Business Case

The difficulty with the Business Case in Agile environments is that the Business Case is based on the benefits derived from a “product”, while the product is not certain in Agile projects.

Points to Consider

The following can be considered when preparing a business case for PRINCE2 Agile:

• It should make the “benefits” clear, since benefits can be different among companies.
• It should explain what will be considered success for the project.
• The cost, benefits, and dis-benefits can all be expressed by parameters and through ranges.
• If possible, there can be multiple appraisals for different combinations of output (e.g., only the MVP, or MVP+“should-have items”, etc).

The Business Case Philosophy

The Business Case is used to check the justification of the project for two reasons:

• To know if the project is still justifiable, and to stop it otherwise
• To use it for making high-level decisions that have to be aligned with the justification of the project (the reason we’re doing the project), and consequently, protect the justification in the future

Based on the fact that the product is developed (and probably delivered) incrementally in Agile projects, the justification can be checked in the real world, instead of being forecasted using a Business Case. When the iterations are as short as a few weeks, risks of continuing an unjustifiable project is very low.

So, in this environment:

• The Business Case can be very simple, and more focused on how to understand the benefits and value of the project.
• Focus is more on the Benefits Management Approach rather than the Business Case, and the former is more dynamic compared to the similar concept in predictive environments which cannot bring early benefits during the project.

See Also

• Business Case management product
• Benefits Management Approach management product
• Continued Business Justification principle

External Links

• Business Case theme in PRINCE2 wiki

Written by Nader K. Rad

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