This chapter was intended to get you thinking about all of the things that must go into the design of your business case. You should have a better understanding of your integration objectives and opportunities, the strengths in your favor and the constraints you face, as well as the resources needed for integration compared to the resources currently available to you. You should also have a better sense of the audiences for your case, what they care about, and what you want them to do on your behalf. Assessing all of these aspects of your environment will give you a fairly clear picture of where you are, where you want to go, and how to get from here to there.

The checklist on the following page can help you begin to organize the information you uncover as you conduct your business analysis and prepare your business case. The more specific you can be at this point, the more it will help you build and present a strong case.