Business Cases for Info Pros

Book excerpt: An inherent challenge for information professionals involves often difficult-to-quantify contributions of their initiatives to an organizations bottom line and the elusive ROI calculation. This practical guide explains why, when, and how a formal business case can be used as an effective tool for gaining support for information-based projects. Ulla de Stricker discusses the psychology of decision making involving human and financial investments and demonstrates a logically sequenced progression for structuring a business casefrom the identification of the problem, need, or opportunity to proposing viable solutions and ensuring the presentation is delivered with impact. It then provides and comments on three case studies illustrating different approaches to creating successful business case documents.