Creating the ERP Business Case is all about communication. It's about creating a case that is persuasive, easy to understand, well-rounded, comprehensible and above all, convincing.

Think of your ERP business case like a motion picture producer or director would think about their movie pitch when they present to the studio. The starting point is always going to be making certain that you've thought it through, that you understand where you are going ,that you've covered the whole thing. For a motion picture producer, what this means is that every loose end in the plot has been tied up, that there's already a sound concept behind the movie to drive the style, casting and marketing of the movie. For an ERP business case, which means you have covered every thread when it comes to business, when it comes to management, that you have an idea of how the whole project will fit together and that you're not just "throwing ideas around".

Now you have to is to make certain that you have arranged the case effectively so that anybody can fully understand it on picking it up, even if the particular person picking it up doesn't know anything about Enterprise Resource Planning. You must write it in plain english because, the probability is, you'll be presenting this case to a number of people with varying levels of past experiences in ERP.

This is probably the most important step. In inescapable fact, if you can't clearly translate your business case into plain english, into something that just about someone might pick up and fully grasp, then find a person who can change it into plain English for you, because this can be tremendously important. It does not matter how brilliant your strategies, the truth is always that if the Executive don't understand it, then they will not provide you with the go-ahead.

If you would like to make sure that your ERP Business Case is going to get the point across and make a persuasive argument, then what you'll want to do is give it a "test run". Which means, right after you have been through the steps and put it all together, you must show it to a number of people. Normally include no less than one co-worker and one outsider - somebody posessing no notion what the project is or even a base comprehension of business processes or accounting.

As your co-worker evaluates it, request them to be critical, tell them to be uncompromising and honest. If team member can find holes in it, then the decision makers who give the green light for it will be able to as well. Now, no business case is entirely devoid of any item that can be critiqued or enhanced, so alter your case until you think it's as good as it can get, and move foreward.

When showing it to an outsider, just ensure you are able to comprehend it. Again, a lot of the people in your organization will likely have won their position due to good business instincts or merely because they had the budget to finance a project, but not all of them will have the same business schooling that you have got. So make certain that your friend, your neighbor or your cousin can actually get the gist of what you're trying depict with your business case (keep in mind that the business case may be secret though!)

Well-rounded and comprehensible: These are really the two main points when it concerns putting together a business case. It's about, first of all, getting your point across, and then, to ensure that you're making a point worth making, that you have covered all your bases and are pitching what you might call the final draft of your business case.

It's not actually incredibly hard. As long as you have a strong understanding of your ERP, as long as you're certain how to get your points across, you should be able to put the final case together in two or three drafts. Anticipate to reword your case at the very least once or twice, and then to perform one or two of alterations along the way (in simple fact, there's no disgrace in continuing to fix it bit by bit right up until you present the case for approval).

As the old saying goes "Writers don't write, they rewrite". For the first draft, just throw all of your points down on paper. With the second, ensure that they're prepared and complete, that you're not spending a lot of effort on aspects that barely need mentioning, but that you ARE spending enough time on the ideas that need to be made. For the third version and fine-tuning, just ensure that that you're making your point clearly and concisely.