IT Demand Management Case Study

 

Summary:

Our client, being one of the leading international Telecommunications service providers, has faced significant challenges in managing demand requests and optimizing resource allocation across its IT and development teams.

Business units like Marketing, Sales, CRM, and ERP regularly submitted demand requests to IT and development teams, which were primarily outsourced consultants. However, these demands were not systematically organized, leading to inefficiencies, resource conflicts, and limited visibility.

To address these issues, our client approached us to implement a smart project management solution. QPunch was implemented which resulted in automating the entire demand management process, integrating with existing tools like Jira, and provided real-time insights into resource utilization. Eventually, this enabled the ability to streamline workflows, enhance collaboration, and ensure better alignment between demand, teams, and resource utilization. This case study covers below key challenges faced by the client, requirements for QPunch, solutions details, the implementation approach and finally the conclusion.

Challenges:

1. • Manual, Inefficient Demand Tracking:
     • Errors and reliability issues due to manual tracking.
     • Reporting delays affecting delivery and IT planning.
     • Difficulty managing and assigning demands.
       
       
   • Inefficient Use of Resources:
     • Lack of clear visibility into resource allocation.
     • Underutilized resources lead to inefficiencies.
     • Potential cost overruns and difficulty prioritizing critical tasks.
       
       
   • Lack of Resource Visibility:
     • No real-time data on consultant availability.
     • Inefficiency in managing resources and strained IT-business relationships.
       
       
   • Compliance and Data Control:
     • Need for on-premises solution for control over sensitive data.
     • Efficient resource management and data integration.
       
       
   • Complex Workflows and Reporting Gaps:
     • Both technical and non-technical teams struggled with complex processes.
     • No unified platform for tracking cross-project dependencies.
     • Lack of real-time reporting and analytics for demand and resource utilization.

Requirements:

The following were the requirements provided by the client with the key challenges during the initial phase of the engagement.

• Automate and centralize processes: Automatically pull essential demand details, reduce manual effort and centralize the entire process.
• Centralized demand tracking: Provide a unified view for organizing and tracking
  all demands.
• Resource allocation and tracking: A resource management view to display consultant availability, tasks, and time off.
• Lack of Overall team utilization reporting: A real-time team utilization dashboard for insights into consultants’ time and performance.
• Compliance and data control: Need for on premise solution for control over sensitive data.
• Managing demands across multiple releases: A custom dashboard to manage release reports, linking demands to specific release numbers.
• Missing View for Teams, Projects, and Tasks: A program-level view to track all teams and their projects on a single timeline.

Solution:

To tackle these demand management challenges, QPunch was rolled out in phases, focusing on integration, customization, and user adoption. It automated demand tracking through seamless integration with Atlassian Jira software, centralized demand management view, and optimized resource allocation with calendar views. Real-time team utilization dashboards provided insights into consultants’ time and performance. Custom dashboards linked demands to releases, and the program-level Gantt view consolidated teams and projects for improved coordination. These solutions streamlined processes, enhanced resource management, and improved project oversight, boosting efficiency and planning.

Implementation Approach:

Automate and centralize processes by Integrating with Atlassian Jira software:

QPunch was seamlessly integrated with Atlassian Jira software via API (Application Programming Interface) and the below interface screen was developed to fetch the Demand data in real time to understand the details and plan it further. This details such as ID, description, status, and deadlines are auto synced, eliminating errors and saving time.

Demand tracking with a centralized demand management view:

QPunch introduced a centralized demand management view as a unified hub for organizing and tracking all demands efficiently. This allows teams, such as IT and Marketing, to have a dedicated demand management view tailored to their specific demands. By centralizing demand tracking, QPunch eliminates reliance on Excel sheets, providing a clear overview of progress and resource allocation. As a result, managers can easily monitor demand status, track team assignments, and optimize resource management for improved efficiency.

Resource allocation and tracking with calendar Views:

QPunch introduced a calendar-based resource management view to streamline consultant availability tracking, task assignments, and time-off management. This view provides a real-time overview of consultants’ schedules, including their assigned tasks, completed work, and holidays. By leveraging this system, managers can efficiently allocate tasks based on availability, preventing conflicts and ensuring balanced workloads.

Additionally, this feature aids in proactive planning for future demands by considering consultant availability, ultimately optimizing resource utilization and improving project efficiency.

Overall team utilization dashboard:

QPunch offers real-time team utilization dashboards to provide insights into consultants’ time and performance. Consultants log their working hours, and QPunch updates the dashboards with planned versus actual hours, enabling progress tracking and early identification of bottlenecks. This system allows managers to monitor overall team utilization, track project status, and use detailed reports for performance analysis and resource allocation. By leveraging these insights, organizations can improve planning, optimize resource distribution, and proactively address potential issues before they escalate.

Custom Dashboard for Efficient Release Management:

QPunch provides a custom dashboard that links demand to specific release numbers, allowing users to track related demands, team involvement, hours spent, and work distribution across multiple releases. This enables managers to efficiently monitor and visualize the distribution of tasks, identify which teams are involved, and optimize resource allocation by quickly assigning tasks to available consultants for proactive planning.

Program-Level Gantt View for Teams and Projects:

QPunch provided a program-level Gantt view that consolidates all teams and projects on a single timeline, grouping active tasks, systems, and schedules into one comprehensive chart. This approach provides clear visibility into task progress across multiple projects, enabling efficient monitoring and coordination among teams, which ultimately leads to improved project oversight and streamlined work tracking.

Conclusion:

QPunch transformed our clients’ demand and resource management processes by replacing manual processes with an automated, structured and smart platform.

By aligning business units, IT and outsourced teams on a single platform, QPunch empowered the client to manage demands effectively, allocate resources optimally, and deliver projects on time and within budget. This case study highlights QPunch’s ability to streamline complex demand and resource management challenges while adapting to evolving business needs in the telecom sector.