Articulating Cost & Benefits for a Government Department's most Strategic Initiatives
Authoring HM Treasury Business Cases to support technology change projects and supporting them through rigorous ‘Red Team’ scrutiny
Securing approvals and funding to deliver large scale technology change
Over the last five years our client has undertaken a number of large scale technology change programmes; they have looked to reduce risk by replacing legacy technology, reduce costs by amending the supply chain and drive efficiency through new and enhanced business applications.
All of these initiatives have required significant investment and consequently all have required the creation of HM Treasury ‘5 case’ business cases; both to seek approval of the preferred option and to provide the necessary funding to deliver it.
Building a complete and robust business case requires knowledge of the business case development process (the ‘Blue Book’) and the time to pull together and present all of the required inputs (options, costs, benefits, risks, plans etc.)
Our clients Digital, Data & Technology Services (DDTS) team has not always had the capacity to develop these business cases in the short timeframes available; nor support them through the extensive review and sign-off processes.
Finyx have been engaged by them on multiple occasions to author programme and project business cases on their behalf and as a result we have established ourselves as a trusted business case delivery partner.
Rapid Delivery of quality HM Treasury 5 Case Model Business Cases
To support our client, Finyx have invested in our people and have built a sizable team of consultants trained and accredited in the HM Treasury Business Case Development Process.
On each engagement we follow a structured approach to creating the business case. We set-up and facilitate a number of workshops with project stakeholders to gather the necessary inputs for each of the 5 cases (Strategic, Economic, Commercial, Financial and Management); and we take the opportunity to educate the participants on the business case process and it’s purpose – ensuring that the project delivers a net benefit to the UK public.
As we progress through the process we regularly communicate both status, and information gaps, to ensure we remain on target for delivery of the final document.
Drawing upon our experience in delivering successful business cases for organisations such as this, Finyx have developed a comprehensive Business Case Development Toolkit to help accelerate the process and ensure a quality product.
This set of tools and templates includes an Options Analysis Model, an Economic Appraisal Models, a Route-to-Market Assessment tool and pro-forma risk and benefit registers.
To support each business case for this client, we also developed a supporting presentation to concisely summarise the key elements of the case and highlight the decisions required. These summaries were very well received by the senior leadership team and really helped to expedite the review and approval process.
Setting the standard for business cases
Over the years, Finyx have created more than 10 individual business cases for this Government Department. We have written Programme Business Cases (PBC) to tie together related investments, Strategic Outline Cases (SOC) to support UK Government Spending Reviews, and Full Business Cases (FBCs) to award contracts to new suppliers of ICT services.
Ultimately, the measure of success for these has been their 100% first time approval rate across the various internal governance forums.
For these high-value investments our client have implemented a very thorough ‘Red Team’ review process, allocating a specialist to review each of the 5 cases in detail and test it against a set of acceptance criteria. This level of scrutiny has ensured that every business case we have produced has been clear, complete, and has articulated a compelling way forward that offers the best public value.
Through our regular interactions with the Red Team we have received a great deal of constructive feedback that we have taken on-board and used to help us continually improve our business case development process and templates.
Finyx take pride in the business cases we produce and we have enjoyed working closely with the client resources to help further their understanding of the process to develop them.
“Best business case I have read for a long time, really happy with it.” CTO