In this blog, we have discussed the easiest way to create an effective business case for an Intranet. We’re sure it will help ‘wow’ your executive team.
To be the best in a competitive digital industry, you need the most effective digital experience. That can only be achieved with the implementation of a modern-day intranet like Attollo.
But persuading senior management to spend on a new system may mean you’ll need to put forward an effective business case to explain why your workforce would benefit.
What exactly is a business case?
Taking the time to research and prepare to ensure you have a compelling argument for a major improvement to your current. If indeed existing, technology, is the crux.
A business case would be a written or verbal proposition. This will support the top chiefs with their decision-making process and encourage them to take action!
In there, you would include thoroughly researched information about costs and resources, any risks involved and recommended solutions, to name a few. It should present a logical argument for why stakeholders should support your venture, and the major benefits it will deliver.
Here we explain what you should be including in your business case:
Value
Every person in a senior position of a company will have figures and value at the centre of everything they do. So they are certainly going to want to know why an investment in a new employee intranet will be worth it.
“What’s wrong with the old intranet?” and “When will I see a return on investment?” might be a typical questions to expect when you approach that boardroom.
Identifying opportunity and projecting ROI is a very important part of your planning process. Outline specific needs that are going unmet from each department that the new intranet would satisfy. When you have these key points, you can demonstrate value and return.
For example, you could use COVID-19 as an example of how your workforce has become dispersed and as a result how critical good communication that could be achieved by using a central access point for workers. Then highlight how this improves the current working situation.
Royal Mail Properties and Facilities Management Services saved a staggering £2 million annually thanks to a new intranet system. The crux for the company was being able to utilise forms and workflow that would centralise the most time-consuming processes. All 4,500 employees used the system to manage their review processes.
Demonstrating the financial value of an intranet and the return on investment, such as the example above, is a powerful tool for obtaining sign-off.
Cost
If you have an intranet in place already, however old, it can be difficult to persuade those above that you need another one. So here, you will be demonstrate how much will need to be spent on the implementation in terms of money as well as manpower.
While it’s always going to be tempting for them to choose the cheapest option, that can backfire in terms of overall financial impact on the business, whether that’s positive returns or negative due to upfront investment and running costs.
Clearly if you have high hopes for what your software will do, then your intranet solution will cost more and this must be defined in your business case.
It’s also a good idea to show by examples, how much will be saved by having the intranet in place. You can expect to see a large drop in paper and ink or toner costs, as everything will be stored online. Distributing costs would also be lessened as hard copies would no longer be printed or sent outto other teams.
Benefits
The next thing on your business case list is to show how productivity, engagement, culture, and retention rates will be improved. Ask colleagues what would make their lives better and make a list.
There’s nothing like a badly organised office to bring productivity down. If staff spend endless hours trawling the office for important paperwork or simple forms they need, that equates to many hours lost. Your business case should define these examples in a bid to improve productivity and engagement. If staff feel part of a company they will work harder for it and a better working atmosphere will follow as a result.
A modern intranet system will help new staff get up-to-date quickly as they can read policies, the latest company news and any team briefing notes before they unpack their box. And they’re more likely to stay in the job longer if they know they’re getting the best digital experience.
Delivery
Your business case should explain how your proposed intranet will be delivered including a timeframe.
Changing the fundamental architecture or creating a new intranet may involve an amount of planning or resources to set up. Attollo can design your intranet however you like. Using your own branding and creating the pages that would be useful to your organisation.
For more information on set-up times, Attollo would need your custom requirements so be prepared with this data before you present your business case.
Progress
Finally, you’ll need to show how your new intranet will prove better than your existing one.
A modern-day intranet will allow your workforce to be better connected and more engaged. Prove that it will mean more streamlined processes, so no more using several apps. Attollo makes life so simple and sharing information is so easy.
The best thing is that Attollo Intranet fully integrates into your Office 365 platform to enhance your employees’ experience. Share the fact that, with tonnes of helpful features including pre-built Microsoft forms, Teams for easy internal communication and the ability to show and share One Drive files directly from the intranet homepage. Your company will be flying from the off.
Do you need more help to persuade your organisation to buy an out-of-the-box intranet like Attollo? Check out our e-book guide: 10 Steps to Executive Buy-In of a modern-day intranet. You can also talk to our specialist about the easiest way to create an effective business case for an Intranet.
