Establishing the solution requirements and costs involved is imperative to building a business case for mobile working initiatives. A business case provides demonstrable reasoning for the investment of public money into a mobile solution and can then be used in budget allocation discussions and as the basis for investment decisions. In addition, a business case provides a stated set of targets for the related project to achieve which can help form a basis from which to track the benefits of the solution.
The basic methodology for creating a business case for a mobile working solution comprises a number of steps completed in a sequential order. Completing these steps will ensure that all relevant points have been considered as part of the solution assessment.
Step 1: Identify mobile solution area
• Identify the target areas of the solution
• Identify the objectives of the solution
Step 2: Define the mobile solution requirements
• Identify and document the key objectives and requirements of a mobile solution
• This process should involve everyone from managers to the operational level staff to ensure that there is a holistic view of the solution requirements
• Give an overview of the proposed mobile solution
Step 3: Determine the benefits arising from a mobile solution to the requirements
• Calculate potential quantitative benefits (examples can be found in Figure 1 below)
o This can be further broken down into ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ benefits.
o Includes cost savings, revenue enhancement and other such benefits such as reduced equipment requirements/support costs etc.
• Document qualitative benefit areas and how they relate to a rationale for mobile solutions.
o Includes things like improvement against performance metrics and reductions in reaction times
Step 4: Costs of the solution
• This should include a full breakdown of the costs involved including;
o Changes to IT/technical infrastructure
o Cost of obtaining the different mobile devices for use with the solution including an estimated lifetime of devices
o Upfront investment capital required
o Ongoing subscription/licensing fees
o Cost of training for staff
o Cost of solution support
Step 5: Process and organisation implications
• This step covers the area of change management including:
o Business process re-engineering. What processes will need to change and how?
o Training requirements for the new technology
o Resource implications for the implementation of the new processes.
Step 5: Risks and Issues
• An analysis of the risks and issues relating to the project including the relative risk of each issue occurring and their potential impact on the project
Step 6: Project and resource planning
• Should include a high level project plan with timescales, and milestones.
• Resource planning – man days and other resources required for project stages
• Possible sources of funding for the project if applicable
Step 7: Conclusions and Recommendations
• Outline the financial and non-financial conclusions that can be drawn from the business case.
• Based on these what are the recommendations for how the project should move forward from this point based on the project plan.
For use as an aid to help you with compiling your business case, we have provided you with a model business case specifically for our Envirohub PMS solution. The document is designed to be used in conjunction with your own research and processes to ensure that all relevant business case areas are covered.
Click here to download the example business case for Envirohub PMS.