The Business Case provides an understanding of the way the project will lead to the intended benefits. For a good understanding of the Business Case we should differentiate between:
- Output
The project's tangible and intangible products ("deliverables").
- Outcome
The result of the changes that are caused by the use of the products.
- Benefit
A measurable improvement resulting from an outcome, that is regarded as benificial by one or more of the stakeholders.
The Business Case is usually recorded in a document. While every organisation can use it's own standard here, a Business Case should hold the information given in the template proposed by PRINCE2.
Confirm the Benefits
The reason to undertake a project is the expectation of benefits. Therefore PRINCE2 urges to establish realized benefits as soon as possible. At the end of each stage the Project Manager should indicate which benefits have been realized. Operational benefit realization is a Senior User responsibility, while assuring the realisation is a Business Executive responsibility.
After project closurethe project organisation will be disbanded and therefore PRINCE2 advises to record in a Benefits Review Plan the reviews that will take place after the project to measure the actual benefits realized. The Benefits Review Plan is created in the process Initiating a Project.
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