Comments on: If a project is approved, do you need to do a business case? http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/if-a-project-is-approved-do-you-need-to-do-a-business-case/ Advance Your Business Analysis Career Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:08:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Laura Brandau http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/if-a-project-is-approved-do-you-need-to-do-a-business-case/comment-page-1/#comment-3053 Laura Brandau Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:39:06 +0000 http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/?p=1654#comment-3053 Hi Nathan, Thanks for your comment. I suppose I am taking a broader view of "business case" as a document that might contain the elements of business goals and objectives and business needs whether or not funding is approved or not. I have fewer experiences as a contributor to very formal business cases and more experiences doing what I would consider "business case work" that produces documents much shorter in nature and where the focus is on understanding the goals, not so much on justifying the resources. I also have many experiences doing very micro-level business cases, especially as I am working in an agile environment. So we might make these decisions on a feature-by-feature level, ensuring that each feature adds business value. I still consider this part of the "business case work" even though I am not producing a business case document. This might seem questionable, but we are consistently throwing out requests that would require a "mere" 3-5 days of developer time because the value of the request is simply not worth the effort. Your distinction is a good one, as it helped surface my tendency to conflate the formal understanding of a specific document with the value I see that document generating within an organization. Thank you. Hi Nathan,

Thanks for your comment. I suppose I am taking a broader view of “business case” as a document that might contain the elements of business goals and objectives and business needs whether or not funding is approved or not.

I have fewer experiences as a contributor to very formal business cases and more experiences doing what I would consider “business case work” that produces documents much shorter in nature and where the focus is on understanding the goals, not so much on justifying the resources.

I also have many experiences doing very micro-level business cases, especially as I am working in an agile environment. So we might make these decisions on a feature-by-feature level, ensuring that each feature adds business value. I still consider this part of the “business case work” even though I am not producing a business case document. This might seem questionable, but we are consistently throwing out requests that would require a “mere” 3-5 days of developer time because the value of the request is simply not worth the effort.

Your distinction is a good one, as it helped surface my tendency to conflate the formal understanding of a specific document with the value I see that document generating within an organization.

Thank you.

]]> By: Nathan Caswell http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/if-a-project-is-approved-do-you-need-to-do-a-business-case/comment-page-1/#comment-3038 Nathan Caswell Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:46:35 +0000 http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/?p=1654#comment-3038 I think it's worth making the distinction between a business case and business need. The business case according to the BABOK is To determine if an organization can justify the investment required to deliver a proposed solution. and is in my experience primarily a financial exercise performed in earnest before the 40 programmers are authorized, i.e. when there is a clear idea what is going to be delivered and what effort it will take. While the BA is a stake holder this is generally something owned by the project manager accountable for the bulk of the cost. Business Goals and Objectives along with Stated Requirements seem like the more crucial elements for proceeding with BA work. Business Need, "why the business needs change", and the tactical or strategic value it's satisfaction can provide to the business is a BA contribution to the business case, but also has crucial independent role as the context for Requirement Analysis. I think it’s worth making the distinction between a business case and business need.

The business case according to the BABOK is
To determine if an organization can justify the investment
required to deliver a proposed solution.
and is in my experience primarily a financial exercise performed in earnest before the 40 programmers are authorized, i.e. when there is a clear idea what is going to be delivered and what effort it will take. While the BA is a stake holder this is generally something owned by the project manager accountable for the bulk of the cost.

Business Goals and Objectives along with Stated Requirements seem like the more crucial elements for proceeding with BA work. Business Need, “why the business needs change”, and the tactical or strategic value it’s satisfaction can provide to the business is a BA contribution to the business case, but also has crucial independent role as the context for Requirement Analysis.

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