How to improve your IT. Part 18 - Technical Resource Management

The Best practice IT Standard is:

The best practice standard is a resource management approach that uses minimal technical and applications resources. This means that available resources require skillsets and knowledge to be able to service production support and projects needs at the same time.

Projects and production support are equally important. One keeps the production environment running, the other fosters business growth, preferably they should not be traded off against each other.

Problem

Projects to meet their deadlines require dedicated resourcing with specific skillsets and knowledge.
Production support to resolve production issues requires resources with specific skillsets and knowledge.
Required skillsets and knowledge are usually in short supply.
A resource conflict occurs when production support and projects need the same resource at the same time. Production support takes precedence which causes project schedule slippage.

The question is how to resolve the resource conflict

Options

Have technical and applications resource pools large enough to support both activities at the same time. (This is costly, wasteful and project needs are not constant).
Backfill production support or project needs with contractors. (This is Inefficient and costly).
Schedule resources part-time on projects hoping to satisfy both activities needs. (Does not solve the resource conflict issue and production support wins).
Do forward resource planning and bring in and train contractors to work on projects. (Projects usually require specific systems and applications skills and knowledge that contractors may not have).

Best practice options

Review the Projects Master Plan for the next 12 months and employ entry level or inexperienced resources to supplement the more knowledgeable production support staff.
Train entry level staff on as many production support activities as possible.
Reduce, remove, automate as many as possible, manual production support activities including the use of scripts.
Resolve all production support recurring problems.
Introduce a Rule of ‘fix problem once’.
Train more production support staff on supported systems and applications.

Performance Assessment

How are resource conflicts resolved?
Are skilled resources dedicated to projects?
If you have a staffing shortfall what is its nature and where is it?
How many contractors do you currently have?
What is the longest period a contractor has been on board?
In which areas are you using contractors?
Are contractors asked to document their work thoroughly and is this enforced?

Sample Task list

Bring in more entry level staff.
Backfill and reduce reliance on contractors.
Review staffing needs by team.
Have contractors document their work and enforce it.
Have contractors’ mentor and train staff and enforce it.
Determine further works required and scope out.
Breakdown the scope of works to task level, ready for loading into the change management project schedule.