NOTES TO USERS OF THIS TEMPLATE

The main purpose of the SBC is to establish the business need for the proposed project or programme and any resulting investment. It should make clear the driving forces behind the project and how it meets the needs of ministers (central government), members/officers (local authorities) or directors (companies) and any organisational policies or priorities.

Strategic Business Cases (SBC) are recommended where:

•  there are a large number of disparate stakeholders involved in a project or change management initiative

•  the project is novel, risky or complex

the parameters of the project are ill-defined (particularly the objectives and scope)

For large or risky projects the main purpose is to:

•  give the organisation and key stakeholders an early opportunity to consider and influence the project

improve decision making by providing a starting point for the consideration of options

•  weed out projects that should not proceed before spending too much effort on them.

The SBC should be no longer than 20 pages in length. Complex or cross departmental programmes may require more. Quality is more important than size at this stage of the Business Case cycle.

Typical outcomes for the SBC would be:

•  abandon the project

•  modify the project

•  do a pilot to test the concept

•  proceed with the project as planned but with a set of recommended options

The focus should be on strategic issues and not enter into too much detail the emphasis is on scoping and planning. It is a building block on which the Outline Business Case (OBC) can be developed.

Ideally the SBC should be produced by a multidisciplinary team, including key stakeholders, with the skills to properly scope and define the project/programme.

The following template is based on local government good practice guidelines and reflects the use of the guidance in practice based on our experience.

Notes are included to help the author complete the sections necessary for an SBC. Completion of these sections to a satisfactory level would ensure compliance with the 4ps Gateway Review process.

The layout and headings used are those that would be expected in an OBC submission. We have included these for two reasons. Firstly to indicate the level of work required going forward to the OBC level. Secondly, the SBC should provide flexibility in circumstances where projects may not be of sufficient value to merit a full OBC. In this instance the template could be modified to bring some of the OBC requirements forward for consideration at this stage.

Items prefixed (GR0) are questions or issues that will arise during the GatewayTM  Review 0, Business Justification. If your SBC can meet this requirement it stands a very good chance of progressing to the next stage (if a GatewayTM Review is being undertaken) and/or meeting the needs of any scrutiny process within the organisation.

(GR0) Does the Project Profile Model confirm the level of review required for this stage?