CSI Academy · Practitioner Course
Building the Business Case for OPA
The practitioner's guide to justifying, defending, and winning approval for Open Process Automation investments. Lifecycle cost models, NPV analysis, sensitivity analysis, executive presentations, and procurement strategy — built by the engineers who do this work.
Curriculum
20 lessons across four areas
Part 1 — Why Traditional Business Cases Fail
Why Traditional Automation Business Cases Fail
Why first-cost procurement thinking systematically undervalues OPA — and what to do about it.
- The iceberg — visible vs hidden lifecycle costs
- Architectural dependency as a cost driver
- How deferred modernization compounds risk
Understanding the Economics of Open Process Automation
The three economic mechanisms OPA uses to attack lifecycle cost.
- Interoperability vs portability — two distinct mechanisms
- Supplier ecosystem economics
- Distributed lifecycle cost in practice
Mapping the True Lifecycle Cost of Automation
Building a complete picture of what automation actually costs over 25 years.
- Capital, operations, and migration cost categories
- Support contract escalation modelling
- Forced migration event cost estimation
Quantifying Downtime, Obsolescence & Operational Risk
How to put numbers on the risks that traditional business cases ignore.
- Unplanned downtime cost calculation
- Obsolescence risk quantification
- Single-source supply chain exposure
The Financial Value of Portability
How to calculate the engineering preservation value when applications migrate with the hardware.
- Application re-engineering cost benchmarks
- The portability calculation for your facility
- Application audit methodology
Part 2 — Building the Financial Models
Building the Baseline DCS Financial Model
Constructing the traditional DCS lifecycle cost model that becomes the comparison baseline.
- Model structure and input categories
- Sourcing defensible cost data
- Documenting assumptions for review
Building the OPA Lifecycle Comparison Model
Constructing the OPA alternative model and structuring the comparison.
- OPA model inputs and assumptions
- Side-by-side comparison structure
- Presenting the delta with credibility
Understanding NPV, IRR & Payback
The financial metrics that matter in capital review — explained for engineers.
- NPV calculation and discount rate selection
- IRR interpretation for automation investments
- Payback period with and without risk adjustment
Sensitivity Analysis & Defending Financial Assumptions
How to stress-test the model and prepare for the finance team's scrutiny.
- One-way and two-way sensitivity analysis
- Identifying and defending key assumptions
- Tornado chart construction and interpretation
Migration Strategy Economics
How migration approach choice (forklift vs phased) affects the financial case.
- Forklift vs phased migration cost comparison
- Capital profile and timing implications
- Risk-adjusted NPV by strategy
The Cost of Deferred Modernization
How to quantify what waiting actually costs — and why the traditional 'wait and see' analysis is wrong.
- Compounding risk and cost of deferral
- Urgency framing in the business case
- The right time to act calculation
Part 3 — Procurement and Vendor Evaluation
Why Most 'Open' Claims Fail
How to distinguish genuine OPA conformance from marketing language.
- The conformance evidence hierarchy
- Red flags in vendor proposals
- Testing claims before committing
Writing OPA-Aligned Procurement & RFP Language
Specific, enforceable procurement language that creates real competitive markets.
- Conformance requirements that stick
- Portability demonstration clauses
- Code ownership and lifecycle support terms
Evaluating Vendor Claims & Architecture Risk
A structured framework for assessing vendor proposals against OPA requirements.
- Proposal evaluation scorecard
- Architecture risk assessment
- Reference customer verification
Part 4 — Executive Approval
What Executives Actually Care About
How to frame the OPA business case in the language of the people who approve it.
- CFO decision criteria for capital projects
- Risk framing vs cost reduction framing
- The social proof requirement
Structuring the Executive Presentation
The architecture of a capital approval presentation that wins.
- The four-slide financial summary
- Risk matrix presentation
- Recommendation framing
Handling Executive & Procurement Objections
Prepared responses to the questions that kill OPA approvals.
- 'Our DCS still works' — the deferred modernization trap
- 'Open systems are less secure' — the security objection
- 'Show me who else has done this' — the precedent requirement
Real-World Modernization Scenarios
Case studies: three plant types, three business case structures.
- Refinery brownfield DCS replacement
- Chemical plant incremental modernization
- Greenfield OPA specification
Common Automation Procurement & Modernization Failures
The mistakes that produce bad outcomes — and how to avoid them.
- First-cost procurement failure mode
- Vague conformance language failure mode
- Missing code ownership failure mode
Building the Executive Approval Package
Assembling the complete capital approval submission — financial model, risk assessment, procurement strategy, and recommendation.
- Approval package components and structure
- Review and sign-off workflow
- Post-approval next steps
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Questions? trevor@csi-automation.com
Building the Business Case for OPA
Format
Self-paced video · knowledge check per lesson
Duration
20 lessons · approximately 4 hours
Level
Practitioner — assumes familiarity with DCS environments
On completion
Certificate of completion · CPD credit eligible
Questions
trevor@csi-automation.com
New to OPA?
Start with O-PAS Fundamentals — the foundation course covering the standard, architecture, and core concepts before the business case deep-dive.
O-PAS Fundamentals →CSI Academy
All training programs
From fundamentals to practitioner certification — built by the engineers deploying OPA in production.
O-PAS™ is a standard of The Open Group. CSI operates under a commercial license from The Open Group. Views published by CSI do not represent positions of The Open Group or the Open Process Automation Forum.