- Okay, you've decoded the budget cycle.
You've learned to speak finance.
Now, let's put it together in a way
that your org can say yes to.
A business case isn't a form.
It's a narrative that connects your ask
to a business outcome that matters.
The best ones don't just justify,
they inspire alignment.
Let's break it down.
Start here.
What pain are you solving?
Frame the risk in business terms, not security jargon.
Instead of, "We need to improve lateral movement controls",
say, "We're seeing growing risk of ransomware spread,
"which increases downtime
"and recovery costs across multiple business units."
Make it real.
Use the metrics we talked about, if possible.
Meantime to detect,
open vulnerabilities, policy violations.
But tie them to impact, cost, delays, customer experience,
and regulatory exposure.
This sets the stage for you
to introduce what you're asking for.
A tool, a service, maybe it's headcount or a process shift.
Keep it tight.
What exactly are you asking for?
How does it solve the problem?
Why is it the right fit right now?
Use your newfound financial fluency right now.
This solution reduces risk by 70%
and can be deployed within 90 days.
It's structured as OpEx and flexibility,
and has a projected ROI of 2.5X within 12 months.
When you say something like that,
it's so clear to the business.
We're going to dive deeper into defending these
decisions in the next lesson.
Next, we show business value.
This is the heart of the case.
What does the business get from solving this problem,
besides compliance?
Use the triple threat.
Cost avoided, downtime, breach, legal fines.
Revenue protected or enabled, faster onboarding,
protected customer data.
Trusted preserve, regulatory alignment, customer confidence,
brand repetition.
You want to have three things every time,
if you can.
Example, by preventing outages on our customer platform,
this investment protects $12 million in quarterly revenue
and supports margin stability.
Now you're not asking for cyber spend.
You're offering business insurance.
Finally, outline how you'll get it done.
At a high level, who's involved?
What's the timeline and how will success be measured?
And you get bonus points if you can phase
that investment over quarters
or any timeframe for that matter.
Align implementation to upcoming audits or launches.
Include contingency plans for scale or failure.
A solid plan reduces uncertainty,
which is often more important than the ask itself.
Now that you know to build a strong business case,
what happens when the money gets tight?
In the next lesson,
we'll cover how to defend your ask
even when the budget shrinks,
priorities shift,
or everyone's looking for a reason to cut.
Let's keep your plan alive, even in tough times.