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Business Case Guides

Business case guides are resources organizations can use to help them develop and evaluate business cases. They typically provide guidance and best practices for conducting market research, financial analysis, risk assessment, and other critical tasks involved in the business case process.

Here are some examples of business case guides:

  1. The Business Case Guide – This guide, developed by the Harvard Business Review, provides a step-by-step framework for developing and evaluating business cases. It includes guidance on identifying the problem or opportunity, defining the objectives and scope, conducting market research, creating financial projections, and evaluating risks and opportunities.
  2. The Better Business Cases Guide – This guide, developed by the UK Government, provides a structured approach for developing and evaluating business cases for public sector projects. It includes guidance on aligning the business case with government policy and priorities, conducting market research, creating financial projections, and assessing risks and benefits.
  3. The Project Management Institute Guide to Business Case Development – This guide, developed by the Project Management Institute, guides on developing and evaluating business cases for projects. It includes information on stakeholder analysis, market research, financial analysis, risk assessment, and benefits realization.
  4. The Small Business Administration Business Case Guide – This guide, developed by the Small Business Administration, guides on developing business cases for small businesses. It includes market research, financial analysis, risk assessment, and strategic planning information.

Business case guides can be valuable for organizations developing or evaluating business cases. Providing a structured framework and guidance on best practices helps organizations ensure that their business cases are developed consistently and effectively, and that crucial information is presented clearly and concisely.

The Business Case Guides category is a comprehensive collection of resources, articles, and documents designed to provide CIOs, IT executives, and decision-makers with step-by-step guidance, best practices, and practical advice for creating, evaluating, and implementing IT-related business cases. This section of our CIO Reference Library focuses on offering insights and tools to help you navigate the complexities of the business case process and develop compelling, data-driven proposals that effectively communicate the value of your technology investments to stakeholders.

A well-crafted business case is essential for making informed decisions about IT projects and initiatives, securing stakeholder buy-in, and driving successful outcomes. The Business Case Guides category aims to equip you with the knowledge and tools to manage each stage of the process effectively, from identifying the problem or opportunity and gathering data to evaluating alternatives and presenting the final business case for approval.

Key topics covered in this category include:

  1. Step-by-step guides for creating IT-related business cases
  2. Best practices and advice for articulating the problem or opportunity addressed by the IT project
  3. Guidelines for gathering and analyzing data to support the business case
  4. Tips for developing and evaluating alternative solutions
  5. Techniques for estimating costs, benefits, and ROI of technology investments
  6. Strategies for assessing and managing risks associated with IT projects
  7. Recommendations for aligning the business case with organizational goals and business strategy
  8. Guidance for presenting the business case for approval and securing stakeholder buy-in
  9. Post-implementation review and continuous improvement using lessons learned from the business case process
  10. Real-world examples and case studies to illustrate successful business case development and execution

The Business Case Guides category is regularly updated with new content, ensuring that it remains a valuable and current resource for CIOs and IT executives as they work to drive their organizations’ digital transformation and achieve success through effective management of the business case process.

IT Investment Business Case Toolkit

This comprehensive, multi-volume guide contains a complete set of tools – framework, process, instructions, templates, and tools – to create a business case for information technology (ICT) investments. This guide contains information, and tools for the preparer, and reviewers. Excellent toolkit for the CIO who wants a structured approach to IT Business Cases.

IT Project Business Justification Guide with Examples

Unlock the potential of your IT projects with this comprehensive business justification guide. Learn to align projects with business goals, manage risks, and measure delivered value. The business justification guide includes real-world examples and a template to create persuasive business cases.

Guide to Business Case for IT Investments

This in-depth guide provides the process, templates, and guidance to create a business case for investments. The excellent discussion goes beyond financial considerations to include critical non-financial issues to consider when funding an investment. The emphasis is not on fulfilling an administrative mandate for approval of investments but to genuinely understand what it takes for an investment to succeed based upon fact and evidence. Excellent Read! (200 pages)

How to Develop a Business Case for IT Investments

This business case guide provides a template for managers to seek approval and support for IT investments. It provides the steps in the analysis required to ensure that IT investments are planned and documented – requirements are defined, performance metrics are identified, and program costs, benefits, and risks are well defined and understood prior to initiating an IT project.

IT Investment Business Case Guide

This guide focuses on creating a business case for a generic project peripheral to an IT investment. The guide helps understand what a Business Case is, when and how one should be produced, what should be included, as well as some of the tools and techniques that may be used to develop a Business Case. (100 pages)

Business Case Guide for IT Investments

This guide helps develop a business case for IT investments. It provides a structure for the decision-making process, and for presenting this information in a way that makes decision-making easier, and help secure commitment and engagement across the organization and ultimately lead to a greater chance of success for the project.

Business Case Guide: Structured, Phased Approach

This in depth business case guide provides a structured and results driven approach and framework for all stages of the business case process. The guide is for capital intensive projects and can be adapted to technology specific business cases. (200 pages)

Post Project Evaluation Guide

This in depth guide to post project performance provides a structured approach and framework to assess the performance of a capital investment in operation. This assessment is a critical component of any business case evaluation because it can save not just money but also potential disasters for an organization. (150 pages)

Creating a Preliminary Business Case for an IT Investment

This guide helps build an initial or indicative business case for an investment. This business case established the strategic context of the proposed investment, confirms the need for a solution to a business problem, recommends an approach with a list of viable options, and gets approval for further analysis to

Creating a Business Case for an IT Investment

This guide helps create a business case for an IT investment. This business case establishes the strategic context and fit, confirms the case for change, identifies the investment option that maximizes business value, prepares a proposal for procurement, and seeks the necessary funding and management approvals for successful implementation.

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