Stage 3

Build a business case and gain executive sponsorship

Putting your vision into action

Why do I need a business case?

You have the vision. You have the plan. Now you need to put it into action. Developing a business case that secures executive and organisational buy-in and approval can be the ‘make or break’ of your digital transformation.

It puts the vision into action, linking the roadmap to the company’s overarching strategic goals.

Business case template

Making a strong business case for digital transformation

Download our template for more detailed recommendations about the inclusions you should consider when building your business case.

What information is essential to include?

A business case should answer the question: why are we doing this? Financial information is obviously key. The business case should outline how the project will save money, increase revenue or improve services and within what timeframe the organisation can expect to receive a return on its investment.​

​But there are other important areas to consider. Your organisation may choose to green light a project knowing on its own it isn’t saving money, but because it is essential to other projects, and the achievement of its overarching vision. A business case sets out to draw this link and provide the rationale for any investment of resources or money.

Why do I need executive buy-in?

Executive buy-in is important to ensure when hard decisions need to be made, or when the going gets tough, that there are people who are in the position to make and hold decisions, and do so based on their understanding and agreement to the vision.

How do I go about getting executive sponsorship?

Executive sponsorship will always be easier if your project has a clear link to your organisation's vision and long-term plans. The organisation is clear on what they want to achieve, so you need to show them why your project is important to their success.​

​However, sometimes it is important to tackle it from the other perspective - highlighting the risks of what will happen if you don’t take action. For example — What will the complications be? What will it end up costing? Provide tangible examples of other organisations that have experienced pitfalls, and what you can learn from their experiences.

Who should champion this?

Ideally, executive sponsorship should be championed by line managers who are responsible for delivering the organisation's services. However, it may be appropriate for a specific project group to be formed to drive it forward.

Senior Business Services Officer
Tablelands Regional Council

Executive support was vital in helping us understand and communicate: Why are we doing this? So, once the corporate plan for the organisation was signed off, we had a discussion with the CEO about how we could deliver the digitisation journey.

Case study

Learn from those who’ve reimagined

Scripture Union Queensland
Scripture Union Queensland has enhanced the speed and accuracy of its financial management function by moving to SaaS.

Visit our Digital Transformation Hub for all the resources you need to kick start your journey

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