subject: Developing The ERP Business Case [print this page] Creating the ERP Business Case is all about communication. It comes down to putting together a case that is persuasive, straightforward, comprehensive, comprehensible and most especially, convincing. Imagine your ERP business case like a film producer or director would visualize their movie pitch when they present to the studio. The first step is going to be ensuring that that you have thought it through, that you know where you are heading with it,and you've covered everything. For a movie producer, this implies that each thread in the plot has been tied up, that there's already a robust concept behind the film to drive the style, casting and marketing of the motion picture. For an ERP business case, this means that you've covered each thread when it concerns business, when it concerns management, that you are clear about how the whole project will fit together and that you're not just "testing the waters". The next step is to be certain that you've structured the case sufficiently so that any individual can fully grasp it on picking it up, even if the individual picking it up doesn't comprehend a single thing about Enterprise Resource Planning. You must write it in plain english because, it's likely that, you'll be selling this case to a number of people with varying levels of knowledge in ERP. That is probably the most important step. In fact, if you can't clearly change your business case into plain english, into something that just about someone might pick up and fully understand, then find a person who can convert it into layman's language for you, as this is exceptionally beneficial. Irrespective of how outstanding your recommendations, the fact is always that if the Executive don't comprehend it, then they will not provide you with the go-ahead. If you need to assure that your ERP Business Case is going to get the point across and make a persuasive argument, then what you will want to do is give it a "test run". This means, soon after you have been through the actions and put it all together, you want to show it to a few people. Normally include a minimum of one co-worker and an outsider - an individual with no notion what the project is or even a base familiarity of business processes or accounting. While your co-worker reads it, request them to pick it apart, request them to be uncompromising and pull no punches. If team member can pick it apart, then the individuals who give the go-ahead for it will be able to as well. Now, no business case is totally lacking of any item that can be critiqued or improved upon, so adapt your case until you believe it's as good as it's going to get, and move foreward. When you are showing it to an outsider, just make certain you can fully understand it. Again, many of the people in your organization are likely to have earned their position due to good business intuition or merely because they had the budget to finance a project, but not every one will have the same business knowledge that you have. So be sure that your friend, your neighbor or your cousin can actually get the gist of what you're attempting depict with your business case (keep in mind that the business case may be secret though!) Thorough and comprehensible: These are really the two key points when it concerns developing a business case. It's all about, above all, getting your point across, and then, to assure that you're making a point worth making, that you have covered your bases and are presenting what you might call the final draft of your business case. It's not extremely hard. As long as you have a sound comprehension of your ERP, as long as you know how to get your points across, you should be able to put the final case together in two or three drafts. Expect to reword your case a minimum of once or twice, and then to perform one or two of adjustments along the way (in truth, there's no disgrace in continuing to tweak it piece by piece right up until you present the case for approval). As the old saw goes "Writers don't write, they rewrite". For the first draft, just throw all of your points down on paper. For the second, ensure that they're organized and comprehensive, that you're not spending a lot of effort on aspects that scarcely need bringing up, but that you ARE spending enough time on the details that need to be made. With regard to the third draft and tweaking, just be sure that you're making your point plainly and concisely.
Developing The ERP Business Case
By: Philip Greenwood
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