6 Important Resources Needed in Software Development Projects
Most businesses these days are investing more in managing the resources needed in software development projects in today’s environment. Companies are under increasing pressure to deliver innovative, technologically advanced products and services while operating on limited resources. As a result, resources must be fully utilized and prioritized at all times.
Given this situation, project managers need to strictly focus on resource allocation. Studies have shown that most projects fail due to resource dependencies and insufficient resource forecasting The good news is that you can avoid such problems by properly managing your resources. As a result, the productivity of your project will increase.
What are the types of resources in software project management?
Enlisted below are types of resources in software project management management that businesses must know.
Human Resources
Whether you are an organization building your product with in-house software development team or with an offshore software development company, people are the most valuable resource in your project and company. It is the driving force that completes tasks that move the project forward. To move the software project forward smoothly, the development team structure and development roles must be clearly defined and must have sufficient knowledge, skills and expertise to make sound decisions and complete their task effectively.
Examples of human resources in technology space
- Outsourced teams
- Project teams
- Team leads
- Project managers
- Individual team members
- Developers
- Analysts
- Freelancers
Financial Resources
Financial resources are an important component of your project. You won’t be able to finance human resources, purchase material resources, or manage other project costs if you don’t have them. Typically, financial resources are planned and documented early in the project development process in order to allocate and include them in the project costs that must be approved by clients.
Examples of financial resources
- Contingency funds
- Project grants
- Project budget
Material Resources
Material resources are those that the company already has and can buy or lease if necessary. Material management entails the planning, execution, direction, coordination, monitoring, and control of all processes associated with project materials. Its primary goal is to obtain the appropriate materials in the appropriate quantities at the appropriate time.
Examples of Material resources
- Property
- Personal computers
- Industry software
- Desks
Tools Resources
Tools, like materials, are tangible resources that you use to complete the project. Tools, unlike materials, are not depleted over the course of the project. Tools are software or applications that are required to build or manage projects.
Examples of Tools resources
- ERP
- Customer relationship management software
- Accounting software
- Task management software
Time Resources
Time is the most important factor in software development resource planning, which is used to schedule project activities, milestones, and deadlines, as well as measure employee productivity and project costs. Managers set estimates for tasks and project phases to build accurate project schedules and use them to calculate estimated project costs that require client approval when planning a project.
Tech stacks may sometime play a critical role in project and resource plans. Eg. a project in .NET by a .NET development company for back-end might take different timeline than when built using Java by a Java development agency. Similarly, a cross platform app may take different timeline than a native app!
Examples of Time resources
- Time invested
- Project schedule
- Project plan
Emotional Resources
Work can be emotionally draining at times. Even if they are frustrated, salespeople must express positive emotions to customers. Managers must motivate their employees during difficult times. Project demands accumulate over time and lead to burnout and fatigue.
Examples of Emotional resources
- Project Management books and podcast
- Emotional Intelligence books and podcasts
How to manage resources in software projects?
Estimate the necessary resources
Estimate resource needs as precisely as possible using the resource typology described above. To do so, you will identify all of the project’s resources, whether internal or external, in terms of human, material and financial resources. When building a project, that’s the first thing a software agency or project team does i.e. evaluating resource requirements and plan things accordingly.
Best practice: Determine which resources are in short supply and concentrate on them.
Often, you can apply the 80/20 rule, which states that 80% of the effects (or resource constraints) are caused by 20% of the resources. These are the people who are in high demand for the job.
Create a resource plan
The software development resource planning graphically represents the organization and your resource needs, for software developers, project managers, or financial, over a given time period.
Best practice: Determine a method for prioritizing work across shared resources.
Rather than falling victim to the “squeaky wheel” problem, create an agreed-upon scoring/evaluation process in advance to help facilitate objective decision-making.
Track resources
You should use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to assess a situation and make the necessary decisions.
On several levels, use these KPIs to compare the “expected” and “achieved” tasks:
- Human resources: how productive are they?
- Material resources: how readily available or capable is such equipment?
- What are my project’s current financial resources? Is it within the budget that has been set aside?
Best practice: Use assignment types that are appropriate for your company’s requirements.
When long-term planning or when the specific resource is unknown, use unnamed, role-based resources.
Manage the unexpected and anticipated risks
There are ups and downs to project management which needs to be tracked and maintained in a separate Project Management tool. Constraints and risks can both have an impact on the project’s smooth operation. As a result, it is strongly advised that you plan for all possibilities:
- What should you do if your machine breaks down?
- What should you do if an employee quits the project?
- What should you do if one of your suppliers declares bankruptcy?
- How should a possible water leak in the user premises be handled?
Best practice: Recognize that resource management is a continuous process.
Recognize that conflicts are unavoidable because unexpected events and changes occur more frequently than we would like.
Conclusion
What are the resources required for a software project? All you need is skilled expertise, capital to fund the project, materials to complete it, and other crucial ones. In software development resource management, you must first understand the scope of the project. Project objectives, duration, deliverables, and expectations are all part of this.
If you don’t have visibility and the right tools to keep track of resources and direct them to the most valuable work, you and other leaders will most likely fail to complete projects and deliver products that provide competitive advantages, thereby missing out on potential benefits.
With the right resources and expertise in place, you enable your organization to ensure it has the right people and funding to complete projects. You can ensure that resources are consistently allocated to those strategically aligned programs that deliver value to the organization and its customers if you have complete transparency and insight into resources.
FAQs
1. What are project resources?
Project resources are simply the resources needed for the successful development and completion of a project. These resources include finance, people, materials, infrastructure and tools, as well as emotional resources such as appreciation and encouragement.
2. What is the significance of resource management?
Resource management entails more than just allocating resources to projects. It is critical in setting project expectations, improving project flow, and increasing project profitability and success.
3. What is the main advantage of resource management?
Resource management assists organizations in optimizing people by providing insight into their workloads, availability, project time requirements, skills, and more.
