Use the Needs Statement Template (MS Word) to describe a business need or deficiency, justify a new solution, and provide estimated costs. In SDLC projects, the Needs Statement document is developed before the Business Case.

What is a Needs Statement?

A need statement is used to describe a technical, business or public need.

What is the purpose of the Needs Statement?

It describes the purpose, goals, and scope of the proposed undertaking. It supports this with estimates for costs, schedules, and technical requirements. It provides sufficient information to justify whether or not your organization should move forward with the development of a full Business Case where these points will be explored in more detail.

How do you write a Needs Statement?

Follow these steps:

1. Identify the importance of the problem to the stakeholders.
2. Describe the projected costs of undertaking and/or declining to support this need.
3. Provide previous and current challenges related to the need.
4. Illustrate the gap between the current situation and the desired state.

Table of Contents

The Needs Statement template contains the following sections:

1 Introduction
1.1 Project Description
1.2 Objectives
1.3 Scope
1.4 Risks
1.5 Issues
1.6 System Overview
1.7 Point of Contact

2 Need Description
2.1 Description
2.2 Benefits
2.3 Capabilities
2.4 Organization Effect
2.5 Need assessment
2.6 Constraints
2.7 Estimated costs
2.8 Integration

Format

The templates are in Microsoft Word format.

Contents

The template pack includes the following documents:

• Needs Assessment Template 15 pages
• Needs Assessment Template 15 pages
• Needs Assessment Checklist 4 pages
• README file