Making the business case for connectivity infrastructure investment - guidance

This guidance document has been produced by the NHS England Networks and  Connectivity Programme to support NHS staff and organisations make the case for connectivity infrastructure investment by producing robust and well evidenced business cases.

This guidance focuses on connectivity investment. We recognise that some connectivity improvements will be delivered as part of a wider business change and business case, such as deployment of a new site or a new capability, and as such not all of this guidance will be applicable. In these instances, some of the guidance and examples may be useful in forming the connectivity specific content of the wider business case.

The benefits and business case examples provided in this guidance are based on live procurements and deployments from NHS organisations, supported by the NHS England Future Connectivity programme between 2022 and 2025.

We also recognise that not all investment in connectivity infrastructure will require such an in-depth case as detailed in this guidance document, although we believe that all of the sections will be relevant and should be useful as a checklist or guide to ensure all relevant elements have been considered, even if full documentation is not required at this level of detail.

Where local business case templates and processes are already in place those should be used and adhered to. This guidance should be used to inform the content of the business cases even if the sections differ.

The content is 'supplier agnostic' which means we do not endorse any specific companies, innovations, or approaches. Any mention of, or link to, a specific supplier or product is not an endorsement from the Connectivity Hub or NHS England and is for illustrative purposes only.

For clarity, any recommendations made in this report are those of the report author and do not necessarily represent an endorsement, policy, or requirement from NHS England.