How can you apply other business cases to your domain?

As a business analyst, you may often encounter situations where you need to justify a project, a change, or a solution based on its expected benefits, costs, and risks. This is where a business case comes in handy. A business case is a document that outlines the rationale, objectives, alternatives, and recommendations for a proposed initiative. It helps you communicate the value proposition, align stakeholders, and secure resources and approval.

However, not every business case is the same. Depending on your domain, industry, and context, you may need to adapt your business case format, content, and style to suit your specific needs and audience. How can you do that effectively? One way is to learn from other business cases that have been successfully applied in different domains. By analyzing and comparing how other business analysts have approached similar or related problems, you can gain insights and ideas that can help you improve your own business case development.

1 Identify the purpose and scope

The first step is to identify the purpose and scope of your business case. What are you trying to achieve? Who are you trying to convince? What are the main questions or issues that you need to address? These factors will help you determine the level of detail, the type of analysis, and the tone of your business case. For example, if you are proposing a new software system, you may need to focus on the technical feasibility, the user requirements, and the return on investment. If you are proposing a new marketing strategy, you may need to focus on the customer segments, the competitive advantage, and the expected outcomes.

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Ahmed Alaa

CBAP® | ECBA® | CSPO® | Senior Business Analyst @TAHAKOM | Synechron | Product Owner | Maximo Consultant
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To apply other business cases to your domain, you can follow these steps: Identify the relevant business cases. What business cases are similar to your own in terms of purpose, scope, and audience? You can look for business cases in your own industry, or in other industries that face similar challenges. Analyze the business cases. What are the key elements of each business case? What are the benefits and costs? What are the risks and challenges? Identify the lessons learned. What can you learn from the other business cases? What are the best practices? What are the potential pitfalls? Apply the lessons learned to your own business case. How can you adapt the best practices from the other business cases to your own situation?

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2 Find relevant examples

The next step is to find relevant examples of business cases that have been used in similar or related domains. You can use various sources, such as online databases, industry reports, case studies, or peer reviews. You can also ask your colleagues, mentors, or experts for recommendations or feedback. The key is to look for business cases that have a similar purpose, scope, and audience as yours, or that deal with comparable problems, solutions, or benefits. For example, if you are proposing a new software system for a healthcare organization, you may want to look for business cases that have been used for other healthcare software projects, or for other software projects in regulated or complex domains.

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3 Analyze and compare

The third step is to analyze and compare the business cases that you have found. You can use various criteria, such as the structure, the content, the language, the evidence, and the impact. You can also use tools, such as SWOT analysis, gap analysis, or benchmarking, to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of each business case. The goal is to identify the best practices, the common pitfalls, and the lessons learned from each business case. For example, you may notice that some business cases have a clear and logical flow, while others have a confusing or inconsistent layout. You may also notice that some business cases have compelling and credible data, while others have vague or unsupported claims.

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4 Apply and adapt

The final step is to apply and adapt the insights and ideas that you have gained from other business cases to your own domain. You can use various techniques, such as brainstorming, prototyping, or testing, to generate and refine your business case. You can also use feedback, review, or validation, to ensure that your business case meets the expectations and needs of your stakeholders. The aim is to create a business case that is relevant, persuasive, and effective for your domain. For example, you may decide to use a similar structure, content, or language as a successful business case, but modify it to suit your specific problem, solution, or benefit. You may also decide to avoid or improve the aspects that were problematic or ineffective in other business cases.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Curie Kumar
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Another consideration could be to conduct a pilot project. Example: You customer is a hospital, and you've learned about a successful strategy from an airlines company to reduce delays. Now, if you want to apply something similar to reduce wait times for patients in emergency department, you can start a pilot project. You can choose a small department, and test the new scheduling system there. Let's say you invest $10,000 in this test run. Over the next few months, you notice that patient wait times decrease by 15%, and the hospital saves $5,000 in operational costs because things are running smoother. You share these numbers with your hospital leadership. They see the benefits and decide to implement it hospital-wide. Win-win :)

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How can you apply other business cases to your domain?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Identify the purpose and scope

2 Find relevant examples

3 Analyze and compare

4 Apply and adapt

5 Here’s what else to consider

Business Analysis

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How can you apply other business cases to your domain?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Identify the purpose and scope

2 Find relevant examples

3 Analyze and compare

4 Apply and adapt

5 Here’s what else to consider

Business Analysis

Rate this article

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