I am putting together a benefits realisation programme for a large Trust I am working with over the next few weeks. I will post up the full workshop approach and what I am aiming to achieve over the next week or two - in the meantime if Bizface members have some ideas as I go along for improvement any ideas greatfully received

Roy

BENEFIT REALISATION PROGRAM


This deliverable provides a structured program to manage the realisation of business benefits derived from implementing an IT strategy, or from a specific IT investment. It also provides an approach for regular monitoring of the progress of the overall project, including periodic assessment of all factors governing complete achievement of business goals and benefits.
Plans and Estimates
In this section the plan and resources required for completing the project will be reviewed, and confirmed or modified. The level of detail and manner of presenting the plan will vary from project to project depending on the type of project, the size of the project, and management expectations.

In addition to the standard IT activities, the plans will include all related activities involved in the project. These activities may include:

• Change Management
• Process Improvement
• Training
• HR development
• External activities

At a minimum, the plan should contain enough information to provide management with a baseline from which to evaluate the cost, time, risks, and resources required to complete the project and to allow management to give an informed confirmation and approval for the project to continue.

Economic Analysis
Because projections of cost savings, cost avoidance, return on investment, etc., are only best estimates during strategy development, some variances between the original projections and actual outcomes are expected. This part contains the economic analysis of the strategy. When variances exceed the prescribed guidelines, a detailed analysis should be included.
Operational Analysis
This part presents an objective comparison of what was intended vs. what was observed regarding the strategy and its operation. In addition, an analysis is included of the extent the originally anticipated benefits are being realised and whether the required informational needs of the organisation are met.
Conclusions
This section summarises important strategy strengths and problems, changes in the operating environment, and how well the original conception of the strategy design is meeting the needs. Those deficiencies that will impair strategy usefulness, or life span, should be emphasised, as well as those strengths that make the strategy useful.
Recommendations
This section lists the recommendations. These may cover areas of further development or re-design, changes in procedures, or the need for additional training. The recommendations should be phrased as proposals for management consideration and approval, and should be structured so that service requests can easily be formulated for those that are approved. The recommendations should be ranked, prioritised, or grouped logically if the list is lengthy.
The presentation approach and level of detail required is dependent upon the type of strategy under development, the structure of the project, the tools being used to support the planning activities, and management's expectations.

Summary
This section presents the final conclusions. It should provide management with a clear indication of whether the strategy is meeting the expectations and objectives and whether the investment of resources is being justified.