Business requirements - high level

Purpose:

The specification of Business Requirements at a high level within a procurement enables the focus on the achievement on the organisation's strategic goals to be maintained, (the "why") in relation to the particular procurement, rather than risk being lost or subsumed within a wealth of lower level detail (the "how").

High level business requirements should:

• set out the project scope and requirement
• outline the business opportunity for potential providers
• describe the context of the requirement
• give interested parties sufficient information to enable them to respond with expressions of interest.

High-level business requirements could be set out in the form of a business prospectus. This is particularly useful where there is a need to 'sell' the concept of an innovative requirement and gauge the likely interest in the marketplace for provision of such services. The key target audience for the prospectus is potential providers; in addition, the document is often used to explain the project to key stakeholders such as Ministers and the media.

Fitness for purpose checklist:

• Are the Business Requirements expressed as outcomes?
• Are they linked to relevant objectives in Business Plans, and Programme Plans within the organisation, for the time frame in question?
• Do they take account of the future as well as immediate business needs?
• Will their achievement get the organisation where it wants to be, upon service start-up / system implementation, and beyond for the term of the contract?
• Do they facilitate business change, which will inevitably happen?
• Are they expressed as forming the essential "shape of the deal" above all other requirements? 

Suggested content:

A typical structure for high level business requirements is outlined below.

• Vision for the project: high level statement of the aims and objectives that will be met by the requirement, including a high level statement of the business specification
• The context: how the project fits into wider business plans and programmes
• Overview of the project: a more detailed outline of the scope of the project, its boundaries, other organisations involved in the project (public or private sector partners with a major interest in the outcome of the procurement); the business context and high level evaluation criteria; key elements of the requirement; constraints; technical standards where relevant; proposed timing of implementation and roll-out of the new service; commercial arrangements in outline
• Procurement timetable and procurement approach: roles and responsibilities of the Project Board; proposed procurement approach (for example, following the EC Services Negotiated Procedure with outline of the key stages); outline of an Industry Day or equivalent, where interested parties are invited to a more detailed briefing; arrangements for study periods (to allow providers to familiarise themselves with the business and operational environment) and proposals; arrangements for negotiations and Best and Final Offers
• Proposed next steps: for example, invitation to complete a questionnaire published with a Official Journal Notice and attend an Industry Day
• Further information: contact details, website references and sources of further detailed information about the organisation and its requirements. 

Source information:

Business Plans, Programme Plans, Strategic Objectives, and Future corporate positioning statements.

Notes:

Care needs to be taken when drafting these requirement expressions, to describe them in output, or outcome terms, which directly link with the business's strategic mission, vision, objectives and targets.

Such expressions should not be concerned with how an outcome is achieved, merely that it is achieved within the required high-level parameters, e.g. "by x date", "after x event", or "to enable x to happen by y date".

Such high-level business requirements should be clearly separated from any other requirements specified within a particular type of requirements document.

Further information:

See the briefings on business requirements and procurement

Achieving Excellence in Construction Guides