In this scenario, the best initial step for the business analyst (BA) to ensure the ongoing success of the project is:

B. Encourage the project stakeholders to think of various ways to solve cases differently before deciding on a specific solution.

Encouraging stakeholders to brainstorm and think critically about different ways to address the issues, possibly through various solutions or approaches, is essential in the early stages of the project. It allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the problem and potential solutions. This step can help the project team explore alternative strategies and ensure that the chosen solution aligns with the specific needs and goals of NTO's Service Cloud implementation.

While configuring a proof-of-concept demo (option A) and producing a gap analysis document (option C) are valuable activities, they should come after the stakeholders have collectively explored different solution approaches and agreed on a direction.