ENTERPRISE VALUE INITIATIVES.

Getting the Business Case Right

- Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Roadmap from Business Case to Value Realization by Jack M. Keen

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Definition of a Business Case

A document written for executive decision makers, assessing the present and future business value and risks related to a current IT-enabled investment opportunity. The purpose of a business case is to guide management in making the investment decision, from a business value point of view.

A business case primarily consists of cost and benefit calculations, assumptions, rationale, evidence, and support – all recapped into a narrative “value story.” - Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Roadmap from Business Case to Value Realization by Jack M. Keen

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Getting the Business Case Right

Defining

Scope Criteria Align

INPUTS

Decision Needs -Who expects what?-Who cares about what?

Align Criteria to Enterprise Business Strategy & Values

OUTPUTS

Project Plan

Aligned Criteria

- Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Roadmap from Business Case to Value Realization by Jack M. Keen

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Scope (Who expects to see what?)• Define business case drivers and boundaries. (Address issues of concern to business

sponsor, identify what is and is not included in the business case: business areas involved, systems impacted, people and resources consulted).

• Identify deliverables, team, and schedule. (Enlist members of the business case evaluation team responsible for development and delivery of the business case, create a final report and specify detailed project timelines).

• Solidify executive sponsorship. (Provide a confident level of accuracy in estimates to sponsor +/- 10%)

Criteria (Who cares about what?)• Define decision participants. (Sponsor, BSA, PM, SME, Enterprise Architect, DEV,

DBA, Hardware & Software Managers).• Identify decision criteria. (These are your benefits, costs, and risks).• Specify intangibles. (Target business results, not system features).• Filter business value criteria. (Reduce Cost, Increase Profit, Reduce Risk, Regulatory

Compliance) Align (Connect the dots.)• Align criteria to enterprise business strategy.

Getting the Business Case Right

Defining

- Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Roadmap from Business Case to Value Realization by Jack M. Keen

5

Getting the Business Case Right

Calculate Prove Analyze

INPUTS

Aligned Criteria

Determine Proof Needs

Provide Evidence

Payoff Explanations

OUTPUTS

Calculated Payoffs

ROI Computations

- Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Roadmap from Business Case to Value Realization by Jack M. Keen

Assessing

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Calculate Construct explanations. (Business importance, solution drivers, evidence,

references). Define formula sets and variables. (Display all components used to calculate

benefits). Identify metrics and calculate. (Show formula, time period, % change, KPI, input

data).

Prove Determine “proof” needs. (Market comparisons, audit report, financial reports,

survey s). Provide evidence and references. (Research docs, vendor quotes, estimating

spreadsheets, context diagrams).

Analyze Review alignment and compute final ROI. (IRR, NPV, ROI, payback period, etc.). Identify key themes. (“Reduce operating cost”, “Provide better service to customers”,

“Security Compliance”). Determine recommendations. (Explain factors of decisions made, summarize results Say it all in 50 words or less!

Getting the Business Case Right

- Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Roadmap from Business Case to Value Realization by Jack M. Keen

Assessing

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Deliver

Getting the Business Case Right

Delivering Story telling

INPUTS

ROI Computations

OUTPUTS

Final Business Case

75%

- Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Roadmap from Business Case to Value Realization by Jack M. Keen

Test

Build

Define

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Story Telling• Construct graphics and narratives. (Convert key themes and

data to visuals when possible).• Write ROI stories. (Improve understanding of the business case

findings and rationale).• Define and deliver presentations. (Build on sequence of topics,

speak the audience language, show visuals).

Getting the Business Case Right

Delivering

- Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Roadmap from Business Case to Value Realization by Jack M. Keen

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What makes business cases FAIL

50 pages of data and no pages of why it matters!Abundant use of technical terminology to which

the audience cannot relateDetails about systems features, but little

explanation of how they help the enterpriseUnclear reasoning behind the conclusions

offeredA writing style that does not communicate well

to an executive audience

- Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Roadmap from Business Case to Value Realization by Jack M. Keen

Presented by Sheldon McCarthy, BA at Farm Credit Bank of Texas

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Supporting Documents

Presented by Sheldon McCarthy, BA at Farm Credit Bank of Texas

Mind Mapping Diagram of Business Case ReportPOLDAT Questionnaire List

Process, Organization and Location (Business Architecture) and Data, Applications and Technology (Systems Architecture)

Detail cost estimating spreadsheet (show calculations)Business Case and Feasibility Study

Templates are available online at the IIBA Austin Chapter websitewww.austin.iiba.org/professional-development/

template-library

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PROJECT NAME: ABC ProjectTIMELINE: May -2013 until Feb-2014BUSINESS SPONSOR: Cash Management Services WORK YR AVG MO MONTHSPROJECT MANAGER: 2080 173.3333 10PROJECT PHASE: TRAIN DEPLOY SUPPORT

MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB TOTAL HOURS HR*RATE

COUNT MONTHS

AVG HR MONTH

ALLOCATION %

NAME COSTCENTER AVG RATE 173PM NAME 435 125 80 60 40 40 40 40 40 40 60 40 480 60,000 10 48 28%BA NAME 334 75 120 170 25 15 15 15 130 40 15 545 40,875 9 61 35%QA NAME 334 75 20 0 25 15 10 160 160 45 45 480 36,000 9 53 31%SME 709 125 80 80 15 40 80 25 80 400 50,000 7 57 33%DEV 1 560 150 80 80 170 170 170 80 60 20 25 855 128,250 9 95 55%DEV 2 560 225 80 80 170 170 170 80 40 40 25 855 192,375 9 95 55%DBA 560 150 20 65 65 65 40 80 25 360 54,000 7 51 30%

561,500.00 CONTRACTORSResource 1 225 170 170 170 170 170 170 170 1190 267,750 7 170 98%Resource 2 150 170 170 170 170 170 170 170 1190 178,500 7 170 98%

446,250.00

1,007,750.00 HARDWARE WHEN INCURRED?(3) Virtual Servers 300000 300,000 (2) Application Servers 200000 200,000 (2) Database Servers 100000 100,000

600,000.00 SOFTWARE&LICENSE WHEN INCURRED? - License purchase costs 54000 54,000 ANN. Maintenance costs 12000 25000 12,000

66,000.00 RACKS/CABLES/PORTS WHEN INCURRED? - List items 1800 1,800

67,800.00

733,800.00

PROJECT RESOURCES170 AVG HOURS PER MONTH

DEFINE BUILD TEST

TOTAL H/W, SW, Other

ASSUMPTIONS 1,007,750.00$ TOTAL RESOURCE COSTSTOTAL H/W, SW, OtherTOTAL PROJECT COSTS

733,800.00$ 1,741,550.00$

TOTAL HARDWARE

TOTAL ALL RESOURCES

TOTAL CONTRACTORS

TOTAL FTE RESOURCES

TOTAL HARDWARE

TOTAL OTHER COSTS

DETAIL COST ESTIMATING SPREADSHEET

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References

Presented by Sheldon McCarthy, BA at Farm Credit Bank of Texas

IIBA Online LibraryBook: Making Technology Investments

Profitable: ROI Roadmap from Business Case to Value Realization, Second Edition by Jack M. Keen

IIBA Austin Template Library Business Case Template Feasibility Study Template Risk Assessment Template

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