Maximising Finance Transformation Return on Investment

Five years ago BT Finance was running on outdated systems; it had many non-standard processes and was heavily reliant on manual controls. It was recognised that BT Finance had to transform. However a strong justification was still needed as there were many competing potential capital investments across the business. It required a credible benefits case and a demonstrable return on investment (ROI).

By building a robust set of measurements and tools we were able to determine and track benefits and ROI from business case through to post programme in-life. This also enabled us to adapt and make scope decisions through the life of the programme to optimise return. To ensure ROI was delivered it was important to focus on the following areas:

• Senior stakeholder buy-in
• Agreed ROI governance aligned to BT’s wider governance
• Clear accountability for budgets and benefits realisation targets
• Agreed and consistent measurement methodologies and ownership

BT Finance was successfully transformed moving to robust and rationalised systems; simplified and standardised processes and a more effective finance organisation model. It delivered a higher return on investment than the original approved business case.