Shared Business Case:
Theory and Practice
Dave Lindsay
Chief Information Officer
Mid Kent ICT Services
What’s a business case ?
A business case
captures the
reasoning for
initiating a
project or task.
A business case is an
argument, usually
documented, that is
intended to convince a
decision maker to approve
some kind of action.
A business cases
will contain
justifications for a
project such as
value for money
for what is to be
done and why it
should be done
now.
Rationalise & test the viability of the shared vision
…. in terms of feasibility, political appetite, and
measurable improvement & efficiency gains - SSA
Typical approach
• Prince II
• Focus on:
– Business benefits
– Savings
– Organisational structure
– Risks
Limitations of typical approach
• Over-reliance on Project Management
methodologies
• At the expense of Change Management
• Single organisation perspective
• Lack of focus on shared vision, limits horizon
Limitations of typical approach
• No common syntax
• Scope of ambitions of each partner
• Lack of focus on ‘soft’ issues: Trust, consensus
& buy-in from all stakeholders
• Fixation on cost results in early design of new
organisational structure
Case Studies
• Phrases that should set alarm bells ringing
• "Best practice staff consultation and dialogue
processes will be adopted within the Shared
Service to support any required harmonisation."
• "Adoption of best practice approaches to staff
and trade union engagement and consultation
once final Council decisions taken on
participation.“
The collaborative business case
• Must start with a mandated shared vision
• Trust & vision must be in place before a
business case is commissioned
• Make it an iterative process
• Create boundary spanning roles
• Resource it properly
The 5 key steps of the collaboration
business case route map
The Business Case
Introduction
Setting out
the strategic
context
Establishing
consensus &
buy-in
Supporting the
decision making
process
Setting out the
consultation journey
Setting our the
implementation
timeline
Releasing the business
case document
How ambitious is each
partner ?
Assessing the risks &
governance
Restating the shared
vision & options
Maximising the
executive overview
Design
Shared Vision
Choosing what can be
developed in-house
and what needs to be
developed externally
Evaluating the
finance &
risks
Developing the
financial business case
Design of the business
case document
© 2013 Shared Service Architecture Ltd
Developing
the economic
case
Thank You
Any questions ?
dave.lindsay@midkent.gov.uk
andrew.cole@midkent.gov.uk