Business case

• Defined
  • Purpose
  • Business Case defined
  • Outputs, outcomes and benefits
  • Types of Business Case
• Approach
  • Overview
  • Developing the Business Case
  • Verifying and maintaining the Business Case
  • Confirming the benefits
• Approach - The contents
  • Typically contains
  • Reasons
  • Business options
  • Expected benefits
  • Timescale
  • Costs
  • Investment appraisal
  • Major risks
• Responsibilities

Key sections

• Introduction
• Business case
• Organization
• Quality
• Plans
• Risk
• Change
• Progress
• Introduction to processes
• Starting up a projectDirecting a project
• Initiating a project
• Controlling a stage
• Managing Product Delivery
• Managing a Stage Boundary
• Closing a Project
• Tailoring PRINCE2 to the project environment
• Directing Projects with PRINCE2

The PRINCE2 approach

Developing the Business Case

In PRINCE2® the Executive is responsible for the Business Case.
It does not necessarily mean that the Executive writes the Business Case, merely that the Executive is responsible for ensuring that the Business Case is written and approved.

Development of the Business Case may be delegated, for example, to a business analyst or perhaps even to the Project Manager.
In some cases, programme management will provide an approved Business Case as part of the Project Brief.
Whoever is given the task of developing the Business Case, it is important to ensure that they have the appropriate business skills required (for example, understanding the difference between a cash-flow forecast, a profit-and-loss account and a balance sheet).
If not, then the Project Board should consider using Project Assurance to assist with the development of the Business Case.

The outline Business Case is derived from the project mandate and developed pre-project in the Starting up a Project process in order to gain approval by the Project Board in the Directing a Project process to initiate the project.

The detailed Business Case is derived from the outline Business Case, the Project Plan (costs, timescale, products) and the Risk Register.
Due to the inputs required to develop a Business Case, its development will be iterative.
There needs to be an initial justification to proceed with the project, but until the project is planned in detail, the outline Business Case is based on costs and timescales that are, at best, approximate.
Once the costs and timescales are better understood, it may increase or decrease the desirability, viability and achievability of the project and could therefore change the project approach, leading to some replanning.

PRINCE2® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom and other countries.