You are a Senior Vice President in the Magnificent Corporation. Your office is located at 555 Alabaster Drive, Port St. Lucie, Florida 30210. Create a document with this information and your company name as your letterhead at the top of the page.

Your task: To persuade the firm's Capital Committee to approve an investment of $250,000 to develop a prototype system that would significantly improve a business function of your choice. This can be a "new" function you want to take on or expand into, or the replacement for a system supporting a current function. As you compose your letter, address it specifically to the Chair of the committee, Catherine DiNozzo.

Background rationale: Your team has already discussed its business-improvement needs with members of the Committee. They have some familiarity with the project and an expectation that a request will be coming from you as a follow-up.

Your letter will include both a reiteration of the justifications/rationale for the system and it will mention for the first time the expected cost involved.

Your letter is seeking the Committee's approval in writing to the CEO by agreeing to include the project on the list of Committee recommendations for capital projects in the next budget cycle.

TIPS: A prototype is a "proof of concept," and thus is not the final system solution. In other words, it doesn't deliver an actual "ready to go" system; rather, it shows what a properly designed replacement would offer by building out a mock-up of how the new system would work. In other words, it proves the concept of a proposed business improvement (and the scope of its requirements) without actually going through the full cost of building the final system.

Keep in mind that when it comes to providing a rationale for the new or replacement system in your letter, it is not enough to say that potential benefits like "lower costs" or "higher revenue" would ensue. You need to provide enough specifics so that the Committee can "see" the potential benefits.