Updating a Project Business Case
Overview
Projects
do not take place in a static environment. The environment external to the
project changes, as do the nature and timing of the project's products. The
Business Case needs to reflect these changes, and must be reviewed and amended
to keep it relevant to the project.
Context
The
update of the Business Case and the
Project Plan is a cyclic process during
stage end processes throughout the project.
Process Description
The
objective is to re-visit and revise, where necessary, the costs, benefits and
timings stated in the Business Case. These may have been affected by internal
or external events. Various factors will affect this process including:
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The final implementation
date of the project may have changed, for better or worse, which might affect
some or all of the benefits |
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The cost of delivering
the outcome might have changed, thus affecting the cost side of the
cost/benefit analysis |
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Approved changes will
have affected products, hence benefits |
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Externally the corporate
or programme environment into which the outcome will be delivered may have
changed |
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The situation with regard
to external resources or Suppliers may have changed beyond the control of the
project. |
A
revised Business Case is created. The
Risk, Actions and
Issue Logs are examined
to see if anything has changed which might affect the Business
Case.
It
is worth noting that changes may improve the Business
Case, just as well as
weaken it.
The
Project Board is ordinarily only authorised to continue while the project
remains viable (i.e. the benefits will be realised within the cost and time
parameters set out in the currently agreed Business
Case). If costs and/or time
are to be exceeded, or it becomes clear that benefits will be substantially
lower than those set out in the Business
Case, the Project Board needs to have
the revised Business Case approved afresh by corporate or programme management.
Responsibilities
The
Project Manager is responsible, assisted by project
support, and those with
project assurance responsibilities should check out the work.
The
project's benefits are a prime responsibility of the Customer.
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Management information |
Usage |
Explanation |
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Input |
Have any changes to the Project Plan been made which affect the Business Case? |
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Input |
Are there any new Issues that threaten (or could improve) the Business Case? |
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Input |
Are any actions outstanding? What is their status? |
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Update |
Are there any new risks that threaten the Business Case? |
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Update |
Revised to account for any changes to the project that may affect it |
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Has anything happened
external to the project that affects the Business
Case? |
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Has the Project Plan
changed such that it impacts the Business
Case, for example, in terms of
overall cost or the date of the scheduled outcome? |
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Has it become impossible
to achieve some or all of the identified benefits? |