THE ONGOING DILEMMA – how do we ensure

there is value in our IT-enabling portfolio?

Heather van Wyk

IS Portfolio Business Analyst

Engen Petroleum Ltd

COMPARISON – how we started off and where we

want to be

Problem

Projects which required IT-enabling rarely had a good

Business Case

Business Cases submitted for approval were couched

in IT language not business language

“I don’t know what your problem is but here is a

solution” – IT is too solution-focused.

Because of the IT focus, the business did not always

own the solution and embed it into their working

processes, claiming it was foisted on them by IT

Objective

Partnership between the business and IT

counterparts to produce a good Business Case

The motivation for the change can be facilitated by IT

but MUST be written by the business

Identify several solutions, not necessarily IT-focused

and eliminate those not meeting business

requirements.

Ownership of the Business Case by the business will

ensure acceptance of its proposed solution

PUT ANOTHER WAY – The ‘Challenge’ is to get VALUE

Problem

There is no means for identifying

Value and defining how it can be

managed and tracked.

Objective

Ensure exploitation of Value by

identifying it in a Business Case and

subsequently defining how it will be

managed and tracked.

Key Governance Information to start the process

How does this align with Corporate Strategy?

What type of investment is it

(Mandatory, Business Improvement, Stay in

Business, Growth)?

Who is the person who is ACCOUNTABLE for

the success of the project?

Who are the person(s) RESPONSIBLE for

embedding the changes in the business?

Who is the person in IT who is ACCOUNTABLE

for the solution?

Who will do or facilitate the business

analysis?

WHO should support the Business Case?

By means of questionnaires, the Sponsor assesses:

• the strategic value

• project size

• complexity

• change management impact.

From the outcome, the following are derived:

• levels of governance

• levels of experience required from a Project Manager

• levels of experience required from a Change Manager

So, in summary, what is the BUSINESS CASE?

The Business Case is an AGGREGATION of specific information

about the project

The Business Case effectively describes

what the VALUE is to the sponsoring

organization.

Managing the Business Case is

about making sure that there is a BALANCE of

benefits, costs, timescales and risks

And that these are OPTIMISED

throughout the life-cycle of the project

Find tools that CONNECT with the business

Start Small with a Project-on-a-Page concept then ‘grow’ it into a full Business Case.

Choose a tool which will assist you to facilitate a result with the business. To develop the Business

Case, I usually use the Hourglass Model from PiCubed.

Ensure that the business does not find the IT-facilitated workshops threatening and that they

participate enthusiastically.

Business Case and BENEFITS across the lifecycles

The Business Case HOLDS the Project Together

The components of the Business Case are therefore built up by means of a process of Progressive Elaboration.

As one of the line managers in the organisation succinctly put it – the components are ‘boiled down’ until they are

concise and unambiguous.

Because the Business Case is a living document, the progressive elaboration continues throughout the life-cycle

of the project.

Continuous Justification occurs when the Business Case is reviewed throughout the life-cycle.

BENEFITS

A component of the Business Case that strings it all together!

SCOPE of the project

� What must be delivered to

achieve the objective?

� What must be delivered to

realise the impacts and

benefits?

Benefits

Problem /

opportunity

Objective

Impacts

Products

Find Change Management Tools which CONNECT with

the Business

The BIP MAP (Benefits-Impacts-Products Map) is a modeling technique for mapping

benefits to products (deliverables)

The ‘AHA’ Moment!

This tool proved to be a light-bulb moment for me!

The BIP Map

Change Management is CONTINUITY

It now becomes clearer what the Change Management Role is

Introducing the ROLE of Change Management

Change Management begins DURING the compilation of the

Business Case

It CONTINUES through the Planning stage and beyond the Closeout

stage

It enables the Change Champion(s) in the

business to TRANSITION and EMBED the changes in order to achieve and

track the benefits.

Change Managers and Benefits Realisation

It is vital that the Change Manager embraces the facilitation role he/she

will play in helping the Business Change Champion(s) to transition to

the operational environment.

A Change Manager is not someone who makes everything ‘pink and

fluffy’ but one who focuses on the real aspect of embedding the

changes.

The ROLE of the Project Manager

Must be aware of the VALUE of the project

Structures the project to

deliver the VALUE of the

Business Case.

Enables the Change Agents to embed the VALUE in the

Business

In Summary

If we do all of this, have we risen to

the ‘challenge’ of extracting VALUE?

Value?