Maximizing Efficiency: The Power of Resource Capacity Planning

Efficiency is key – no matter your industry – and understanding and managing your resources effectively can make the difference between success and stagnation.

When you use an IT Service Management tool that includes Project Portfolio Management on a single, no-code platform you get the added benefit of being able to engage in proper resource capacity planning.

Resource capacity planning allows you to get a big-picture view of your entire IT organization, allowing you to balance workloads across projects and support; and to see the different types of work that need to be done at any given time. This approach is especially useful when you have limited resources, but an increase in demand for the support of remote learning and remote workforces.

Other benefits include:

• Optimization of Resources: Resource capacity planning helps you avoid overutilization or underutilization of resources. It ensures that resources are used to their full potential, thereby maximizing efficiency.
• Better Decision Making: With a clear picture of your resource capacity, you can make informed decisions about project allocation, hiring and workflow management.
• Increased Transparency: Resource capacity planning provides visibility into your resource capabilities, making it easier for stakeholders to understand where resources are allocated and why.
• Improved Project Outcomes: When resources are appropriately managed, projects are more likely to be completed on time and within budget.

When it comes to using a single platform approach for ITSM and PPM, you get the following benefits: 

• The ability to foster and promote process improvements through digital transformation. 
• Improved user experience for customers, employees, IT technicians and project managers. 
• The consolidation of systems and applications for more efficient management. 
• The ability to bring service and project management together. 

“With TeamDynamix, I always have a source of truth on project data,” LaVonne Banks, director of Kern Health Systems’ enterprise project management office (EPMO), said. Kern Family Health Care, a Medi-Cal managed care health plan serving residents of Kern County, California, uses TeamDynamix PPM to manage all projects within the organization.

“I love the platform’s reporting features,” she says. “They’re super easy to use. Being able to pull reports and quickly see real-time data is wonderful.”

A key benefit of TeamDynamix, according to Banks, is that it helps EPMO staff get out ahead of potential issues before they become full-blown problems. While some challenges are beyond the control of project managers, having greater insight makes it more likely that projects will be completed on time and under budget.

“We can quickly identify resource constraints and make adjustments when unexpected circumstances arise,” Banks says. “Because we can identify these issues earlier, we have a better chance of staying on top of resource management.”

Better transparency leads to more accountability and, ultimately, a higher success rate on projects.

“With one platform now we can actually see the tickets that are being worked on as well as the projects that are in the pipeline,” Hema Nekkanti, project management office manager for the City of Sunnyvale, said. “This gives us the ability to actually allocate the resources appropriately, and there’s no resource conflict.”

The City of Sunnyvale uses TeamDynamix for both ITSM and PPM/

Nekkanti said she and her team use the dashboards they’ve created within TeamDynamix to view projects in the pipeline as well as tickets. At Sunnyvale, each department has its own dashboard specific to its projects and tickets – within these dashboards, they can view both the entire portfolio of work across the city, as well as their own projects.

“It’s all there, and when they drill down into each of those projects they can tell how far they are into the project. There’s a Gantt chart that shows the execution time and when the start time of each project is,” Nekkanti said. “This actually helps us (in the project management office) and those in the departments to understand exactly where the projects are and when they can be finished.”

Sunnyvale CIO Kathleen Boutte agreed, “We really needed that visibility, and it’s why this has been such a great tool for us. Having both the service side and the project side means I can see whether my team is working on a ticket or a project and how busy they are. I get visibility into their availability, and I can forecast more accurately to know that I am not overworking staff or that we’re not just sitting on the bench twiddling our thumbs.”

Want to learn more about the benefits of bringing ITSM and PPM together? Check out:

• The Benefits of Using One Platform for ITSM and PPM
• Covenant HealthCare: ITSM & Projects Together for a ‘Single Pane of Glass’