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Do Vendor ROI and TCO Prove Value for Money?

Captain’s Log, Entry 8034.3The internet is awash with sellers asking you to believe their own ROI figures. You know this very well if you are currently shopping for costly assets. Vendors know that many customers believe ROI and TCO prove value for money in purchase decisions for large IT systems, vehicles, production machines, and lab equipment.  Should you believe the vendor’s predictions? The answer is “Yes” only if you can trust them.

Vendor-produced ROI figures are also center-stage when sellers submit customer ROI and TCO figures along with the sales proposal. Many vendors seem to believe that sale closing will follow faster when they show customers the attractive ROI and TCO results they can expect. Continue reading “Do Vendor ROI and TCO Prove Value for Money?”

How to Make the Case for Your Business Case

Captain’s Log, Entry 7833.3How long should a business case analysis take? How much labor does the case require?  Those involved in doing the work and their managers naturally want to know: Is it worth the time and labor it takes to build and deliver them? In brief, Is there a case for your business case?

A serious business case analysis may require serious project effort, especially when the subject of the case has major impacts in a complex business environment, and when the subject has not been analyzed before. Participants in our say that professional labor requirements can easily range anywhere from several person-days at the low end to several person weeks on the high end. Continue reading “How to Make the Case for Your Business Case”

Business Case Builder! How to Win at Question Time

Captain’s Log, Entry 7542.1Business Case Analysis is center stage  in business decision-making and planning. However, few people in business understand the nature of BCA. And few know how to build convincing business case proof.  As a result, wise case builders take care to learn how to earn trust for case results.  Business Case results are credible when they include cash flow forecasts, serious risk analysis, and reasoning that makes the case for action. In other words, cash flow forecasts alone are not a business case.

Decision-makers rely on BCA to build the understanding and confidence they need to take action. You know this already if your recent funding request or project proposal failed.  You know this also if you serve on committees for budgetary planning, capital spending, or strategy. Continue reading “Business Case Builder! How to Win at Question Time”

Do Soft Benefits Really Belong in a Strong Business Case?

Captain’s Log, Entry 8172.5Non-financial and so-called Soft Benefits outcomes from an investment or action deserve value and a place in the business case—when they help meet important business objectives.

  • Non-financial and so-called Soft Benefits belong in the business case when they contribute to meeting business objectives.
  • Important benefits from an action are sometimes hard to value in financial terms.  Case builders struggle especially in assigning value to non-financial outcomes—the so-called “intangibles.”
  • Are these benefits soft benefits? Or, real business benefits that belong in the business case? Continue reading “Do Soft Benefits Really Belong in a Strong Business Case?”

Business Case Credibility-How to Make the Most of a 2nd Team

Captain’s Log, Entry 8183.5  Business Case Success depends above all on business case credibility. The most important step you can take toward success is to recruit a cross-functional, cross-organizational Reference Group. Used intelligently, this  group is can be key to scoring high in business case credibility. Never approach case-building as a “Do It Yourself” project.

Something sinister happens the moment it’s clear that decisions or plans call for a business case: An insidious temptation strikes the project manager,  product manager, consultant, or salesperson responsible for the case. This temptation is a direct threat to business case credibility. Even CFOs are not immune.  What’s the threat? It’s this pernicious message:

“Do it Yourself!”

The temptation has a seductive logic. Firstly,  build the case yourself and Continue reading “Business Case Credibility-How to Make the Most of a 2nd Team”

Did the Business Case Fail? Know What Went Wrong

Captain’s Log, Entry 8186.1 — Why did the business case fail? It may predict excellent results yet still fail to “make the case.” Everyone asks: Why did the Business Case Fail? 

In our business case seminars, we see project managers, IT directors, salespeople, and others who have just had a painful experience: Their business case analysis failed.

Some of them predicted great cash flow, high ROI, and short payback, but still got a thumbs down from top leaders. Continue reading “Did the Business Case Fail? Know What Went Wrong”

Business Case Figures Don’t Lie. Exactly Who is Lying Here?

Captain’s Log, Entry 8132.3Can you produce business case results showing anything you want to show?
“Figures don’t lie but liars figure.”
– Attributed to Mark Twain and others

One reason that business case results do not always receive support, no doubt, is this. Many believe that case results can show anything the author wants them to show.

Is that belief really valid? Continue reading “Business Case Figures Don’t Lie. Exactly Who is Lying Here?”

Believe Your Business Case? Better Build in Self-Evident Validity

Captain’s Log, Entry 7659.1Will your audience believe your business case? Above all, business case credibility comes from built-in transparency and self-evident validity. They will believe your business case if the case itself delivers the means to judge the quality and magnitude of the results. You cannot always count on ROI templates, tools, methods, and business case consultants to put a high priority on building that ability into the case.

Will they believe your business case? Your case speaks with authority only if you know how to build in credibility. An engineering manager in one of our business case seminars defined business case “success” in a way that many others would agree with:

The business case was successful! My proposal was funded!

Continue reading “Believe Your Business Case? Better Build in Self-Evident Validity”

The Business Case Is Not Optional It’s Mandatory!

Captain’s Log, Entry 8191.3—Business people everywhere are hearing something like this from management: The business case is not optional! 

When do you know you need a business case? You know it when you hear messages like these:
  • We can’t afford to fund every new project or development proposal anymore. We have to find a better way to prioritize proposals, decide which to continue, and which to drop.
  • Starting this year, any request for non-budgeted funds is nonstarter without a strong cost/benefit analysis behind it.”
  • Government policy says we have to have to show financial justification before going forward with major capital projects.”

In brief, the business case is no longer optional in more and more places. Continue reading “The Business Case Is Not Optional It’s Mandatory!”

Your Business Case Critic: De-Clawing the Cat

Captain’s Log, Entry 8180.3Prepare for the Worst—the serious critic. If you don’t want nasty surprises from the hostile business case critic at your own case review then don’t surprise your audience!

There are some things you just do not want to hear at your business case review. You are trying, after all, to build confidence that supporting your proposal is a wise business decision.

At your case review, however, certain remarks from business-case critics can dismantle that confidence—if you are not ready for them. One hard-hitting question from a devious skeptic can undermine the credibility you work so hard to build—unless you know in advance how to turn it to your advantage.

Continue reading “Your Business Case Critic: De-Clawing the Cat”

Business Case vs Business Plan: Do You Know the Difference?

Captain’s Log, Entry 7286.4Business Case, Business Plan. Do the Terms Mean the Same Thing? It’s a question you may have to answer many times for your colleagues. In brief, the case is organized around an action, while the plan is organized around the business. 

Many people ask:  What’s the difference between a Business Case, on the one hand, and a Business Plan on the Other? Surprisingly few people in business are prepared to answer such questions in clear terms.

People often use the terms interchangeably or ask for one of them when they mean the other.  Why? Continue reading “Business Case vs Business Plan: Do You Know the Difference?”