O Need For Funding O Benefits example essay topic

Business Case Development Guidelines Introduction Any request for funds in support of activities that are essential to a business unit's base activities may be considered for incremental program funding and are driven in response to: o Documented user need so Work process change so Information systems change so Significant network or technology enhancement so Quality and service improvement so Major operating efficiency improvement so Market, Technical or concept trials The Business Case should answer the following questions: o What is the opportunity / problem you are trying to solve? o What is the desired result you are looking for? o What is the nature of the improvement? o What must be invested to get the desired result? o What are the new production operational costs? o What are the spending reductions, revenue improvements or profit improvements? o What are the qualitative benefits, such as customer satisfaction, strategic value, cycle time improvements, etc.? o What are the concerns or risks? o What is the exit strategy if an initiative is not returning investment? Documentation Should be in the form of a business case or proposal for market or technical trial funding. o Submission should be able to adequately substantiate the request for incremental funding by establishing the: o Need for funding o Benefits to be derive do Corporation's ability to execute the program Program's ability to provide adequate financial return Resources identified within financial justification o Incremental marketing o Product development Network Systems Objectives of Business Case Guidelines Provide assistance in the preparation of the business cases and their financial so Provide a common basis for the information that is required for funding through the resource allocation and program prioritization process Define the parameters and criteria for program prioritization decision so Communicate the resource allocation as it relates to incremental fundingPurposeo Incrementally funded business case so Document the upfront market, technical, operational and financial analysis for request so Is the official document by which the results of the business analysis of a proposed business opportunity is communicated by a business unit to the corporation o Serves as a basis for prioritization of funding requests for the allocation of corporate resource so Provides the parameters for measurement o Sets the milestones by which the program will be tracked o Establishes accountability and documentation for the benefits that are committed The business case is typically divided into sections which include: Section 1 -- Purpose Statement Include one or two pages that documents why the project is necessary Identifies user's clear needs -- answers how the program came about and the benefit to user so Provides linkage to corporate strategies and business unit value drivers, i. e., service, market, quality, efficiency, etc. -- answers why the program will succeed Describes the corporation's capacity to successfully implement the program while meeting financial objectives Section 2 -- Executive Summary Summation of opportunity Relevance to corporate strategies and business Unit value driver so Description of the system or program Description of the benefit so High level view of resource requirement so Additional factors that materially impact the case such as service, cost, efficiency, volume, quality and deployment objectives Section 3 -- Program Rationale so Frame the need for the program and relate it to corporate and / or business unit priorities and strategies o Describe major decision drivers and how they influence the need for the program Describe the benefits and urgency for the program Discuss the penalties or risks if the program is not funded o Explain and identify the how the proposed capability will meet the needs of the business unit that will derive the benefit Section 4 -- Program Criteria Market analysis (products to be deployed) o Strategic fit (integration with other programs) o Probability of success (in conjunction with integrated programs) o Operating efficiency (infrastructure and systems) o Detailed description o Financials Section 5 -- Functional Assessment Describes new system capabilities o Identifies the products and processes that the system will support and the groups who are direct and indirect user so Specific identification of system performance or requirements for each group identified (RDD) o Requirements or inconsistencies that could cause major deviations from the work plano Describes the operating environment including hardware, software, network and user interface so Technology should support the functionalities required by the system and conform to IBM's overarching strategies o Development process should be summarized and the decision process and evaluation that drove the decision should be outlined with the analysis o Linkages and dependencies to other systems (current or future) must be documented and explained Section 6 -- Implementation and Operations Should address all issues around getting the system deployed o Include a synopsis of major events that must occur prior to deployment o Transition plans and issue so Training and documentation need so Organizational impact so Interdepartmental needs and requirement so Support from company affiliates or supplier so Dependencies to existing programs Section 7 -- Resources Provides description, quantification and timelines for the major resource requirements of the program All resources should be identified by program and classified by organization Should be tailored to suit program's needs Section 8 -- Financial Analysis Business case should produce financial results that directly reflect the prior section Results should be reasonable in relation too Market environment Marketing strategies o Technology Operating decision so Summaries should include the highlights of the financial analysis and a description of the factors that influenced the sensitivity analysis o Provide a clearly articulated and identifiable set of assumption so Financial should match those loaded into the business unit financial system.