Resource plans are the key element in resource management.
Resource requesters, such as project managers, create
resource plans to ask for resources, track effort, and track costs. Resource managers
modify and approve resource plans before the plans are used.
All resource plans for a task appear on the Resource Plan related list
of the Project task form, where resource requesters can access them.
Figure 1. Resource plan on the Project form
Resource plans progress through several states.
Table 1. Resource plan states
State
Description
Planning
Planning is the default state when a resource requester creates a resource plan. Any plan
in this state can be edited. Requested Allocations are
created when a resource plan is in Planning state.
When a resource requester asks for a change to a plan that was already submitted, the
plan reverts to the Planning state.
Requested
Resource requester submits a resource plan for resource managers review by clicking
Submit . The resource plan then moves into the Requested state.
Resource managers confirm and allocate resources or reject the plan, and finally close the
plan. The resource requester can request a group, specific users in a group, or a
specific user to work on the selected task. After you submit the plan for review, a
resource manager can confirm, and then allocate some or all the requested users.
If
the task requires more than one user or groups, multiple resource plans can be created for
the given task.
Rejected
Resource manager can reject a resource plan by clicking Reject .
The resource plan then moves into the Rejected state. Rejected plans stay in that state
until changes are made and the requester can re-request the resources.
Confirmed
After the plan is requested, the resource manager can block/confirm the resources for
future projects and demands. The resource plan then moves into the Confirmed state. Only a
resource manager can modify the plans in Confirmed state.
Soft allocations are created when the resource plan moves to the Confirmed state.
Allocated
After the plan is confirmed, the resource manager can review the plans, view
availability, change resource preferences and perform the resource allocation. The resource
plan moves into the Allocated state. A resource manager can only cancel, complete, or
modify it.
Soft allocations are converted to hard allocations when the resource plan moves to the
Allocated state.
Note: You can also set a plan to the Allocated state directly from the Requested state using
Confirm and Allocate option.
Completed
After all associated tasks and projects are complete or canceled, an Allocated
resource plan can be completed. This deletes all the resource allocations for the resource
plan post the completion date.
Canceled
A plan can be canceled if the allocations are no longer required. This removes all
past and future allocations. A canceled resource plan can be brought back to the Planning
state if it has no past allocations.Resource plans in Planning, Requested, Confirmed, or
Allocated state can be canceled.
Figure 2. States in Resource Management
Note: When a resource requester wants to change a plan that was already submitted for review (in
Requested or Confirmed state but not yet allocated), the requester can
request a
change . The plan then moves back to the Planning state.
Resource Management supports time zones, which are important in the My Calendar and Resource
Workbench modules.
Modifications in Confirmed or Allocated state
Only a resource manager can modify a resource plan in the Confirmed or Allocated state.
The effects of modification in header area on a resource plan form in Confirmed state
are:
All soft allocations are deleted.
Requested allocations are re-created with changed values.
Resource plan moves back to the Requested state.
The effects of modification in header area on a resource plan form in Allocated state
are:
All resource allocations (soft and hard) are deleted.
Requested allocations are re-created with changed values.
Resource plan moves back to the Requested state.
The resource manager can also modify or delete the past dated resource allocations for
Allocated resource plans if no actual hours are recorded for those resource allocation records.
When a user submits a time card, upon approval of the time card, actual hours are updated for an
allocation record.
Note: The resource plan does not move back to the Requested state if the changes are made to
allocation records only.
Request type
You can request a resource plan using one of the following options:
Hourly : The request is in terms of the number of hours the resources are
necessary.FTE : The request is in terms of an equivalent value that represents full-time work.
When the request type is FTE, planned hours are calculated as: Average Daily FTE *
number of working days in resource plan * the FTE value. The average daily FTE hours
are specified in User and Group records. If there is no value specified at User or Group
record, the average daily FTE hours is taken from the Default Average Daily FTE
property. The number of working days is calculated based on the users schedule for a user
resource or the default schedule for group resources. The default schedule is taken from the
Default Schedule Name property.
For example, say that the average daily FTE for a group
is 40 hours, the resource plan period is from September 1 to September 10, and the FTE is
0.5.
Assuming 8 working days during the plan period, planned hours = 40 * 8 *
0.5 =160 hours.
Note: Capacity is not derived from FTE, but from schedules.
Both FTE and schedules must be in synchronization with each other.
Person days : The request is in terms of person days. When the request type is person
days, planned hours are calculated as: Total number of person days * Average Daily FTE
Hours/Hours Per Person Day. For example, say the Average Daily FTE Hours/Hours
Per Person Day for a group is 8 hours, and the person days is 3. Then, planned hours =
8 * 3 = 24 hours.
Resource plan costs
Resource plan costs can be tracked directly in the resource plan record. Resource plan costs are divided into planned, allocated, and
actual.
If the Rate override option in a resource plan is selected, the hourly
rate for calculating the corresponding resource plan cost is derived from the rate specified in
the Resource rate field.
If a rate
model is associated to the project or demand, the hourly rate is derived from the rate
model. Whenever the hourly rates in the associated rate model change, you must recalculate the
resource costs of the resource plan to reflect the new rates.
If rate model is not available, the hourly rate for calculating the corresponding resource
plan cost is derived from labor rate card.
Projects and Demands can have multiple resource plans. The aggregated costs for all resources
plans roll up to the Planned Cost and Allocated
Cost fields and the Resource Cost section of both projects
and demands.
