Project Management for IT-Related Projects

1.9 The business case

This is a key document for any project. As noted in Section 1.4.1 the initiation of a project may be triggered in a variety of ways. Once a proposal has been made, senior management will typically use a combination of qualitative and quantitative criteria to decide whether to go ahead with a proposal, as no single method gives enough information.

Qualitative criteria might include organizational fit: for instance, does the project fit with what the organization wants to do as part of its strategic mission? The risk associated with a particular project can also be assessed qualitatively at this point (see Chapter 7).

The main reason for going ahead with a project, however, tends to be a quantitative one of financial justification ...