Building a Business Case for Contact Center IT Investment
A "bakers dozen" of insider tips to help managers gain top-level support for contact center technology investments.
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Business Case Tip #12
Build a time-phased plan.
Another common mistake we have seen companies make is attempting to lump too much into a single contact center IT project, causing the project to collapse under its own weight. A good way to avoid this mistake is to time-phase the effort, where a "phase" actually represents its own discrete IT project. You can then group the phases as necessary to constitute an overall project plan.
As much as possible, attach ballpark cost estimates or cost ranges to the different phases of the project plan so that effective budgeting can take place. When creating a ballpark estimate for a phase, be sure to seek the advice of your most senior project and IT people. If you don't have anyone with the necessary expertise, hire them from the outside.
Business Case Tip #13
Start now.
Whenever you consider the challenges of building a business case for a contact center IT project, there’s always the temptation to put off getting started until you know “just a little bit more.” Yet, due to the very nature of contact center IT projects, you can never know all you need to know before you start. What’s more, the requirements are likely to change as the project gets underway and the full scope of the effort becomes clearer. Waiting for complete fidelity in this kind of fluid environment is an exercise in futility. The only answer is to get started building your business case now using the best information you can summon.
Conclusion
There you have it, a “baker’s dozen” of insider tips for building a business case for contact center IT investment. If there is any single take-away from this discussion, it’s to think of building a business case not so much as an IT issue but first and foremost as a business issue. We hope you have found this discussion thought-provoking.
To learn more about Inova and how we can help you build IT strategic plans and business cases to help optimize your contact center, call us at 1.866.686.8774.
About Inova Solutions
Inova is a real-time business intelligence company that provides solutions for contact center optimization. Our products integrate and enhance the value of existing data, delivering live and historical metrics across all levels of the contact center. A robust technology platform combined with our extensive industry experience allows us to craft comprehensive solutions to the unique and changing needs of our customers.
Inova has provided comprehensive and innovative data communication systems for more than 2500 companies worldwide, with customers ranging from start-up to Fortune 500 and Blue Chip.
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