Tech

5 Ways Resource Forecasting Helps in Successful Project Delivery

Published

2 years ago

December 17, 2022

Freelancer

5 Ways Resource Forecasting Helps in Successful Project Delivery

Do you often find it challenging to mitigate skill shortages?

Are you frequently resorting to last-minute hiring and increasing the project’s cost?

Are you unable to optimize the productive utilization of your workforce?

To overcome the above challenges, managers need precise estimation and accurate insights into resource data instead of approximation and guesswork. This is where resource forecasting comes into the picture.

Resource forecasting enables organizations to identify and bridge skill gaps effectively and ensures that best-fit resources are available for the right projects at the right time.

This also helps managers to utilize their resources optimally and secure the project’s fate by completing them on time and within budget.

Thus, resource forecasting helps business stay forewarned and make timely decisions to ensure profitability and sustainability.

This blog discusses the significance of resource forecasting and how Saviom’s resource management solution helps implement the same.Let’s get started:

1. Factors that influence resource forecasting in project management

Resource forecasting involves predicting various resource metrics for a specific period, such as supply, demand, project financials, vacancy, etc., in advance.

Some of the factors that influence resource forecasting are-

Complexity of matrix structure

A matrix organization allows the re-deployment of resources into different projects between multiple departments.

However, since many organizations still use silos of spreadsheets, it may lead to inaccurate estimation of resource requirements.

Therefore, the complexity of the matrix structure must be considered while forecasting.

Resourcing strategy and market conditions

Organizations leverage contingent resources for short-term assignments and full-time employees for critical roles or long-term projects.

However, since the quality of these contingent resources cannot be guaranteed, it can affect the project quality.

In addition, if a permanent employee is hired from a low-cost location, there is a high chance that they might leave the organization for better prospects.

Therefore, skill requirements and attrition rates must be factored in during resource forecasting.

Technological development

Technological advancements have led to the emergence of new skills like IoT, AI, etc.

In addition, numerous traditional skills have become obsolete; therefore, it is crucial to forecast both future and current resource demands.

Furthermore, this enables the existing workforce to update their skills and stay relevant. Thus, it’s necessary to analyze future projects’ skill demands as a part of the forecasting process.

Client Requirements

Often, the client/customers’ requirements may change due to multiple reasons such as market conditions, budget limitations, climatic conditions or a global pandemic such as COVID-19.

Thus, it is vital to have an agile resource forecasting process to cater to dynamic needs.

Now that we know the factors let’s understand the benefits of forecasting in project management.

2. Significance of resource forecasting in project delivery

Resource forecasting plays a vital role in successfully completing a project.

Here’s how –

1. Reduces resourcing costs in firms

Resource forecasting enables managers to foresee project demands and assign the right resources to projects in advance.

In addition, it also helps identify and allocate cost-effective resources from low-cost locations to reduce unnecessary resource costs without compromising quality.

Furthermore, resource forecasting prevents the allocation of under/over-skilled resources to projects, eliminating the risks of budget overruns.

The forecasting techniques also enable managers to replace an expensive senior resource with a skilled junior counterpart.

Thus, forecasting helps create the right resource mix that suits the budget and minimizes unnecessary cost escalations.

2. Provides foresight into pipeline project demands

When resource managers don’t get sufficient lead time to identify best-fit resources, it leads to last-minute firefighting and hiring high-cost employees.

Thus, they need to gain foresight into pipeline projects in advance and analyze the capacity vs demand gaps.

Resource forecasting allows managers to identify excess or shortage of resources and implement measures to bridge the gaps.

If there is an excess of resources, managers can bring forward project timelines, sell additional capacity, etc.

Alternatively, a shortfall of resources can be mitigated by bringing in employees from other departments, implementing training and upskilling, conducting planned hiring, etc.

Thus, forecasting helps bridge skill gaps and reduce last-minute hiring hassles.

3. Maximizes billable utilization of resources

One of the primary responsibilities of resource managers is to ensure the optimal utilization of resources in the firm.

Therefore, they need accurate insights into resource utilization rates to prevent under/overutilization.

Forecasting gives a complete picture of a resource’s billable and non-billable work activities.

Since non-billable work does not produce revenue, managers can improve billability by mobilizing the workforce from non-billable to billable and strategic tasks.

It also helps optimize the workloads through resource leveling and smoothing and eliminates the under/overallocation of resources.

This helps maintain the resource health index, enhance productivity and deliver the project on time.

4. Helps track and monitor project financials

Resource forecasting provides information about financial indicators such as cost, revenue, overheads, and profitability. It helps eliminate budget overruns by keeping the project on track.

Furthermore, managers can track and compare the estimated budget with the actual expenditures during the project lifecycle.

If there is any variance, the project manager can implement remedial measures to control costs.

In addition, project financial forecasts help improve future estimations of similar projects and align them with actual expenditures.

5. Facilitates effective bench management

When a project experiences a sudden ramp-down, resources end up on the bench. This affects their productivity and performance and can negatively impact profitability.

Resource forecasting will provide foresight into when resources are rolled off from projects, and managers can implement measures to reduce the bench size.

For instance, managers can allocate these resources to appropriate billable or strategic work before hitting the bench.

Moreover, if the resource’s skills do not align with the pipeline project requirements, they can streamline training and shadowing opportunities. This keeps them engaged and diversifies their skill sets for future projects.

Now that we know the importance let’s understand how a futuristic tool will help.

3. How can a futuristic resource management tool help?

Saviom’s advanced resource management software helps managers, accurate forecasting employees.

Here’s how-

The tool provides 360-degree visibility across the enterprise, enabling managers to view the resource profiles, including their skill sets, competencies, cost rate, etc. This allows them to identify suitable resources aligned with the project’s skill requirements and cost rate.
Further, the tool’s forecasting capabilities and capacity-vs-demand report help foresee the skill gaps by leveraging appropriate internal and external channels. Thus, it reduces the last-minute firefighting and high-cost resourcing hassle.
The people-on-the-bench and project vacancy report also help predict when a resource will end up on the bench, and thereby managers can schedule them for future projects in advance and reduce the bench time of resources between projects.
Moreover, managers can leverage the modeling and simulation functionality of the tool. It helps analyze various scenarios and compare outcomes by changing multiple metrics such as availability, cost rate, etc. This allows them to arrive at the most viable outcome and apply it to the actual resource plan.

4. The Bottom Line

Resource forecasting lets managers plan for future demands by considering all the probabilities and outcomes.

As a result, it plays a crucial role in an organization’s decision-making process.

Furthermore, by leveraging the right resource management tool, managers can create customized forecasts for successful project execution, enhancing profitability.

So, are you ready to take the necessary steps and reap these benefits?

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Tech

US: A Judge Mandates that Google Allow Competing App Stores to Access Android

Published

3 months ago

October 8, 2024

Salman

(VOR News) – The ruling is that Google, the greatest technology firm in the world, is required to make its Android smartphone operating system available to merchants that supply applications that are in direct rivalry with Google’s. This decision was reached by a judge in the United States of America.

The Android Play store, which is owned and operated by Google, was found to be an example of an illegal monopoly arrangement by a jury in the state of California on Monday. The finding was reached by a jury. Monday is the day that this decision was come to.

An earlier federal judge ruled Google’s search engine illegal.

This finding, which came after that decision, has forced the company to suffer yet another setback. As a result of the corporation having already encountered its initial obstacle, this decision has been established. This particular decision was made by the judge during the month of August, when the month was in progress.

In light of the fact that the decision was made, what exactly does it mean that the choice was accepted?

In accordance with the verdict, Google is obligated to make it possible for users to download Android app stores that are offered by third-party competitors. For a period of three years, the corporation is prohibited from imposing restrictions on the usage of payment mechanisms that are integrated into the application.

In addition, it is important to keep in mind that Google does not possess the right to impose restrictions on the utilization of ways to make payments online.

Additionally, the verdict makes it unlawful for Google to give money to manufacturers of smartphones in order to preinstall its app store. Smartphone manufacturers are prohibited from doing so.

Furthermore, it prevents Google from the possibility of sharing the revenue that is generated by the Play store with other companies that are in the industry of delivering mobile applications.

In addition to this, the court has mandated the establishment of a technical committee that will be made up of three different people chosen at random.

The committee will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the reforms and finding solutions to any disagreements that may occur as a consequence of the implementation of the reforms while they are being implemented. This task will fall under the committee’s purview so that it may fulfill its duties.

However, certain components were allowed to be put into action until July 1st, despite the fact that the judge’s statement suggested that the ruling would take effect on November 1st. The statement was the basis for the ruling, which ultimately became effective.

Particularly, I wanted to know what Google’s reaction would be.

There is a fact that Google does not adhere to this directive, which has been brought to their attention. This document argued that the alterations that the judge had ordered to be made would “cause a range of unintended consequences that will harm American consumers, developers, and device makers.”

The judge had ordered the modifications to be implemented. The alterations were to be carried out as indicated by the judge’s ruling. The judge made it clear that he expected these revisions to be carried out in accordance with his guidance.

The company’s regulatory affairs vice president, Lee-Anne Mulholland, provided the following statement: “We look forward to continuing to make our case on appeal, and we will continue to advocate for what is best for developers, device manufacturers, and the billions of Android users around the world.”

On average, over seventy percent of the total market for smartphones and other mobile devices is comprised of mobile devices that are powered by the Android operating system. Both smartphones and other small mobile devices are included in this category.

In the event that the Play app store continues to be shown on the home page and that other Google applications are pre-installed prior to the installation of the Android application, smartphone manufacturers are entitled to install the Android application at no cost at their discretion.

Additionally, the Android application can be installed on devices that are manufactured for smartphones.

SOURCE: DWN

Tech

WhatsApp Now Features a “Mention” Tool for Status Updates and Stories.

Published

3 months ago

October 6, 2024

Salman

(VOR News) – Those who use WhatsApp now have the ability to mention other people in their stories or status updates as a consequence of a feature that was only recently enabled on the platform.

Previous to this point, this capability was not available. It wasn’t until quite recently that this capability became available to the public.

According to the information that was provided by the company, users now have the opportunity to tag close friends in their stories, and the person who is mentioned will have the option to go back and re-share an earlier version of that story. This information was provided by the company. The corporation was kind enough to reveal this information to us.

Because of a new feature that has been added to the WhatsApp app, users now have the opportunity to like individual stories and status updates.

This capability was previously unavailable to WhatsApp users.

A significant amount of progress has been made in this context. Alternative readers now have the chance to “like” a work, which is comparable to liking a post on Facebook. This feature was introduced in recent years. When compared to the past, this is a tremendous shift.

At one point in time, viewers were only permitted to observe the total number of views that a particular story had gotten. These restrictions were eliminated in later versions of the software.

Additionally, it is essential that the likes and reactions to a story be kept anonymous during the entire process. One of the factors that contributes to the general mystery that surrounds this characteristic is the fact that this is one of the elements.

The person who brought it to the attention of others is the only person who will be able to judge who enjoyed it and who did not care about it. These individuals will be able to make this determination.

A notification will be issued to the individual who was referenced earlier in the sentence and who was named in the story or status update that was discussed. A notification of this nature will be sent to the individual via WhatsApp.

This message will be sent to the user in question whenever that person makes a reference to another person while they are in the process of elaborating on a narrative or updating their status. You will receive a notification alerting you that you have been tagged in the narrative.

This notification will be delivered to the person who receives this message. In addition, students will be provided with the opportunity to re-share the tale for themselves.

It is important to note that if the names of individuals who have been referenced in a narrative or a status update are included in any of these, then the names of those individuals will not be accessible to any third party through any of these. In light of the fact that the identities of those individuals will be concealed from public disclosure, this is the condition that will be required.

While WhatsApp recently made the announcement that it will be incorporating this functionality, it is highly likely that not all users will have access to it at the same time.

This is despite the fact that WhatsApp recently made this announcement.

Despite the fact that WhatsApp has only recently made a public announcement that it will move forward with the deployment, this is the situation that has presented itself.

As soon as a short period of time has elapsed, access will be made available to each and every person on the entire world.

Additionally, WhatsApp has hinted that new functionalities might be introduced to the status and updates tab in the future months.

The purpose of these capabilities is to provide users with assistance in maintaining healthy connections with the individuals who play a vital role in their living experiences. This is done in order to give users with support in maintaining close relationships with the folks who are the subject of the inquiry.

It is with the purpose of supporting users in successfully keeping close ties with the individuals in question that this step is taken.

SOURCE: DN

Tech

Over The Planned “Link Tax” Bill, Google Threatens to Remove NZ News Links.

Published

3 months ago

October 4, 2024

Salman

(VOR News) – Google has sent a strong message to the New Zealand government, threatening to stop boosting local news content should the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill become law.

The law, put up by the Labour government and backed by the coalition in power at the moment, mandates that digital companies such as Google pay back news organizations for links to their material.

News publishers, on the other hand, charge the tech giant with “corporate bullying.”

Google says this measure may have unanticipated effects.

Google New Zealand’s country director, Caroline Rainsford, voiced her worries that the law, which is being referred to as a “link tax,” is not doing enough to support the media industry in New Zealand right now.

She underlined that Google would have to make major adjustments if the previously mentioned law were to pass, including cutting off links to news articles from its Search, News, and Discover platforms and cutting off financial ties with regional publications.

According to Rainsford, similar legislation has been proposed and approved in other nations including Australia and Canada, but it has not been proven to be effective there and breaches the principles of the open web.

She drew attention to the fact that smaller media outlets will be most negatively impacted, which will limit their capacity to reach prospective audiences.

Google says its alternative options will protect smaller, local media from negative effects.

Conversely, it conveys apprehension regarding the possible fiscal obligations and vagueness of the legislation, which it feels generates an intolerable level of ambiguity for enterprises functioning within New Zealand.

The New Zealand News Publishers Association (NPA) has reacted to Google’s warnings by alleging that the internet behemoth is using coercive tactics.

They specifically contend that the need for regulation stems from the market distortion that Google and other tech giants have created, which has fueled their expansion into some of the most significant corporations in global history.

The legislation aims to create a more equal framework that media businesses can use to negotiate commercial relationships with technological platforms that profit from their content.

New Zealand Media Editors CEO Michael Boggs stated that he was in favor of the bill, citing the fact that Google now makes a substantial profit from material created by regional publications.

He also emphasized that the use of artificial intelligence by Google—which frequently makes references to news articles without giving credit to the original sources—highlights the significance of enacting legislation.

Paul Goldsmith, the Minister of Media and Communications, has stated that the government is now evaluating various viewpoints and is still in the consultation phase.

He stated that the government and Google have been having continuous talks and will keep up these ongoing discussions.

However, not all political parties accept the validity of the Act.

The ACT Party’s leader, David Seymour, has voiced his displeasure of the proposal, saying that Google is a game the government is “playing chicken” with. He threatened the smaller media companies, saying that they would suffer from worse search engine rankings if the internet giant followed through on its promises.

Seymour contended that it is not the government’s responsibility to shield companies from shifts in the market brought about by consumer preferences.

The things that have happened in other nations are similar to what has happened in New Zealand.

Google has agreements with a number of Australian media firms that are in compliance with its News Media Bargaining Code. These agreements contain provisions that permit an annual cancellation of these agreements.

Due to the government’s decision to exempt Google from the Online News Act, the company has committed to supporting news dissemination by contributing annually to the Canadian journalistic community.

The New Zealand measure is consistent with global approaches aimed at regulating the relationships that exist between technology corporations and media organizations.

It’s hard to say what will happen with the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill as the discussion goes on. Google and the New Zealand media landscape are preparing for what might be a protracted legal battle.

SOURCE: TET