BUSINESS CASE TEMPLATE

Business Case Template

Abstract

Proposes a continuous participative evaluation process built on the formative evaluation paradigm. The benefits of this approach are that all the primary or core stakeholders, i.e. the users, top management and the technical specialists involved in the task of delivering information systems benefits, participate in the evaluation and the subsequent decision making associated with the project. These stakeholders are consequently involved in moulding and realising an information system which is targeted to meet real business needs rather than just investment and project management criteria. This approach ensures that high quality information systems that deliver direct business benefits with which the user community can identify are implemented. It implies a new focus that encompasses concentrating on and understanding the business issues and how the information system will deliver real value to the organisation. It is the view of the authors that formative evaluation can help to maximise business value from information systems.

Table of contents

Abstract2

Table of contents3

Introduction3

Background4

Description of problem or opportunity11

Options available and considered13

The reduction of time and space15

Cost/benefit analysis17

Conclusion and Recommendations22

References25

Business Case Template

Introduction

This paper addresses one of the most critical issues facing information systems managers in the late 1990s by considering the difficult problem of how to improve the success rate of information systems delivery. The paper suggests that a different approach to the problem of information systems evaluation[1] may be an important driver for better performance in this area. The paper proposes an alternative approach to the well established problem of the ongoing evaluation of an organisation's information systems, especially during the developmental stages. It looks at the problems (Ballantine and Stray, 1998; Farbey et al., 1994; Pervan, 1997; Remenyi et al., 1997; Remenyi, 1993; Sherwood-Smith, 1990, 1994; Straussmann, 1997; Symons, 1994; Van Wegen and Hoog, 1996; Willcocks, 1996; Willcocks and Lester, 1994, 1995) and difficulties associated with traditional evaluation and proposes a relatively novel way of thinking about and approaching evaluations. This is a theoretical paper and evidence to support the arguments described here is based on the published thinking of many academics and consultants in this field as well as the conceptual work of the authors. It also draws on empirical evidence collected by the authors during many consultations with information systems professionals over the past five years. The theoretical foundation for this paper originates from the work conducted by academics such as Currie (1989), Farbey et al. (1995), Hirschheim and Smithson (1988), Keen (1975), Lester and Willcocks (1993), Symons (1991), Walsham (1993) and Ward et al. (1996), to mention only eight. The paper suggests a different way of thinking about information systems management and especially project management which is driven by an evaluation process.

Background

There are many different views about the purpose of IS evaluation in organisations. Generally to-date most practitioners believe that the purpose of the evaluation process is to assess and to improve the developed information systems and the systems development process. However, in practice it has been shown that the primary reason for evaluation, particularly post-implementation evaluation, is project closure ...