Optimize profit margins and utilization with proper resource allocation
Organizations do not have unlimited assets and as such, project managers need to deploy resources strategically and efficiently to ensure projects are delivered on time and on budget. Effective resource management is essential for organizations looking to optimize profit margins, improve billable utilization, retain top talent, and increase customer satisfaction. A professional services automation (PSA) solution delivered by Rand Group includes powerful resource allocation capabilities that can transform your operations.
Centralized and effective resource management
Managing resources for projects is a complex practice that can challenge even the most prepared project and resource managers. Picking the right resources to assign to a project involves a complex set of variables and circumstances that can change in an instant. For example, project managers need to consider resource skill sets, where resources are located, their interests and experience, hourly rates, and availability. Further, not assigning the proper resources can lead to over- or underutilizing employee time, which can burn out a workforce and reduce profits.
The right resource allocation solution from Rand Group will give you visibility into all aspects of your project resourcing needs. With centralized, up-to-date resource profiles project managers can ensure that the right resources are working on the right projects, build profitable project plans with actual resources, optimize resource utilization, and unlock insights into future capacity needs. By managing resources effectively, you can deliver successful projects and maximize profitability. Our team of software engineers and industry experts will implement the solution, tailor it to your business processes, integrate it with the rest of your technology stack including your ERP system, and train your users for long-term success.
Maximize your resource utilization
Optimize staffing and utilization by easily distributing workloads across your resources to minimize bench time and ensure optimal execution of project delivery needs. Understand demand, capacity, skills, and availability to identify the optimal resource mix through every stage of every project.
Streamline resource assignments
Easily create resource profiles and rate skills with proficiency models that adapt to your unique business needs. Use scheduling dashboards to proactively assign the right people to the right project based on requirements like skillsets, experience, and availability.
Anticipate future resourcing needs
Use capacity and demand planning to accurately forecast future staffing need to ensure optimal resource utilization, efficient project completion, smoother operations, and minimal labor burnout. Unlock complete visibility into resource scenarios and reduce spreadsheet use with interactive reports.
Customized skills tracking
In order for project managers to successfully allocate resources, they need to be able to search, track, and allocate them, to maximize billable efforts while minimizing operational and administrative tasks. With a PSA solution with project allocation capabilities delivered by Rand Group, project managers can easily adapt to increasingly complex skill sets and hierarchies to quickly identify the best candidate for the project by creating and managing resource profiles that identify critical skill sets that are most important to your organization. Once you identify relevant skills, you can rate these skills
With a PSA solution from Rand Group, you can track all kinds of skills and requirements such as:
- Functional skills such as technologies and products
- Qualifications and certifications
- Working hours and availability
- Work preferences and interests
- Travel restrictions
Powerful and robust reporting
A major reason companies overutilize resources is inadequate resource allocation due to managers lacking a clear understanding of how their project is performing. When organizations use only spreadsheets to manage projects, they are limited to a few data points to record what is happening at a given time. In-depth reporting included in advanced management solutions like PSA gives organizations greater visibility into how certain resources affect the project and helps staff work proactively instead of reactively.
When resource management is paired with robust reporting on metrics like allocated and assigned hours, it is easier to ensure that resources are not overbooked and projects are running as efficiently as possible. Reporting and built-in dashboards surface KPIs such as resource utilization, forecasting, and budgeting so you can quickly adapt to changing business conditions. From most-worked hours to allocated hours, assigned hours, and more, real-time and relevant data empowers project managers to make informed, data-driven decisions to keep projects on track and within budget.
Discover other business solutions offered by Rand Group
Rand Group offers numerous solutions to support your project management operations. Our industry experience combined with years of working with various business technologies positions us to deliver solutions that not only solve immediate business challenges but also provide stability and scalability.
Project Financials
Ensure accurate accounting and billing throughout the project lifecycle with a project financials solution. Seamlessly connect project activities with company financials to simplify billing and invoicing, improve project costing and accounting, and streamline revenue management.
Time & Expense Management
Increase billable hours and enhance employee productivity with a time and expense management solution. Streamline your time and expense processes and integrate your solution with your existing technology stack to ensure every hour worked is billed and every expense is realized.
SuiteProjects
From the moment a new opportunity is identified through project delivery, invoicing and revenue recognition, SuiteProjects is a single solution for services businesses to achieve project success.
Dynamics 365 Project Operations
Dynamics 365 Project Operations is an enhanced project management solution for project-centric businesses. This powerful tool connects the entire project cycle from sales to financials to optimize resources and drive project success.
Related Insights
Overcome financial management challenges and improve your cash flow
Overcome financial management challenges and improve cash flow with Dynamics 365 built by Microsoft and customized by Rand Group to meet the unique needs of your professional services firm. From flexible billing configurations and simplified invoicing to greater visibility into financial performance, you can unlock your organization’s full potential and maximize profitability.
Win more bids, improve deal management, and accelerate project delivery
Dynamics 365 can help your professional services firm deliver exceptional customer experiences that will accelerate sales and drive success across all your projects. With simplified pricing, estimates, quotes, forecasting, contract management, and project management tools, Dynamics 365 will ensure you win more deals and deliver on expected customer outcomes.
Maximize billable hours with Dynamics 365 Project Operations
Maximizing the number of billable hours per employee is critical to maintaining cash flow and increasing profits for professional services organizations. From intelligent resource scheduling to seamless time and expense tracking, Dynamics 365 Project Operations is a powerful tool that can be leveraged to maximize billable hours.
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