This post is from my Helium article on Billing and Resourcing hassles in IT Projects.
Sometimes,I used to wonder as to why Projects in IT companies face a situation where two employees are doing the work equivalent to that of four for the company's client.This was the case even when that company had many people on "Bench".The term "Bench" is used for those employees who are employed by the company, yet not working for any Client or "Account".
Why is it so . Here is what I found out after discussing with some of my colleagues and some seniors :
1) The company says to the client : we would have 4 people billing for this Project A , 5 for Project B , 10 for Project C . 2) The client approves this . 3) A situation arises wherein some extra work comes in for Project A . However,Project C has 10 people,yet not that much work . Logically,one can just pick some people from Project C and put them on Project A .
However,they would first need to be trained by the existing people on Project A and then assigned to tasks . In order to accomplish this ,a full cycle of "Knowledge Transfer " exercise needs to be done. Naturally,the Company would want extra payment from the client for such an exercise as it requires technological as well as manpower costs.
However,the clients are normally hesitant to do so because of cost and budget constraints . The ongoing economic recession has added to the stress of the various clients-especially those in Real Estate,Banking,Finance and Insurance sectors. So,they refuse to provide extra funding to the company which is doing their work .
The end result is something which is not good for anyone,yet worst for the Employees . Now, those 4 employees working on Project A have to put in extra efforts,extra hours and their health too can suffer.
This might impact : 1) Quality of the work: a big loss for the client and the company, in terms of productivity loss. 2) Some extra leaves by Employees at the end of the Project: bad for the company. 3) Worse quality of life: Very very bad for the employees.
What could be the way out? I believe that the Company must be a bit flexible and should plan for resources and billing accordingly .The Company may keep some people trained on various Software Tools,Applications and Processes. These resources from a common pool may be inducted into Project work when required.
With Recession,this has been more difficult. Companies are not willing to invest in their Bench or Reserve Pool development. Still,the initial costs would be offset to a great extent by the benefits of the additional competency,skills and benefits that the common resource pool would bring in .
This way the billing Model in IT Projects would be enhanced to maximize Company's profits and growth.Also,this would take care of the billing and resourcing burden in long run as a result of a better policy for doing so .
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