Decision brief
A decision brief prepares a specific choice by presenting options, rationale, consequences and unresolved assumptions.
Prepare an upcoming decision
A decision brief brings together the information an authorised person or group needs to make a choice. It identifies the decision question, options considered, evaluation criteria and expected consequences. In a fictional example, the choice is to continue a report manually, correct its export or rebuild it.
Explain the recommendation and the prerequisites under which it applies. Make missing evidence, affected roles and required decision timing visible. A well-designed brief is not a decision in itself. Record the later decision with date and rationale separately and traceably rather than making the original assumptions retrospectively look like facts.
Sources
Related terms
- Evaluation matrixAn evaluation matrix compares options against common criteria and records assessments together with their basis.
- Architecture decisionAn architecture decision establishes a significant aspect of software structure. Context and consequences explain why the choice was made.
- Project summaryA project summary briefly brings together an initiative’s purpose, boundaries, owners and key constraints.
- Exit strategyA prepared route to switch, take over or retire an IT service in an orderly way.
- Migration costsEffort and expenditure for the planned move of data or functions to another environment.
- Investment costsCosts of building a new or expanded IT capability, as considered in project planning.
Articles on this topic
IT Consulting & Strategy with ASES
Strategy, architecture and technology choice