Question 1

What is Resource Management software?

Accepted Answer

Resource Management software, also known as resource planning software, is a tool or a platform used to monitor, schedule and assign resources to different operations within an organization.
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Depending on the type of the software and features included, the tool can be used in the IT industry to:

1. Assign people to the projects,
2. Determine the hiring needs of the company,
3. Calculate available, billable and general capacity,
4. Choose the right employees for the project based on their skills, qualifications and other qualities,
5. Forecast the capacity and predict further trends,
6. Create drafts of the future project to estimate the needs for resources for the future.

Question 2

What are the types of Resource Management?

Accepted Answer

In the IT industry, resource planning can be divided into 7 categories, depending on the type of resources we wish to manage.

Those categories include:

1. Services - i.e. outsourcing, hiring third-party providers or new specialists,
2. Labor - specialists and employees involved or due to be involved in the project,
3. Equipment - i.e. computers and other devices,
4. Materials - i.e. software, accessories, Money and budget, including estimations,
5. Space - or lack of it, in case of remote work,
6. Time and available capacity.

Question 3

What types of companies should use Resource Management software?

Accepted Answer

Resource Management software is used by all types of organizations, regardless of their industry. It is necessary for all the businesses, as all of them use some kinds of resources, even though their types may vary.

In the IT industry, resource planning is generally used by IT service companies wishing to maximize their output and, consequently, their profits by using as much of their resources as possible.

However, other types of IT businesses are also no stranger to this process, as it can help them manage their hiring operations and plan their resources effectively.

Question 4

What are the steps one needs to take to implement resource planning?

Accepted Answer

Resource Planning is the base of every single business. However, on a small scale this process does not require any advanced solutions.

To successfully manage resources in a dynamically growing organization, the business needs to implement resource management software.

Generally, it allows managers to gather all the data necessary to make their decisions, access them and browse them from intuitive dashboards with automated charts and tables. Therefore, it is an invaluable asset that saves time - and can increase profits if used correctly.

Question 5

What does resource planning look like, step by step?

Accepted Answer

1. Make a resource management plan.
2. Browse all the projects and see what types of resources they require and what specialists may be needed in the near future.
3. Estimate the quantity of resources you need to complete the project.
4. Verify the availability and assign resources to particular tasks.
5. Monitor resources and their changes and make decisions accordingly to achieve your goals

Question 6

Who is responsible for the resource management in the company?

Accepted Answer

In larger companies, a resource manager is usually responsible for resource planning. However, if the company still does not have one, COO or PMO may be in charge of these processes. When company scales up, it is recommended to involve Project Managers in this process as well.

Still, the person responsible for the matter may differ depending on the company’s structure.

Question 7

How to measure the effectiveness of resource planning?

Accepted Answer

The efficiency of resource management may be measures using metrics such as:

1. Cost variance - the difference between the estimates and actual costs of particular projects.
2. Resource capacity utilization - the number of hours all the employees or particular employees spend on billable work.
3. Planned resources vs resources that are really in use.
4. The number of hours not spent on any billable activity. It can also be calculated as the number of available specialists.

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Resource Planning