Need a better handle on how you manage your IT firm’s talent and time? It’s called resource management – and this is what you need to know.
In an IT or software firm, talented team members turn their knowledge into profitable projects. But, waste their time or talent, and you risk your revenue and reputation.
When project-based work is so dizzyingly dynamic, and with limited resources to go round, how can you get it right?
It’s not impossible. It’s IT resource management. Here’s the basics, so you can confidently – and profitably – start applying resource management principles in your IT business.
IT resource management is the discipline of managing human talent and time effectively to maximise business outcomes, specifically in an IT or software context.
That means making sure the right resources are working on the right projects at the right time – so there’s less stress, higher productivity, and better deliverables. Plus, everyone’s a whole lot happier, from developers and engineers, to clients and end users.
In depth: What is Resource Management? The Complete Guide ➡️
When you’re first starting out, you’ll probably focus on day-to-day resource management as a relatively quick fix for common problems in IT and software firms like:
Once you’ve mastered those foundations, you’ll be ready to move on to the next stage of resource management maturity, which is strategic resource management.
That takes the project-level efficiency and data-driven decision-making of operational resource management and scales it up to the full organization, answering questions like:
The undeniable benefits of resource management can help you secure buy-in for your proposed resource management techniques.
In depth: Why is Resource Management Important? ➡️
The benefits of better IT resource management fall into five broad categories. When we describe different elements of resource management below, look out for the icons.
Resource management helps match people’s time to the tasks at hand. You know exactly what time and talent you need, and exactly what’s available. This means you’re better at using the capacity you have, distributing tasks evenly between people, so there’s less wasted (bench) time and higher productivity.
In professional service firms, your people are often your biggest investment. You need to use them wisely to maximise your ROI. Effective resource management prevents expensive issues including bench time, overservicing, rework, project overruns, and expensive last-minute hires.
Successful projects deliver quality products on schedule and in budget. This needs appropriately skilled staff working at the right time. Skills matter because they affect costs, competence, and engagement. Resource management balances skills, timing, and cost to boost project success rates.
Happy clients pay bills without quibbles, come back for more projects, and boost your reputation through positive word of mouth. That’s great for cash flow, revenue generation, and sustainability. And boosting project success rates – see above – boosts client satisfaction.
Aside from your ethical duty to treat people well, you can’t afford unhappy staff. Stressed people are less productive, get sick, and eventually leave the business. These are unnecessary costs you can avoid by giving people manageable work and development opportunities through better resource management.
In depth: The Benefits of Resource Planning ➡️
The first step in IT resource management starts with the project, not the people:
Doing this reduces the risk of delays caused by resource conflicts, and lets you proactively address resource constraints in a timely and cost-efficient way. It improves your chances of completing projects on time, and dodges avoidable icebergs.
In depth: What is Resource Planning? ➡️
The next step is resource scheduling. This is the process of identifying the best people for project tasks. This means the people who:
Get this right and you’ll control costs, and avoid the dual risks of over-servicing or under-delivering. Plus, resources will be more engaged because tasks are manageable and appropriate to their skills.
In depth: Beginner’s Guide to Resource Scheduling ➡️
Resource utilization is a percentage representation of how well you’re using people’s time. Most professional service firms set a target of around 85% utilization rate. This maximises planned productivity while leaving a buffer to prevent burnout.
To meet your utilization target you need to monitor and manage resource utilization, allocating tasks to ensure even distribution of work up to your target rate.
Monitoring utilization isn’t a nice-to-have – it’s a must-have if you want projects to run to schedule, people to work at optimum levels, and to know whether you can take on new projects when they arise.
In depth: Three Types of Utilization and Why You Need Them ➡️
Profitability and productivity in professional service firms are about balancing supply (your people) with demand (client projects). This is known as capacity management and it comes in two flavors.
You’ll need a way to forecast capacity needs and know when to act. For example, if Frontend Developers are always over-capacity, you know you need to hire or train more. But if they’re consistently under-capacity, you may have overhired. This can be addressed through retraining or redeployment.
In depth: What is Capacity Management? ➡️
In an IT or software firm, skills and expertise are what you’re selling. You need to know what skills you have available, so you can match them up to the projects you sell – and what skills you’re missing, so you can acquire them. To do this you need:
Good skills tracking doesn’t just improve immediate project outcomes. It boosts staff satisfaction by providing engaging work and development opportunities. And it ensures your business is future-fit, informing workforce development decisions to meet your strategic ambitions.
In depth: The Beginner’s Guide to Skills Management ➡️
Resource management has the power to totally transform your business. But don’t let the scale and potential put you off getting started. Even small changes today can be hugely beneficial.
Here are some first steps to take:
Resource management is most effective when you can draw on any of the resources in the business, so it’s good practice to centralize resource and skills information. You’re fishing in a bigger talent pool, so there’s more chance you’ll catch what you want.
Plus, with more resources in the mix, you’re better able to balance capacity and workload across the business, avoiding overloading some team members while others are underused.
In depth: Centralized Resource Management: The What, Why, and How ➡️
Before businesses implement resource management processes, they may allocate people to projects in ad hoc ways. This isn’t ideal. Pet projects may get priority over more valuable ones. Or certain people may get habitually assigned more than others.
Having documented processes ensures transparent and equitable resource allocations that benefit the business.
It’s tempting to start resource planning using Excel or Google Sheets – they’re free and familiar – and 58% of firms use them. But they’re also a false economy. They take a long time to maintain and to extract information from. And they’re static, so the information you get is often out-of-date (maybe why only 10% of firms trust their resource management data).
Data latency and low confidence are bad news in a dynamic project landscape. Resource management software is designed to make the process faster and easier – everything you need to match people to projects, spot resource constraints before they derail schedules, and to confidently seize new business opportunities.
In depth: The Buyer’s Guide to Resource Management Software ➡️
If you’re ready for more productive teams and profitable projects, IT resource management is the answer.
It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Start small, keep it simple, and let resource management software do the heavy lifting.
Runn offers:
Explore Runn today to see how our platform and expert team can guide you from chaos to control – your people, projects, and profit margins will thank you.
