Viewing Resource Utilization
This article outlines how to view and manage resource utilization in ResourceFirst using the Utilization tab.
Viewing Utilization
The Utilization page, found by clicking the Utilization tab in the Resource area, is a read-only summary of the utilization of each resource by period (for the resource/project nodes specified in your main Get Data Filter). Utilization is expressed as the percentage of that resource’s overall demand, compared to the capacity for the resource.
The color thresholds are set by the administrator for all users.
Red indicates over-utilized.
Dark blue indicates under-utilized.
No color for an interval indicates utilization is within adequate threshold.- & A white ampersand Indicates no demand or capacity for that period
A gold number sign (#) indicates demand is greater than zero but capacity is zero (demand # [not equal] zero).
To find your organization’s business rules that drive the Utilization highlight colors, click on the “i” icon on the far right side of the grey ribbon. In this example, when a resource’s utilization is:
- below 70% then highlight blue.
- between 70% – 101% then don’t highlight – keep white.
- greater than 101% then highlight red.
- When there is demand for a resource but that resource has no capacity, i.e., is no longer with the company, then highlight orange.
- When there is no demand nor capacity, i.e., the resource is no longer with the company or is on leave, then show white with an “&” symbol.
Note: The configurations for these business rules can be updated by your ResourceFirst Admin.
Also note in the image below on the upper right controls to the left of the “i” icon, you have the ability to (from left to right):
- Clear filters (the small funnel icon)
- Recalculate (the calculator icon)
- Select alternate views (views can be created via Administration–>Views.)
- Edit Views to create your own custom view)
- Export the current view
Selecting Data Type
In the upper left dropdown, you can select among multiple data types to view. Te default is % Utilization, but if you wish you can choose to view demand, capacity, or variance by user, as depicted in the dropdown selector below:
Additional Control Options
There are additional control options available on the upper right tray, pictured below (with the date range dropdown dialog active).
From left to right,
- The leftmost icon is the Calculate Allocations button, which will reload the page with the latest allocations.
- The Date Range icon brings up the dialog below, which allows you to select the start date, period type, number of periods, and whether you’d like the data to appear in hours or the default, FTEs. Once you enter your data rage info, click the Reload Data Button.
- The Export icon allows you to export the utilization to a spreadsheet.
- The rightmost icon is the Legend, which shows you the various color indicators and their thresholds.
Click on a Resource Name to View Forecast
Notice in the image below, resource Terry Khan is overbooked for the first three months. By clicking on the resource name hyperlink (ref Resource column in the screenshot below) from the Utilization page, the resource’s Forecast page will be opened, filtered to only show that Resource’s assignments. In this sense, we can see what demand is causing Terry’s situation.
Upon clicking the resource hyperlink for Terry Khan, you’ll be presented with the resource’s Forecast page as depicted below. It is clear to see that Terry is booked on two projects. The first one was allocated first because it has a higher priority (see the Unit Priority column).
Group by Role or Primary Skill
By selecting the dropdown arrow next to a field (such as Role or Primary Skill, depending on how you’ve named the field), you’ll be presented with the dropdown depicted below. Selecting “Group by this field” will allow you to view Utilization grouped by role.
Below is what the Utilization page looks like when grouped by role, with a total for each role: (note: to remove the grouped display, go to the same dropdown dialog for the field and uncheck “Show in Groups”).
Utilization and User Rights
Note that the Utilization page shows resource utilization for resources that are in your selected resource nodes, and with demand for projects that are in your selected project nodes. So, if you are a department/resource manager that wants to see full utilization for your staff, in your global Get Data filter, select the resource node that includes your staff, and select all project nodes that they may be working on (or all project nodes in general to be safe). It is a good practice to for department/resource managers to have at least “read-only” rights to all project nodes for this reason.
