Business Case

The Business Case is one of the first documents that will be created for the project. It essentially answers the questions: “What is this project about?” and “Where are we going with it?”.

After a project mandate has been received and the project team has been appointed, the Business Case is generally written by the Executive and the Project Manager in consultation with all Stakeholders. 

The key areas of the business case answer the following questions:

• Why are we doing this project?
• What are the business benefits?
• What are the risks?
• What are the costs?
• How long will it take?
• What are the alternatives?

The business case is a living document which should be reviewed at every project board meeting to ensure that the project is still viable and should continue. It should also be revised with more detail as the project progresses, as initially the costs and timelines will only be  estimates.