Chapter 8
Resource Considerations
Learning Objectives
• Learn how to take resource constraints into
account
• Determine the planned resource utilization for a
project
• Level the use of resources within the required time
frame
• Determine the shortest project schedule with
limited resources
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Real World Example
• Vignette: San Diego County moves toward e-government
• First year: replace 15-year old telephone system, old PCs, the
data network, and several key software applications. Implement
first ever countywide e-mail and voice mail systems.
• Second year: replace the outdated HR system and their old
financial system. Develop data warehousing capabilities.
• Third year: provide an internet delivery channel for all county
services, such as on-line permits and tax payments.
• A $644 million pact was approved, making this of of the most
aggressive outsourced contracts by a U.S. local government.
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Real World Example
• Vignette: Advice from an Expert – Barbara
Perrier-Dreyer
• After numerous successful projects and awards,
Barbara offers the following suggestions:
– Spend plenty of time on up-front design and
requirements
– Ask technical leads HOW they will build the product
– Make sure you can measure progress along the way
– Test. Test. Test.
– Give the team regular feedback
– Have some fun and say thank you – a lot!
Resource-Constrained Planning
• Nearly all projects have limits on available
resources.
• Project delays often occur due to certain resources
being unavailable.
• A network diagram can be drawn to reflect the
availability of a limited number of resources.
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Planned Resource Utilization
• It’s necessary to indicate the amounts and types of
resources needed to perform each activity.
• Resource utilization based on each activity’s
earliest start time are based on an as-soon-aspossible (ASAP) schedule.
• Resource utilization charts based on each
activity’s latest start time are based on an as-lateas-possible (ALAP) schedule.
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Resource Leveling
• Resource leveling, or smoothing, is a method for
developing a schedule that attempts to minimize
the fluctuations in requirements for resources.
• This method levels the resources so that they are
applied as uniformly as possible without extending
the project schedule beyond the required
completion time.
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Resource-Limited Scheduling
• Resource-limited scheduling is a method for
developing the shortest schedule when the number
or amount of available resources is fixed and
cannot be exceeded.
• This method will extend the project completion
time if necessary in order to keep within the
resource limits.
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Project Management Software
• Provides excellent features for handling resource
considerations within a project.
• Allows you to create and maintain a list of
resources.
• Resources can be assigned to various tasks within a
project.
• The user is informed if any resources have time
conflicts or if they are over-allocated.
• Numerous resource allocation reports can be
generated.
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