## Prompt for Claude: ICT Cost Model Refinement and Continge...

Prompt

## Prompt for Claude: ICT Cost Model Refinement and Contingency Assumptions **Context** I am preparing an ICT cost estimate to support a programme business case. The attached Excel workbook contains cost components across ICT and other programme areas. I need you to analyse the workbook and create a **new, refined Excel workbook focused exclusively on ICT-related costs**, with a clear separation between baseline ICT estimates and assumptions that the Programme Team can use to determine appropriate contingency provisions. ### Task 1: Analyse and extract ICT cost components Review all worksheets, formulas, assumptions and cost categories in the attached workbook. - Identify and retain only costs directly attributable to ICT. - Include relevant infrastructure, cloud hosting, software licensing, subscriptions, implementation, integration, data migration, cybersecurity, architecture, testing, deployment, technical support and ongoing operational costs. - Include internal ICT effort, external professional services and vendor costs where applicable. - Distinguish between one-off implementation costs and recurring operational costs. - Identify capital expenditure (CapEx) and operating expenditure (OpEx), where appropriate. - Exclude programme management, business change, training, communications and other non-ICT costs unless they represent direct ICT delivery responsibilities. - Flag shared or ambiguous costs requiring further validation rather than arbitrarily including or excluding them. - Preserve original estimates, formulas and source references wherever possible. Do not invent cost figures. ### Task 2: Generate a revised ICT cost workbook Create a new Excel workbook with the following worksheets: **1. ICT Cost Summary** - Consolidated ICT cost estimate. - One-off versus recurring costs. - CapEx versus OpEx. - Annual cost projections, including 2027 and subsequent years where supported by the source. - Totals linked dynamically to detailed cost calculations. **2. Detailed ICT Cost Breakdown** Include columns for: - Cost category and description - Cost type (one-off/recurring) - CapEx/OpEx classification - Quantity and unit of measure - Unit cost and total cost - Financial year - Source/reference - Estimation basis - Assumptions - Confidence level (High/Medium/Low) - Validation status and responsible party, where identifiable **3. ICT Cost Assumptions** Document every material assumption influencing the baseline estimate, including: - Assumption ID and category - Description and rationale - Basis of estimation - Dependencies and constraints - Potential financial impact - Confidence level - Validation required **4. Programme Contingency Considerations** Identify cost uncertainties and risks that the Programme Team should consider when establishing contingency. For each item, provide: - Contingency consideration - Related ICT cost component - Underlying assumption - Risk or uncertainty - Potential impact on cost - Suggested contingency treatment or calculation approach - Recommended owner for validation **Do not automatically apply a blanket contingency percentage.** Where a percentage or range is proposed, clearly explain the rationale and distinguish illustrative assumptions from evidence-based estimates. **5. Exclusions and Clarifications** Document: - Costs excluded from the ICT baseline and the rationale. - Ambiguous costs requiring ownership clarification. - Potentially missing ICT costs. - Dependencies on vendor pricing, procurement outcomes and architectural decisions. - Outstanding questions requiring Programme Team input. ### Task 3: Establish the boundary between ICT and Programme costs Clearly distinguish between: 1. **ICT baseline costs:** Costs required to design, build, integrate, deploy, secure and operate the technical solution. 2. **Programme-owned costs:** Business change, programme governance, organisational readiness and other non-ICT activities. 3. **Contingency considerations:** Financial exposure arising from uncertainty, delivery complexity, assumptions or dependencies that the Programme Team may need to accommodate. Avoid double-counting costs or treating contingency as part of the baseline estimate. ### Task 4: Quality assurance Before delivering the workbook: - Reconcile retained ICT costs against the original workbook. - Verify formulas, totals, annual projections and cross-sheet references. - Preserve traceability to original estimates. - Clearly distinguish confirmed values, calculated estimates and unvalidated assumptions. - Ensure no original source data is silently changed or lost. - Format the workbook professionally with filters, consistent cost categories and NZD currency formatting. ### Expected deliverables **Deliverable 1:** A downloadable Excel workbook containing the five worksheets described above. **Deliverable 2:** A concise executive summary covering: - Total estimated ICT baseline costs, subject to available data. - Major cost drivers. - Key estimation assumptions. - Significant uncertainties and dependencies. - Recommended contingency considerations for the Programme Team. - Decisions or validations needed before business-case submission. **Important:** The purpose is not to inflate or reduce the existing estimate arbitrarily. It is to create a defensible, transparent and traceable ICT cost baseline, while providing the Programme Team with the evidence and assumptions needed to determine its own contingency allowance. Use only information supported by the attached workbook. Where information is unavailable, explicitly mark it as **TBC** and state what is required to validate it.