Stage 2
Make a business plan for your education institution

The steps to achieve your vision

Why do I need a business plan?

Once you have outlined a clear vision and strategy for digital transformation, the next step is to build your business plan.


A business plan is essentially your roadmap, outlining the steps needed to achieve your vision. You should approach it like an instruction manual, breaking your business plan into achievable and necessary steps.

Five must-have elements
to include in your digital transformation

Although making a business plan is an important part of the digital transformation journey, it doesn't have to be a difficult one. Use this checklist to ensure your plan covers what matters most.

Where should I start?

When developing a business plan, it isn’t necessary to start in any one place. In fact, trying to do this in a linear fashion can lead to analysis paralysis. Start a plan and fill in the gaps of what you know.


For example, the global disruption caused by COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown may have expedited the need to better enable remote working or student self-service. Or you may know you have to decommission a particular piece of technology by a certain date. Add that date into the plan, then fill in around it, outlining what needs to happen prior to that, and after that, in an ongoing nature.


Often it can be easier to work backwards from a compelling event, or a moment in time when an action needs to start.

Do I need to measure and benchmark?

It is important to break down a business plan into discrete pieces of work that can be defined and measured. And unless you benchmark at the outset, you won’t be able to measure the result or define the ROI post-transformation.


Be sure to break down your project into mini-projects or sprints that aren’t too long. If they are, break them down further into stages. Long projects run the risk of becoming stale, and delays are easy to hide within long timeframes.

What should I measure?

Your measurement metrics will vary according to the scope and intricacies of your digital transformation program. To determine your metrics, you should define what success looks like from the outset and how that will be measured.

It’s good to take a holistic approach involving all parts of your organisation, as the leadership may have a different view on what they want to measure from each department or faculty.

Don’t forget to review the project after you complete each stage so you can learn from it - this is key to not repeating mistakes, or to ensure you leverage great work for other projects in flight.

Digital Transformation Hub

Our digital transformation hub is designed to provide you with the resources you need to prepare, enact and realise your digital transformation journey.

Start your digital transformation

The journey to digital transformation involves careful planning and consideration. We've devised four key stages to get you started and on your way.

Clear vision and strategy

Not every digital transformation strategy is made equal. Its success hangs on having a clear vision and strategy, from the outset. The strategy needs to be linked to the institution’s overall mission, objectives and long term plan, which means having executive buy in and sponsorship.

Make a business plan

Once you have outlined a clear vision and strategy for digital transformation, the next step is to build your business plan. A business plan is essentially your roadmap, outlining the steps needed to achieve your vision. You should approach it like an instruction manual, breaking your business plan into achievable and necessary steps.

Build a business case & gain executive sponsorship

You have the vision. You have the plan. Now you need to put it into action. Developing a business case that secures executive and organisational buy-in and approval can be the ‘make or break’ of your digital transformation.

Align with your IT strategy

Tick: your business case is approved. Before you get started, the last step of your preparation stage is to ensure your digital transformation strategy is aligned with your IT strategy. Failure to align these strategies will cause unnecessary headaches, roadblocks and delays throughout your implementation project.

Want to learn more?

Explore our industry page for more resources and advice on how SaaS can help drive your digital transformation.

Hear directly from your peers on why having a business plan is key to digital transformation success.
Director of Finance & Disruption
Curtin University

If you don't have a business plan you don't know where you're headed. You need to create a structured set of activities with timelines and objectives.

Ready to learn more?

To take advantage of the opportunities SaaS ERP can offer your institution, complete the form to speak to a SaaS transition expert.