You should know that DATA IS IMPORTANT.  When you put together a business case, you need to know what you are measuring, have the historical data to produce a baseline and have a measurable objective.  To do all this, you need data.  You need to know what the performance has been and be able to match that with a dollar figure somehow.  Not the other way around.  Saying that you have to save $$$ and then say that means you need your metric to be x will not get you to your goal.

Building a business case with faulty numbers will get you in to a very bad place.  A place where expectations are all wrong and there is no chance for success.  It will either be way too easy and people will question if you put a target that you knew was easy, then they will change the target for you.  Or, you set unachievable targets and you get raked over the coals when you do not deliver.  Either way, you are in shit.  The best way to avoid this is to confirm your numbers with trusted sources and quote the experts.

That was my little rant for this morning…  I will now go back to fixing the numbers on a business case someone else built…

Stay interested and interesting!

John