Max, I think you will find that C-Level executives might be more receptive to this message than one level down (department heads, etc.). The hot term in business today is "Agility" and often times IT and software development departments are viewed as part of the problem.
Remember where the CFO came from. The Accounting Department is not run as a project-based organization. The Accounting Department does not rely on estimates, yet I would probably guess the CFO feels he has more control over costs in Accounting than in software development. You can go back and make the same argument concerning sales, marketing, human resources, and even the old mainframe computer maintenance departments.
The business case is that their is a need to deliver small efforts quickly. Return on investment begins to be realized much earlier and the sunk costs of an out and out failure are mcu lower. The recurring costs are predictable and working at smaller increments allows adjustment based on real world realities.
There is a strong business case to be made for the value of an agile development approach as well as the argument that it reflects the current business practices in most departments. It will involve a cultural change and most of the objections will coming from department heads and senior leaders in those areas.
