Making Smart IT Choices: Understanding Value and Risk in Government IT Investments:

Tools for Phase 2 -- Identifying and testing solutions

Modest, moderate, elaborate alternatives

When building a business case for an IT project or innovation initiative, you will want to consider alternative solutions. Investigating modest, moderate, and elaborate alternatives during the analysis process allows you to identify a range of possible choices. You can then compare the costs and benefits of the alternatives and make more informed decisions.

What are they?

Levels of choices. Developing modest, moderate, or elaborate alternative solutions can help outline the range of choices available to you. The features, functions, and technology that go into each level depend on your goals and resources.

Modest. This level involves a minimum investment in effort, time, and resources.

Moderate. At this higher level, you may include additional features or options and a wider range of internal and external information sources.

Elaborate. This ultimate level involves advanced features, technologies, or options for the most ambitious project you could undertake to solve your organization's problem.

What are they good for?

Identifying features and functionality. Place possible features and functions in the appropriate level. Think about the modest, moderate, and elaborate answers to questions about customers, services, features, information sources, and resources. You will be better able to make decisions when the options are categorized.

Characterizing benefits. Describe the major benefits you expect to result from the implementation of your project. Benefits typically fall into one of three categories: better, cheaper, or faster. Classify the potential benefits as modest, moderate, or elaborate.

Assessing and measuring performance. Once you have outlined project features and benefits appropriate for each level, you need to figure out a way to measure performance. Devise specific, objective methods for measuring the outcomes and results of your project.After a project is operational, these performance goals can be used to evaluate how well the project performed with respect to its overall specific goals.

Determining the basis for cost estimation. Determining the cost of your project is easier because of your modest, moderate, and elaborate descriptions. Each of these alternative suggestions cost categories and degree of needed investment that you can build on in the more detailed cost estimation phases.

Some limitations and considerations

Know what resources are likely to be available. Have a good handle on what resources will be available to implement the modest, moderate, and elaborate project options. Be as realistic as possible when devising these alternatives. "Elaborate" does not mean the sky is the limit, unless that is actually a realistic expectation for your situation.

Keep your focus on outcomes and results. When talking about the potential benefits of your project, describe them in terms of outcomes and results instead of inputs and outputs. This helps you focus your attention on the service you're providing rather than the delivery mechanisms.

Devise concrete measures. You must describe your performance measures in explicit, objective terms. Be as specific and clear as possible to avoid future confusion about how project features and services will be measured and assessed.

Make forecasts. While you may be uncomfortable doing it, you should try to forecast the impact of each approach. Make educated guesses about how the modest, moderate, and elaborate options will affect stakeholders, service delivery, and the business process. Forecasts will help you make better decisions about which option to implement.

How to present modest, moderate, and elaborate alternatives

Gather a group of people with strong knowledge of the issues and goals of the project and work through this exercise together.
Make a table with four columns and as many rows as you have features, functions, or other bases for comparison. Label the columns "features & functionalities," "modest," "moderate," and "elaborate."
In each row, briefly describe the modest, moderate, and elaborate alternatives for one feature or function. For example, user support features might range from on-line help to a business hours help desk, or even 24/7 support staff.
Make a second table with four columns, labeled "benefits," "modest," "moderate," and "elaborate." This table contains three rows labeled "cheaper," "faster," and "better." Briefly describe the cheaper, faster, and better benefits that are likely to accrue from the modest, moderate, and elaborate alternatives you have just specified. Some examples:
- Cheaper:
  - Reduce duplication in areas such as data collection and program development
  - Generate revenue
  - Savings in non-personal services: telephone, printing, mailing
  - Savings in personal services
- Faster:
  - Reduce the number of steps in a process
  - Staff members get access to information in a more timely manner
  - Citizens get access to services in a more timely manner
- Better:
  - Improved responsiveness to citizen need through 24-hour access
  - More satisfied clients because information is more accurate and consistent
  - Ability to reach more customers with existing services
- Be as specific as possible in defining expectations for system performance (e.g. "90 percent of telephone inquiries will be completed on the first call"). While this may prove difficult to do at first, quantifying system performance expectations will help to clarify project goals and objectives, and provide a basis for evaluation when the project is completed.
Compare the alternatives in terms of the features they would offer and benefits they would generate and keep this information handy to compare with cost estimates.

For more information

Pardo, T. A., S. S. Dawes and A. M. Cresswell (2000) . Opening Gateways: A Practical Guide for Designing Electronic Records Access Programs. Center for Technology in Government. See the "Program Design Tool" http://www.ctg.albany.edu/publications/guides/gateways?chapter=5

< Previous |

| Next >