CBA Cost and Resources

CBA keeps cost and resource comparison separate from importance of advantages. This protects the model from hiding a cost tradeoff inside an advantage score.

Importance and cost separation

What beneficial differences matter most?

Advantages · Primary question

Importance points by alternative

Advantages · Typical output

What resources are required?

Costs and resources · Primary question

Cost totals and cost per importance point

Costs and resources · Typical output

Cost may be analyzed carefully, but it should not be silently mixed into advantage importance.

Cost item fields

Alternative: option the cost belongs to.
Cost type: upfront, recurring, operational, maintenance, opportunity, risk, or other.
Amount and currency: numeric amount and currency code.
Period: one time, monthly, yearly, or project lifecycle.
Confidence: low, medium, or high.
Notes: source, basis of estimate, caveat, or validation action.

Cost per importance point

Cost per importance point can help discuss value, but it should not automatically force the decision. A low cost-per-point option may still be unacceptable if it violates a must-have requirement or carries unaddressed risk.

Common mistakes

scoring cost as an advantage and also adding cost items
hiding lifecycle cost under a vague factor
mixing risk exposure with confirmed cost
comparing costs from different periods without normalization
using high precision for low-confidence estimates