By Hemant Karandikar
| At a glance A quick look at what business transformation is. Why resource management is central to business transformation. Current HRM practices in the IT industry. The benefits of resource management software integrated with the software that runs the company-wide processes. |
IT services companies always look for ways to stay ahead of the competition through unique offerings and by cutting costs while increasing their footprint. On-site and off-site delivery models and in-person \ remote work models make their operations complex. AI technologies now threaten to disrupt their customers’ businesses and the core of services companies’ work -programming.
The need for business transformation has never been more acute.
An effective resource management software, in addition to project management software, is essential for successful business transformation in IT services companies.
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Why is resource management emerging as a strategic capability for project businesses?
What is business transformation?
Business transformation means overhauling all business processes and practices. It means redefining an organization’s values and building a new culture. Giving a fresh impetus to growth, achieving drastic cost efficiencies, building capabilities for scale and speed, causing or responding to market disruptions -any of these can be the reasons for undertaking business transformation.
Responsive and effective resource management practices are essential in addition to project management.
What do IT companies need to transform their businesses?
High quality and adequate size of the talent pool is essential to undertake a business transformation. Whether an organization’s marketing, sales, development, project management, HR, accounting, and finance teams perform well and can adapt to changing needs of the business depends on the quality of resources.
Therefore resource management practices are at the core of any business transformation.
IT companies’ resource management practices must meet the following goals.
1. Match tasks with resources
The most important objective of resource management is to align the skills needed to complete tasks with the skills and competencies of people while allocating them. Failure to achieve this alignment can lead to project delivery issues and employee frustrations.
2. Avoid shortages of skilled people
Resource management must make people with requisite skill sets specific to the tasks available at the correct times. Resource scheduling must take into account current and future demand.
3. Prevent overloading of resources
Overloading resources causes decreased productivity and burnout if it is persistent. The workload of individuals needs to be carefully balanced and monitored to avoid over-utilization.
4. Keep bench strength optimal
While bench strength is essential to meet unforeseen situations, too much of it eats into the profits and demoralizes employees.
Resource Management Software in IT companies
IT companies that deploy 100s or 1000s of knowledge workers and deliver several billable projects need resource management software. Let us understand its critical building blocks and capabilities.
Critical Components of Resource Management Software
Resource management software comprises two critical repositories:
-resource master and
-skill and competency master.
The resource master is a repository of employee information, including qualifications, skills, experience, achievements, and other relevant details.
The skill and competency repository has detailed information about the needs to complete various types of tasks derived from projects’ work breakdown structures.
The resource management software matches tasks with resources using the above repositories. Therefore, they should be built and maintained with care.
Operational Capabilities of Resource Management Software
Resource management software must provide operational capabilities to support resource assignment, request and allocation, resource planning and forecasting, tracking resource utilization, bench management, resource calendars, integration with timesheets, and new management interfaces.
Strategic Use of Resource Management
Beyond operational benefits, resource management software must help organizations align their skill and competency pools with future business needs.
What are the current resource management practices in IT companies?
Many IT companies manage their resources using standalone resource management software or spreadsheets. Neither have efficient interfaces with HRMS, payroll, and project management systems. The above components and capabilities are outside their current practices.
IT companies must deploy resource management software that fits well in enterprise-wide professional services automation (PSA) software.
What are the benefits of Resource Management System built on a PSA platform?
Implementing such resource management software offers several benefits for organizations. They are:
- Optimum resource utilization and bench strength
- Resource forecasting.
- Real-time visibility into the bench and employee allocations.
- Per-employee utilization information for training and job rotation
- Reduction in attrition
- Tracking of profitability on an individual basis
Successful business transformation
Proactive and responsive resource management software built on an enterprise-wide PSA platform addresses all the success factors critical for business transformation.
Many of the resource management software packages available in the market are not built on an enterprise-wide PSA platform. Such standalone packages need significant efforts to interface with project management, HRM , and accounting software. Therefore they have limited utility.
ProductDossier PSA’s Resource Management Module meets all the above criteria. It improves resource utilization by 2% to 5% and person-wise profitability by similar margins. These improvements significantly impact a company’s bottom line, operational capabilities, attrition rate, talent attraction, and customer trust. Effective resource management is a prerequisite for managing multiple billable projects successfully.
ProductDossier PSA’s Resource Management Module will boost your efforts for successful business transformation.
Contact us at sales@kytes.com for a demo and more information.
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