ABSTRACT
Business change and IT projects are always intended to enhance the business in some way, but the path to hell is paved with good intentions. This chapter discusses some of the preliminary factors to be considered when selecting a project (as a precursor to the preparation of a detailed business case as described in Chapter 3). The discussion is taken beyond consideration of a single project to building a portfolio of projects and deciding which projects in the portfolio should claim priority for action and expenditure of resources. The common theme (common in this chapter but unfortunately not so common in practice) is ensuring that the benefits of every project admitted to the portfolio align with corporate objectives.
