204  Blockchain

Approach

In the context of a business case, the approach defines how the solution will

be delivered. It includes the following decision and approaches:

• How will the key resources required to deliver the solution be sourced?

Will it be through internal teams or the outsourcing to a vendor?

• How will the team be structured, that is, onshore or offshore?

• A decision on buying a solution from a third party or develop it in-

house from scratch

• A decision on hosting the solution inside our own data centre or in a

cloud or outsource it to a vendor

• A decision on the method of development or delivery. A choice between

waterfall and agile or hybrid methodology is essential to be included

in the business case.

Financial acumen

It is critical to have enough budget to deliver the outcome of the business

case. Key stakeholders must have the financial acumen to estimate the bud-

get ask and control the release of the budget. It should be based on deliv-

erables and also have spare budget to accommodate for the delays caused

due to risks and issues. It is beneficial to spend time in analysing the deliver-

ables, timelines and budget requirement during the creation of the business

case. The budget asks for the business case outcome delivery to be as close

as possible to the expected spend on the delivery of the outcomes. Failing to

estimate the budget appropriately, required for the delivery of the business

outcomes, can lead to escalations and in a worse situation, a preliminary

closure of the project without delivering the final outcomes. This situation

can waste time and money and more importantly impact on gaining a com-

petitive advantage for the organisation.

Business benefits

A business case must have outcomes that provide benefits to the organisa-

tion. These benefits should also align to assist in achieving strategic out-

comes and align with the overall strategy of the organisation. To put a

perspective on the blockchain business case, the benefits can be gaining

market share in the supply chain digital solution by increasing adoption by

third parties as part of the consortium. This can ultimately lead to growth

in the customers using the platform which will lead to revenue growth. The

ROI can improve, which can satisfy the investment and lead to a successful

implementation as defined in the business case.