Friday 22 February 2019

Business Needs Template | Project Management

A business needs or business needs statement is a document may contain project information with describe gap of between current status and goals. The document helps to identify further requirements for implementing project to value adding by resources, operations and procurement processes.






Actually there are five major phase of this document template.

  • The first phase is the project identification, it can include project initiation date, priority, description summary etc. 
  • At the second stage of the document contains the high level problem statement, usually its may contain corporate strategic vision & mission, project summary, project benefits, etc. 
  • On the third phase is for goals and objectives may include details of objectives details and its measurements. 
  • The forth phase is high level requirements for the business, normally its will be about the technical, business fundamentals, organizational needs, timelines, etc. 
  • At the last stage of this document may involve the time system.

Business needs template

Business needs template

What to include in this business needs template?

General Details

Here in this section, you have to describe general details about the project. It may contain project initiation date, project name and description of the project.

Project Priority

  • Not process Critical: Non-essential, may not add significant functionality or capability. 
  • Essential: Improves capability with functionality that would be highly desirable, but not critical to support.
  • Critical: Possible feeder system to higher visibility critical systems. Necessary for completion of a mandated operational process (Usually 6-12-month timeframe.)
  • Project operation Critical – Part of a larger priority driven from higher level of authority, vital to operational Project operation. (Usually, 0-6 months’ time frame is highly recommended).

Project Stakeholders

Here at this section you can describe the details of the sponsor name, title, email and other contact details. This section is describing the points of contacts, as well as functional point of contact. This is very important part of the project business needs document section.

High level Problem Statement

Actually there are four major part of this section. Here you have to describe the business strategic vision and mission, summarize the project requirements, description of the operational mission details that show fit of business needs.

As well as you have to also describe the impact this project will have on current staffing. (e.g. skill set, number of personnel required in addition to current staff, etc.) Address how the project fits with the parent organization.

Goals and objectives

In this section, you have to provide the brief goals and objectives to be achieved by the project. Summarize the goals and objectives for this project. Link these project goals and objectives to the organization’s strategic goals and objectives. 

Even, the key measures of success should also describes in the brief. Provide specific measures of success in terms of performance, cost and schedule. Examples used should be measurable.

High level requirements

This is one of the important section of this document. You can describe the requirements for the project which can be categorize as high level. Usually this section may contain the business & technical requirements, security and information, performance, organizational - changes & resources etc.

You have to provide the high level functional / business and technical requirements to be satisfied. Describe unique requirements that may impact security and information assurance. (i.e. network access, business continuity, classification, etc. 

Does this solution require information exchange with other systems or organizations? Describe all information exchange requirements (i.e. source, frequency of exchange, etc.)  Describe the performance requirements that would be required or desired. List specific existing or proposed systems that the project must be integrated with? 

Show a high-level organization chart showing project functions with reporting lines and fit to the existing organization. Assess the anticipated impact of this project on the organization. Are there new ways of doing business as a result? Will this project require a significant change to current business processes? Summarize the resources required to support this solution after it is operational. (i.e. people, equipment, connectivity, facilities, etc.)

Project constraints


This section includes the major two parts, time and financial rough order for magnitude.

  • Time: Are there deadlines or anticipated time constraints that should be identified?
  • Financial Rough Order of Magnitude: If known provide an estimate of the funding that will be required to implement the project. Include non-recurring and recurring costs over a five-year period.
  • One Time Investment: List all startup costs associated with this project.
  • Contractor Support Costs: Show the number and skill set of personnel that will be required to support the project after it is delivered. Discuss if they are existing personnel or if added staffing will be needed.

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