Determining When A Business Case Is Needed

Many organizations lack formal criteria for determining whether a product manager is required to submit a business case. Product management leaders must consider how various investments are evaluated and funded across a product portfolio. Organizations should consider seven factors to decide whether a business case is required. Leverage these factors to determine appropriate thresholds and create a scorecard that evaluates the need for a business case. In this report, we recommend criteria for determining when a business case is needed for a new offering or enhancements to an existing offering, and we outline an approach to implement these criteria.