How do you write a Business Case for Records Management document?

Table of Contents Executive Summary Present Situation Records Management Program Status The Current Environment of Records and Information SWOT Analysis Records Program Requirements Resources

Risk Analysis Enterprise ERM Risk Cost Benefit Analysis Conclusions Executive Summary

An executive summary should present the highlights of your proposal in concise language and should present information in the same order as it appears in your proposal. Some reviewers may not read beyond the executive summary so ensure that the information you provide is easily understood sounds attractive to the reviewer and accurately represents your ideas. Save technical language and detailed information for other pages within your proposal. The Objective. Include purpose statement that covers the problem and the central idea. This shows the reviewer that you have thoughtfully considered the specific issues. Restate the clients needs as determined by reading the RFP or reviewing your previous interview notes. * Need #1. Insert need statement here e. g. Reduce the amount of records stored and storage of duplicate documents. * Need #2. Insert need statement here e. g. Reduce licensing and upgrade cost for multiple online document repositories. * Need #3. Insert need statement here e. g. Improve retention of organizational knowledge when staff leave or retire. Improve access by all appropriate staff to documents in paper and electronic filing systems. The Opportunity. Include the major points of analysis and identify the opportunity. Restate the clients goals you identified previously via RFP interview etc. * Goal #1. Insert goal statement here e. g. Develop central records repository.

* Goal #2. Insert goal statement here e. g. Access to company records over the internet. * Goal #3. Insert goal statement here e. g. Improve audits and controls. Present Situation Insert description of the present situation. This could be description of the present state of your company for example A program assessment was performed to gather sufficient information to enable management to determine whether or not to proceed with upgrading the existing Records Program and to identify technology that may help with Company goals. Records Management Program Status

Describe how the present situation is expected to change. The Current Environment of Records and Information Describe how your proposal is related to the present situation. Describe the needs in the present situation that are not being met and that your proposal will fulfill. Describe the potential future situation if the project is accomplished. SWOT Analysis A preliminary SWOT Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats Analysis of Company business highlights the following strengths and opportunities that can be further leveraged or exploited as well as pointing out weaknesses and threats to be managed. You can expand on each major topic of the analysis using the additional Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats templates. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors while opportunities and threats are external factors. Performing detailed analysis can help you determine course of action best suited for the client. For more about SWOT Analysis search the Internet for additional information and tools. Strengths.

* Strength #1 * Strength #2 * Strength #3 A detailed analysis of Company strengths is included later in the Strengths section. Weaknesses. * Weakness #1 * Weakness #2

* Weakness #3 A detailed analysis of Company weaknesses is included later in the Weaknesses section. Opportunities. * Opportunity #1 * Opportunity #2 * Opportunity #3 A detailed analysis of Company opportunities is included later in the Opportunities section. Threats. * Threat #1

* Threat #2 * Threat #3 A detailed analysis of Company threats is included later in the Threats section. Records Program Requirements The following project requirements will be met to the satisfaction of Company The requirements will cover all aspects of the project. Insert the general requirements of the project to be delivered. Examples include. performing to set of standards performing to set of metrics performing the required functions system requirements for specific hardware and software needed all deliverables being met all contract terms being met deadlines being met etc. * Requirement #1

Description. All project deliverables must be delivered and perform to their specifications. Insert summary of all deliverables required. Reference any other sections in the proposal where detailed deliverable information is outlined. * Requirement #2 Description. All contractual obligations must be met as outlined in the contract and addendums. Insert summary of all contractual obligations to be met. Reference any other sections in the proposal where the contractual obligations are outlined. Note that the entire proposal and everything listed in it may be considered part of the contract.

* Requirement #3 Description. All required documentation and training must be complete. Insert summary of documentation and training to be completed. Reference the appropriate detailed sections such as the Documentation Specifications Training Plan etc. for more details. * Requirement #4 Description. All system requirements must be met. Insert summary of the system requirements here. System requirements include hardware platforms configurations software programs etc.

* Requirement #5 Description. All functional requirements must be met. Insert summary of the functional requirements here. Functional requirements include all of the major functions the project is to be able to perform when complete. You can also reference other sections such as the Interface Specifications. * Requirement #6 Description. All performance requirements must be met. Insert summary of the performance requirements here. Performance requirements include such things as performance metrics bandwidth operation speed maintenance etc. Resources Describe all of the resources that will be used on the project. Implementing Records Management Program requires involvement from internal and external resources. The records management systems will affect everyone at Company at some level and therefore the solution will require more support and resources from the organization than most other types of projects. The following is list of resources and the roles within the Records Management Program. Records Management Role Records Management Program Responsibilities

Third party resources may be needed to assist in the development of the program and to fulfill the following responsibilities. * Develop file plan * Develop classification schemes * Select and install software and hardware * Perform migration content from legacy applications * Assist on decision for how far to go back with historical documents Risk Analysis Analysis of potential risks is outlined below. This list of risks is not necessarily complete list of all possible risks. No guarantee is made that all possible risks have been determined or if determined that the analysis is completely accurate. The need for risk management and oversight of the operational impacts of the new Records Management Program should be studied and documented. Insert your assessments of possible risks to the project and client here. For example if the project depends on the services of third party company possible risk would be that the vendor could go out of business. A contingency plan would be to have an additional source available to replace that vendor.

Project Level ERM Risk * Risk #1 Analysis. Insert description of the potential risk here why it is risk and how great risk it may be. Resolution. Insert description of how you intend to account for this possible risk in the project design. Contingency. Insert description of possible contingencies that can be planned for in the event the risk becomes reality. * Risk #2 Analysis. Insert description of the potential risk here why it is risk and how great risk it may be. Resolution. Insert description of how you intend to account for this possible risk in the project design.

Contingency. Insert description of possible contingencies that can be planned for in the event the risk becomes reality. * Risk #3 Analysis. Insert description of the potential risk here why it is risk and how great risk it may be. Resolution. Insert description of how you intend to account for this possible risk in the project design. Contingency. Insert description of possible contingencies that can be planned for in the event the risk becomes reality.

Enterprise ERM Risk Supporting the development of Records Management Program requires that Company formally assess risk and prepare for potential issues and create strategies for addressing them before there are problems. * Risk #1 Analysis. Insert description of the potential risk here why it is risk and how great risk it may be. Resolution. Insert description of how you intend to account for this possible risk in the project design. Contingency. Insert description of possible contingencies that can be planned for in the event the risk becomes reality. * Risk #2 Analysis. Insert description of the potential risk here why it is risk and how great risk it may be.

Resolution. Insert description of how you intend to account for this possible risk in the project design. Contingency. Insert description of possible contingencies that can be planned for in the event the risk becomes reality. * Risk #3 Analysis. Insert description of the potential risk here why it is risk and how great risk it may be. Resolution. Insert description of how you intend to account for this possible risk in the project design. Contingency. Insert description of possible contingencies that can be planned for in the event the risk becomes reality. Cost Benefit Analysis

Records Management is cost center and cost savings may be difficult to measure. Increased productivity is often the key component of the financial justification for developing or improving records management program. As stated earlier the amount of resources needed to develop the Records Program may take away from the primary work activities of the business and the savings in time and effort in records care may not be immediate. However there are many expected benefits that are known and there is substantial evidence to show that Company should receive return on investment by. If you have detailed cost benefit analysis data tables graphs graphics output from Cost Benefit Analysis software etc. include it here. Include the total project cost for time period and the total income expected to be generated and or saved during the period. This can be converted into the expected ROI Return on Investment of the project. You should be able to show that the ROI is high enough to justify the project. If monetary ROI is low then the benefits should be tangible enough to show valid reason for developing the project. The Total Costs are the total cost of production operations and on going maintenance. The Benefits are the financial benefits to the customer such as income generated cost savings etc. The Net is the Benefits minus the Costs. The Ratio is the net divided by the Costs. The ROI is the Ratio times 100. For example Total Costs for year are 10 000. Total Benefits for year are 15 000. The Net is 5000. The Ratio is and the ROI is 50%. * Reducing licensing and operational cost of maintaining multiple repositories. * Develop records training programs to increase worker productivity.

* Records Management is necessary to maintain competitive edge. * New policies will streamline current processes in increase productivity. * Increase information management and security. Description Year Year Year Total Design and Implementation of the Records Management Program Project Development Records Inventory and Discovery File Plan and Classification Develop Policies and Procedures. Training Change Management Communication Consulting Implementation of ECM Hardware Software Technical Support Administration Records Management Full Time Employee Running Costs including licences Migrations Total Cost Benefits of the Records Program Licensing Employee Productivity Storage Litigation and Audit Control Business Process Automation Total Benefit Cost Benefit Total Costs Total Benefits Net Ratio ROI Conclusions A summary of the Records Management proposal follows including identified needs recommendations and goals to be achieved. Insert statement of why you are the best choice for achieving the goals outlined.