FICTIONAL SAMPLE BUSINESS CASE

ICT Two Pass ReviewSecond Pass Business Case

Neighbourhood Workers Allowance Scheme:

Supporting Those Who Support Us All

Department of Government Services Delivery

22nd November 2015

Signed: ______/ Date: ______
<Print Name>
Chief Information Officer
Signed: ______/ Date: ______
<Print Name>
Chief Financial Officer
Signed: ______/ Date: ______
<Print Name>
Business Area/Program Lead
Supporting Agencies / Consultation has occurred across Australian Government Agencies
Estimated cost / $XX million over 4 years
Estimated ICT cost / $XX million over 4 years
Risk assessment / Medium to High
Authority for the Proposal / Cabinet Decision Number
Purpose / The Second Pass Business Case supports the sponsoring Minister’s Cabinet submission seeking second pass approval for a proposal.
This document follows the ICT Business Case framework and guidelines developed by the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) using the Two Pass process.

Contents

1.Executive Summary

1.1Recommendations

2.Summary of First Pass Business Case

2.1Policy Context

2.2Business Problem

2.2.1Proposed Response

2.3Outcome of First Pass

2.4Changes since First Pass

3.Options Analysis

3.1Options Summary

3.2Cost-Benefit Analysis

3.3Conclusion

4.Implementation Approach

4.1Technical Design Report

4.2Agency Capability Impact on this Option

4.3Project/Program Plan

4.4Governance and Control

4.5Review Points

4.6Risk Analysis

4.7Benefits Realisation Plan

4.8Procurement Plan

4.9Cyber Security Policy

4.10Organisational Change Plan

4.11Human Resource Plan

4.12Detailed Costing

5.Organisational Capability

5.1P3M3® Assessment

5.2Capability Improvement Plan

6.Supporting Documentation

6.1Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Cost Model and Estimate Project Management Plan

6.2Project Management Plan

6.3Risk Management Plan

6.4Risk Register

6.5Benefits Management Plan

6.6Solution (Architecture Design)

6.7Requirements Specification (Business Process Model)

6.8P3M3® Assessment

6.9P3M3® Capability Improvement Plan

6.10Independent Validation of Agency Capability

6.11Quality Plan

6.12Procurement Strategy

6.13Governance Plan

6.14Change Management Plan

6.15Training Plan

Note: This document is an example Second Pass Business Case.

The Department of Finance and Deregulation (Finance) has issued the example to assist agencies to interpret the ICT Business Case Guide. Finance has designed the example to have broad applicability.
The example is entirely fictional.

1.Executive Summary

A key consideration in the development of the Second Pass Business Case is the question of complexity. Several factors contribute to the complexity of a proposal, the degree of change proposed, the number of required components in the proposed solution, the range of cross agency and cross government interaction required, the dollar value, technical complexity and novelty and so on.
In determining the complexity of a proposal – and therefore the range and level of detail of information required in the business case, keep in mind that the business case needs to provide information sufficient for the decision being sought.

Following consideration of the business requirements against potential solutions, the Government’s agreed option (Option 3 – Strategic Transformation of NWAS) in the First Pass Business Case was reconfirmed as the preferred option. This has been achieved through further analysis and quantification of cost, benefits management and risk mitigation strategies of the preferred option against alternative implementation options.

There are several technical and design limitations with the existing NWAS, which prevent it from adequately supporting the Neighbourhood Worker Community and the Government’s financial management and reporting needs. As outlined in the First Pass Business Case (approved by Government in March 2009), the current NWAS also provides inadequate functionality, which is demonstrated by:

  • Significant manual effort to deliver Neighbourhood Worker Allowance Payments;
  • Multiple data sources impacting on financial reporting integrity;
  • Poor overall system performance;
  • Pressures on Agency data entry; and
  • Inadequate reporting capability.

These limitations have placed an unacceptable risk to the effective delivery of the scheme, and to the delivery credibility of the Government driven by the prospect of:

  • The promised allowance payments not being made correctly;
  • A greater potential for errors and inconsistencies in the payment process; and
  • Decisions being made on the basis of inaccurate and incomplete Neighbourhood Worker and allowance information.

The risks and their consequences are becoming more evident, with an increased number of issues surfacing in the last two quarters of Neighbourhood Worker allowance payment processing, as a result of a combination of a complex system, timing and people-related factors. For example:

  • Inconsistencies between expected allowance payments and claimed allowance;
  • Examples of inconsistent advice provided to the Neighbourhood Worker Community; and
  • The current system and reporting tool having load capacity issues and struggling to cope with the requirement for multiple, concurrent processes to run at the same time e.g. Neighbourhood Worker Allowance payment processing, reporting of monthly actual and monthly estimates.

1.1Recommendations

Transform Departmental operations through the implementation of a comprehensive blueprint of strategic changes aimed at making major improvements to the integrity and efficiency of Australia’s Neighbourhood Worker allowance scheme.

The three strategic changes are:

  • Client Services Transformation - to use risk management and technology to deliver major integrity, efficiency and client service responsiveness and consistency in decision accuracy.
  • Scheme Simplification and Deregulation - to significantly simplify the complexity of the Neighbourhood Worker allowance system to make it easier for clients to understand and to reduce program implementation costs
  • Business Services Transformation - to adopt a shared service model for corporate business support services to reduce costs, and to consolidate and strengthen risk management capability within the Department.

2.Summary of First Pass Business Case

Much of the material that makes up the background for the Second Pass Business Case may be drawn from the First Pass. As is the case all through the Second Pass Business Case, Second Pass should provide additional, more detailed or updated information.

2.1Policy Context

The Department of Government Services Delivery (DGSD)develops policy and implementsprograms that contribute to buildingAustralia’s future. TheDepartment is responsible for providing services that contribute to nation building and provideongoing economic and social benefits that will develop over many decades. In particular,the Department’s support of community based Neighbourhood Workeractivities plays an important role inAustralia’s national development, economic prosperity, and social cohesion.

The Australian Government has in place a number of policies and initiatives for placing Neighbourhood Workers both nationally and overseas. These programs, whilst benefiting communities across the world, are also expanding the numbers of Neighbourhood Workers required, and placing an increasing administrative burden on the Government’s and Neighbourhood Workers organisations’ resources.

Over time the number of registered Neighbourhood Workers available to service this growing demand has decreased:

Figure 1 - Neighbourhood Worker Numbers

A key policy response to the declining numbers of registered Neighbourhood Workers is the proposed extension of the current NWAS, to be developed, implemented and operated by the Department.

A Departmental review – the Simpson Review, conducted to assess the Department’s capacity and readiness to implement an extended scheme has found that the Department’s operating model has evolved incrementally over the last decades toaddress changing trends, policies and circumstances. In responding to changes in themakeup of the volunteering sector, the Department has made incremental changes to critical business operations.

This has resulted in distributed operations which function semi-autonomously and are nationally inconsistent. As a result, the Department’s current businessoperating model has high labour costs, lacks agility and is experiencing significant stress in a changing environment.

In order to effectively manage the implementation and delivery of the NWAS the Department seeks to transform its Neighbourhood Worker services, placing the needs of the Neighbourhood Worker community at the centre of a revised service delivery model, collecting more data electronically and enabling earlier and more sophisticated processing of allowance payments.

The move to greater use of electronic channels is also in line with client expectations for how they would like to interact with the Department. It is also in alignment with the Australian Government’s reform agenda outlined in Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for Reform of Australian Government Administration and recognises the government’s service delivery principles articulated in Delivering Australian Government Services: Access and Distribution Strategy.

2.2Business Problem

Neighbourhood Workers play a vital role in delivering assistance to disadvantaged groups, and the current strained system of administration is causing many Neighbourhood Workers to withdraw their services, or to decrease the number of Neighbourhood Worker hours that they contribute. The combined effect of fewer Neighbourhood Workers and remaining Neighbourhood Workersworking less is a significant shortfall in the required capacity of the sector.

The value and importance of the Neighbourhood Worker sector continues to grow as it greatly complements the reach of Government funded and provided services to needy citizens.

As an incentive to attract more Neighbourhood Workers, and to retain existing Neighbourhood Workers, the Government is proposing to introduce a new allowance for registered Neighbourhood Workers. This is expected to address one cause of the current decline but this measure will also stretch the existing systems beyond their capacity to deliver services.

Of key concern is the Department’s capacity to effectively integrate the payment processing component of the scheme, as a failure in this area will diminish the credibility of the scheme overall, and may possibly further contribute to the rate of Neighbourhood Worker withdrawal.

This combined approach is necessary to address a number of factors that complicate the identification, reporting, verification and payment processing aspects of the scheme:

  • DGSD’s processes, ICT systems and organisational structure are centred on payment claims themselves, and are often not geared to recognise the broader range of information and support services a Neighbourhood Worker may find helpful, regardless of whether their claim is accepted.
  • In general, DGSD’s outgoing correspondence with clients focuses on explaining DGSD’s decision-making rationale and how the scheme rules have been applied to the client’s case, rather than focusing on the client’s needs and options.
  • The current ICT systems supporting previous Neighbourhood Worker allowance payments were implemented in 2004 as an interim set of mostly standalone tools to facilitate a largely manual processing environment. These systems are now at end-of-life.
  • DGSD’s processes, ICT systems and organisational structure are in many cases siloed. This places a heavy reliance on staff to manually identify potential cross-agency issues, and then resolve them through carefully coordinated manual action across multiple business groups, at high cost.

2.2.1Proposed Response

In order to resolve these business issues, and to respond to the feedback from DGSD’s client base, DGSD has formulated a Blueprint for the desired future operation of the Australian Neighbourhood Worker Allowance Scheme. This Blueprint was constructed over the period September 2009 through November 2009, via a series of workshops. The Blueprint reflects extensive input from clients, staff and executives of DGSD.

Consider using visual representations of Blueprints, Visions or Strategic Intention for the proposal where possible.

The Blueprint calls for:

  • Neighbourhood Worker Allowance Payment products that utilise a full range of channels which are easy to access and understood by clients; and
  • Integrated systems that are easy to use that provide staff with the tools needed to optimise the client experience and outcomes, reducing dependence on DGSD and third party support.
  • Streamlined and improved coordination of service delivery and more effective support to Neighbourhood Workers.
  • Systems with integrated client information that support more efficient processing and decision making.

In response to the blueprint outlined above, DGSD proposes a Transformation Program.

Four enabling capabilities underpin these strategic objectives:

  • eBusiness – expanding the range of Neighbourhood Worker products online, supported by an online client account on a redesigned website, an electronic document management system and other infrastructure changes.

The eBusiness strategy directly addresses current limitations in the Department’s website and limited deployment of self-service tools, as well as the extensive data entry costs for payment claims lodged by paper and the general absence of communication between the Department and Neighbourhood Workers.

  • Service Centres – establishing modern and fully integrated Service Centres with highly skilled staff and support tools, to support Neighbourhood Workers staying in the e-channel and ensuring where possible clients no longer need to use the highest cost counter service. This would see the Department consolidate its current call centre activities into three Service Centres, providing 24/7 multi-channel support and services to clients nationally. The service centre strategy directly resolves the inconsistency clients experience through the current operating model.
  • Risk Analysis – establish strong analytical capabilities to define risk profiles that will drive the risk tiering of caseloads and underpin the Department’s capacity to make decisions about where work is done, where claims assessment rigour is applied, and where automation can be used to reduce the cost of processing.
  • Service Delivery Partners – increasing use of Service Delivery Partners to assist with low volume client contact and online lodgement including data entry for clients who are unable to use the e-channel. The Service Delivery Partner strategy provides a supporting means to convert paper claims into the required electronic format, helping the Department lower data entry costs.

This will transition the NWAS function to a state in which:

  • Processes are centred on meeting Neighbourhood Worker needs, rather than processing claims;
  • Neighbourhood Workers are able to submit a claim without needing to understand and distinguish between the various entitlement processes and regimes;
  • The process of submitting a claim is simple and straightforward for the Neighbourhood Worker;
  • Routine processing steps are automated, allowing staff to focus on exception based claims assessment, and client relationships, particularly clients with complex, high priority needs;
  • All relevant staff have quick and convenient access to tools that allow them to effectively manage client relationships; and
  • Comprehensive management information on the operation of the scheme is readily available.

Overall the result of the transformation program will be a Department that is capable of and committed to engaging with, understanding and meeting the needs of the Neighbourhood Worker community, supporting the provision of the Neighbourhood Worker allowance, thereby providing genuine incentive for an increase in Neighbourhood Worker numbers, the longer retention of current Neighbourhood Workers and an increase in the overall amount of volunteering provided.

2.3Outcome of First Pass

The First Pass Business Case provided the Government with options for mitigating the risks and process shortcomings identified above. Following analysis of these options, the Government agreed to progress with Option 3 – Strategic Transformation of the NWAS (the preferred option). Furthermore, the implementation of the preferred option also provides the following strategic benefits:

  • Access to accurate information to guide strategic and fiscal management of the scheme. The improved capability will support the identification of opportunities for better allocation of the Neighbourhood Worker resource base, funding to other priority areas and allow better monitoring and forecasting of financial performance;
  • Give Government more time to consider policy options in consultation with the sector, enabling closer relationships and better policy outcomes for the community, without increasing the risk of error in payment processing related activity; and
  • Provide Government with more responsive and flexible policy analysis of program performance.

2.4Changes since First Pass

A detailed analysis of the preferred option has been undertaken for the Second Pass Business Case. This included the following:

  • Development of functional and non-functional requirements – see Supporting Document6.7, Requirements Specification;
  • Establishment of improved business processes – see Supporting Documents6.7, Requirements Specification;
  • Quantification of benefits – see Supporting Documents6.5, Benefits Management Plan;
  • Examination of risks and associated mitigation strategies – see Supporting Documents6.3, Risk management Strategy, and Supporting Documents6.4, Risk Register;
  • Engagement with industry and the broader Neighbourhood Worker sector to validate the requirements and provide input to the costs, Stakeholder Engagement and Consultation Outcomes; and
  • Development of a minimum data set framework, Data Dictionary.

Analysis of these key project inputs to further inform the development of the preferred option has been undertaken via a formal stakeholder engagement process. A series of Community Reference Groups, comprising representatives from Neighbourhood Workers Australia and relevant policy areas across government agencies, were established. They provided input, review and assurance to the development of the business requirements and overarching solution architecture that support the NWAS redevelopment.

A formal Request for Information process was undertaken with industry to validate the business and system requirements and to obtain their views on cost, approach and implementation timeframes.

This analysis culminated in the establishment of a business process model and ICT architecture and preferred future state for the redevelopment of the NWAS, which further informed the costing.

3.Options Analysis

The Options Analysis section is one where additional information may be required based on the relative complexity of the proposal. Consider add more detailed information about cost drivers, costing approaches and included a more detailed description of the costing model. Consideration may also be given to third party verification of the costing model and any assumptions made during the development of the costing.

3.1Options Summary

In parallel to the detailed analysis for the preferred option, consideration was also given to several potential fallback options including: