Revamping Business Cases for Improved Revenue Alignment and KPI Accuracy

1. Context

In the telecom industry, mobile data quality levels are a key factor in ensuring a reliable customer experience. Mobile operators invest in optimizing service offerings, ensuring differentiation, and providing premium data experiences. However, while these services drive engagement, their financial performance must be accurately forecasted and aligned with evolving market conditions.

To ensure proper financial alignment, business cases play a crucial role in tracking revenue impact, cost structures, and market assumptions. The existing business case for this area had been evolving over time and was maintained by different owners, leading to inconsistencies in structure and logic. Some propositions followed a top-down methodology, while others used a bottom-up approach, making it difficult for Finance, Product, and Local Market teams to align on assumptions.

As a result, a revamp was necessary to improve clarity, ensure consistency, and make it easier to maintain. However, this needed to be done while still keeping the existing business case updated for ongoing financial discussions.

This project focused on updating the business case structure for a portfolio that included:

• Quality Access – Defining access levels to different service quality tiers based on customer type.
• Boost Plus – Providing additional data and speed enhancements.
• Seamless Video – Ensuring efficient video streaming performance across key platforms.
• Content Priority – Differentiating network resources based on content types.

2. Challenge

The biggest challenge was revamping the business case while maintaining the existing version at the same time. The business case was actively reviewed by Finance and local markets, so my management expected continuous updates while I was working on the new version.

Another key challenge was that the revamp introduced a more refined structure and logical flow, which changed some of the calculations. While the old business case had evolved over time, the new version was designed with greater clarity and consistency, meaning certain figures that had been accepted in the past now had to be validated more thoroughly. There was a risk that changes in structure could expose misalignments between assumed and actual financial impacts, making accuracy a top priority.

Additionally, since local markets had different perspectives, we had to ensure that the new structure was clear and usable for all stakeholders, including Finance, Product teams, and OpCos.

3. Approach

The revamp wasn’t planned as an isolated initiative. It emerged as a natural evolution of another project where we had worked with Local OpCos to create a template for market-specific business cases. One of my colleagues, a long-standing product manager, helped structure that template using a fully top-down approach, ensuring a clearer, more structured flow. Given its success, we decided to apply the same approach to the full Group-level business case.

I led the revamp with the following steps:

• Applying a Consistent Top-Down Methodology Across Propositions – Each proposition had a different business model, but we ensured they all followed a top-down methodology to improve clarity and flow. This approach made it easier for Finance and OpCos to track calculations and understand key assumptions.
• Maintaining the Existing Business Case While Working on the Revamp – Kept the old version updated in parallel to avoid disruptions in ongoing financial reviews. Ensured that all figures were validated to prevent misalignment due to structural changes.
• Aligning Business Case and KPI Tracking – Worked closely with the KPI reporting owner to ensure financial assumptions in the business case matched reported performance. Took ownership of annual financial targets, ensuring they were built on accurate projections from the business case.
• Refining Business Case Structure for Easier Review – Created a structured format that eliminated unnecessary complexity, making it easier for stakeholders to follow. Ensured that Finance could independently review the business case without needing legacy knowledge.

4. Role & Achievements

• Led the Business Case Revamp – Took full ownership of restructuring the business case while keeping the existing version updated in parallel.
• Aligned Business Case with Financial KPIs – Ensured that the business case assumptions were in sync with performance tracking and annual targets.
• Made Financial Assumptions More Transparent – The clearer structure reduced the need for extensive explanations in meetings.
• Helped Finance and OpCos Understand Key Drivers More Easily – By applying a consistent methodology, it became simpler to track how assumptions impacted financials.

5. Results

• Successfully Delivered a More Transparent Business Case – Finance and local markets found the new structure easier to review.
• Improved Alignment Across Stakeholders – Clearer assumptions and calculations made it easier for OpCos to engage in discussions and refine projections.
• Ensured a Smooth Transition from Old to New Business Case – No disruptions were caused to ongoing financial reviews, and the updated version was well received.