Developing Complete Software Business Cases

This column discusses the performance elements that ought to be considered in a business case that is developed to justify the implementation of software systems. It espouses the estimation of benets and costs in three areas of operational improvement: Eciency, Asset Utilization, and Customer Response. This complete and holistic view is especially needed when justifying the purchase of forecasting and planning software systems. LARRY LAPIDE | Dr. Lapide is a Research Aliate at MIT and a Lecturer at the University of Massachusetts, Boston Campus. He has extensive experience in industry, consulting, business research, and academia as well as a broad range of forecasting experiences. He was an industry forecaster for many years, has led forecasting-related consulting projects for clients across a variety of industries, and has researched as well as taught forecasting. He was also a market analyst researching forecasting, planning, and supply chain software. He is the rst recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in Business Forecasting & Planning bestowed by the IBF in 2012. (This is an ongoing column in The Journal, which is intended to give a brief view on a potential topic ...