question on resource optimization

[xrbbaker]

Good day,

I am working with a firm looking to improve their strategic portfolio
planning - and proper expectation setting. They may have 50 projects that
they would like to achieve. All things being equal they can prioritize based
on business needs. The problem is booking resources to the projects and the
impact of scarce resources on the priority list.

At it's most bsic level, we would like to know if we prioritize projects,
how many of them do we have resources to staff? From there we would like to
be able to play what if...

* If we forget about priority what are the most projects we could complete?
* What would the impact be if we delayed project X,Y, and Z until 4th
quarter?
* What is the most scarce resource across all projects?
* What would the impact be if we hired 4 C++ programmers in June?

I see that MS Enterprise PM Solution literature states that is supports:
Resource Optimization and Resource Planning. It also supports "What-if
scenarios. ... model the impact of changes to schedules and rsource
assignments across your portfolio so that you can prioritize work
effectively."

I can build some cool spreadsheets but I can't do resource optimization
across 50 projects, by resource skill. What are the capabilities of this
tool in helping develop optimal staffing solutions? I've searched the net
and don't see a tool that seems directed at this need.

Thanks much - Russ

 

[John]

Good day,

I am working with a firm looking to improve their strategic portfolio
planning - and proper expectation setting. They may have 50 projects that
they would like to achieve. All things being equal they can prioritize based
on business needs. The problem is booking resources to the projects and the
impact of scarce resources on the priority list.

At it's most bsic level, we would like to know if we prioritize projects,
how many of them do we have resources to staff? From there we would like to
be able to play what if...

* If we forget about priority what are the most projects we could complete?
* What would the impact be if we delayed project X,Y, and Z until 4th
quarter?
* What is the most scarce resource across all projects?
* What would the impact be if we hired 4 C++ programmers in June?

I see that MS Enterprise PM Solution literature states that is supports:
Resource Optimization and Resource Planning. It also supports "What-if
scenarios. ... model the impact of changes to schedules and rsource
assignments across your portfolio so that you can prioritize work
effectively."

I can build some cool spreadsheets but I can't do resource optimization
across 50 projects, by resource skill. What are the capabilities of this
tool in helping develop optimal staffing solutions? I've searched the net
and don't see a tool that seems directed at this need.

Thanks much - Russ

xrbbaker,
MS Enterprise PM solutions are only available for Project Server, not
for the standalone version of Project which is the focus of this
newsgroup. I suggest you post to our sister newsgroup,
microsoft.public.project.server.

John
Project MVP

 

[xrbbaker]

Thanks John. Will do. Sorry for the mis-post.

xrbbaker,
MS Enterprise PM solutions are only available for Project Server, not
for the standalone version of Project which is the focus of this
newsgroup. I suggest you post to our sister newsgroup,
microsoft.public.project.server.

John
Project MVP

 

[John]

Thanks John. Will do. Sorry for the mis-post.

xrbbaker,
No problem. We tend to get more and more questions about Project Server
in this newsgroup.

John