Which information should a business case include?

A business case is a critical artifact for justifying and managing investments. According to COBIT 5, a comprehensive business case should not only detail the expected costs, benefits, and risks at the outset but also explicitly define how the investment's performance and value creation will be measured and monitored throughout its entire economic life cycle. This ensures that benefits are tracked and realized, and that the initiative stays aligned with strategic objectives over time.

A. An improvement target is a component of a business case, but it does not represent the full scope of information required for life cycle management.
B. The proposed solutions and definitions are essential parts of a business case, but they focus on the "what" and not the ongoing monitoring of value.
C. A review of success factors is important for planning, but it is not as comprehensive as defining the mechanism for monitoring value throughout the life cycle.

- ISACA, COBIT 5 Implementation, 2012, page 36, Figure 12. "Typical Content of a Business Case." This figure includes "How the investment and value will be monitored" as a key component.

- ISACA, COBIT 5: Enabling Processes, 2012, page 161, Process BAI01 Manage programmes and projects. Practice BAI01.09 "Manage programme and project benefits achievement" requires monitoring benefits against the business case.