The cloud remains a hot topic within the business community. The ability to scale computing resources at a moment’s notice while lowering both capital and operating expenditures is simply too tempting for business leaders to ignore.
While a few years ago, naysayers may have labeled the cloud as just another passing tech fad, the technology has more than proved its worth in this arena, making it clear that across the board, companies are buying into the cloud and will continue to depend on it for the foreseeable future. Now that the technology has passed well beyond the proof-of-concept stage, the question many business leaders are asking themselves is not “should I invest in the cloud?” but “which cloud platform should I buy into?”
The future of the cloud is rosy indeed: According to Statistica, the global public cloud Platform-as-a-Service market alone is expected tohit $38 billion by the end of the year. That segment’s not expected to slow down, either. By 2026, researchers predict that figure to reach $173 billion.
With more businesses embracing cloud platforms, the need for qualified IT personnel to manage these assets is going to grow by leaps and bounds over the next several years. For individuals looking to put themselves in a good position to take advantage of these market conditions, where should they devote their attention and what skills should they look to further hone?
Cloud title fight: Azure vs. AWS
When speaking about Infrastructure as a Serviceand PaaS, Amazon has shot out to an early lead in this area with AWS. However, that doesn’t mean IT professionals should rush to devote all of their time and resources to training around that platform. The public cloud market continues to change at aremarkable rate, and the current momentum seems to be pointing in favor of another competitor: Microsoft and its Azure platform.
Despite its late start, Azure is quickly making up ground on AWS. RightScale’s 2016 State of the Cloud survey indicates thatinterest in Azure continues to ramp upacross the board, while AWS may be stagnating. Although Azure IaaS only had a 12-percent adoption rate last year, that figure rose to 17 percent in 2016. Likewise, Azure PaaS saw its adoption rate grow from 9 percent to 13 percent in the past year.
Meanwhile, although 57 percent of survey respondents reported using AWS in 2016, that number remained unchanged from the previous year. It’s entirely possible that demand forAWS has stalled out, and the growing interest in Azure will continue to chip away at Amazon’s position as market leader.
Azure’s competitive edge
One of the reasons to buy into Azure as the cloud platform of the future is Microsoft’s steadfast commitment to its success. As the Motley Fool noted, the tech giant is willing tocontinue investing in Azureand carve out a bigger piece of the pie, even if that means losing profits in the short term. That bullish behavior could very well turn the public cloud market in its favor over the long haul.
“Microsoft’s name recognition could be a deciding factor.”
Another major advantage that Azure enjoys is the Microsoft name itself. Many businesses run exclusively on Microsoft software, including the Windows operating system and Office suite of business applications, and have done so for decades. What that means is that when it comes time for companies to make the leap to the cloud, they may feel more comfortable moving to a Microsoft platform over Amazon. That name recognition and brand awareness could be the deciding factor that pushes cloud holdouts toward Azure rather than AWS.
With all of this in mind, the time is right for IT veterans and newcomers alike to start beefing up their Azure skills. Building up your knowledge in this area is a great way to differentiate yourself from the pack when looking to work with companies that have already embraced Azure. These types of credentials are also great bargaining tools when it comes time to negotiate salary demands with a prospective employer or even your current company. Having aMicrosoft Certified Solutions Developer: Azure Solutions Architect credentialto your name is a surefire way to show employers that you’re a major IT asset and primed to work on one of the most essential cloud platforms around.
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Learn how to Implement Azure
Month: July 2022 Page 1 of 3
Microsoft Azure is part of the 3 main components of the cloud computing XaaS family consisting of IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service), PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) and SaaS (Software-as-a-Service). Azure is both IaaS and PaaS, and like all cloud computing services their overall business benefits are to help any organization “achieve their desired business outcomes”.Let’s take a quick look at one of the business benefits of Azure – Disaster Recovery.
DISASTER RECOVERY
Before implementing Azure, you put significant thought and research into the advantages of Azure for your Disaster Recovery requirements.You may have found the following advantages:
A truly cost-effective solutionIt’s very easy to deploy and manageWorld-class data resilienceWorkload protectionA true hybrid solutionDisaster Recovery Post Implementation
Now that Azure is implemented, you have the responsibility of ensuring that you have a rock-solid Disaster Recovery plan in place and the ability to manage that plan to perfection. Here are a few scenarios you must ensure your staff is trained and prepared for:
Ensure Data Management, Security, and Protection Work in Unison
Achieving your desired business goals is the essence of cloud computing. Matching those business goals for continuity and compliance throughout the life cycle of your mission critical apps is no exception. Azure will dramatically help secure and protect your data with industry leading technology offered by encryption features.
Ensure Mission Critical Appsare Up and Running During Critical Times
A major outage or disaster can be catastrophic to your business. Azure’s disaster recovery solution protects and supports an industry leading wide range of enterprise applications compared to any other disaster recovery providers. Azure will fail over your apps—and your entire data center—with automated recovery plansin a matter of hours instead of weeks or months.
Perform Tests Any Time for Complete Confidence
Having an experienced and highly trained staff to be able test your business continuity plans is paramount. This also includes running dev-test copies of production workloads in Azure without impacting users. In addition, having the ability to test new versions of applications with live data, and then put the new versions into production in your data center again without impacting users is essential.
New Horizons has created a simple 1-pageAzure Business Benefits Guide and Assessment. Use this guide to assess your business benefits with Microsoft Azure. Schedule a time to review your results in a free recommendations call.
In thenext blog of our 5partseriesTheBusinessBenefits of Azurewe’ll discuss How to Keep Your Azure SolutionCompliant.Subscribe to our blog to be notified of the next published post.
One of the most rapidly growing areas in information technology is big data. Big data can be defined as massive batches of data that can be captured and analyzed toidentify patterns or predict trends, and nearly every growing space in the technology world – including the Internet of Things, cloud computing, data center virtualization and cybersecurity – will in some way be affected by it.
Likewise, a diverse array of businesses, as they continue to use technology that allows for rapid and vast acquisitions of data, will rely heavily on the potential benefits of big data. Contact center and customer support industries can evaluate customer service trends. Marketing firms can assess data regarding which advertisement campaigns led to the greatest number of conversions. Restaurant chains can locate and analyze the vast amount of feedback as it is generated across the Internet. Transportation services can identify trends in usage during certain times of the week. Retailers can make predictions about how well certain products will sell with store layout changes. The use cases for big data are nearly as endless as the amount of existing big data.
Big data’s role in business is big and getting bigger.Big data’s big future
Many industries are already implementing big data strategies that help convert massive amounts of information into actionable insight. However, these efforts are drizzles compared with the imminent big data storm. Globally, the big data and technology services market is forecastto reach a value of $48.6 billion by 2019, according to new research by the IDC. This represents a projected compound annual growth rate of 23 percent between 2014 and 2019, as all big data tributary markets are expected to see big gains. Infrastructure, which includes data center and security architecture, will see a CAGR of nearly 22 percent; Data management, analytics and capture – which all fall under the umbrella of the software market for big data – will experience a 26 percent CAGR; and services, which entails IT support for components of the aforementioned sub-markets, will witness a 22 percent CAGR.
In keeping with big data’s reputation for being useful in some capacity to every business sector, IDC predicts that the main driver of growth will be the prolific adoption of big data strategies across the gamut of industries.
The data storm has already begun
The IDC’s projections are staggering, albeit not entirely shocking. Big data has already begun to see applications in a bevy of industries. In fact, a recent survey by SAP has revealed financial firms are currently assessing the role of big data in future business endeavors. Fewerthan half of all respondents said they felt well-equipped to extract meaningful insights from data. That said, 79 percent of respondents said they need to acquire or create advanced analytics capabilities to keep up with the cascades of information being generated in a digital world. Furthermore, 84 percent believe that the ability to quickly transform data into actionable insight will have a bearing on the success of their companies.
What this means for IT workers
Companies won’t be the only beneficiaries of the big data boom; information technology professionals with DB2 certification will be walking into a new realm of opportunity. Data engineers and data scientists are expected to see starting salary gains of nearly 9 percent in 2016, according to a report from Robert Half Technology and The Creative Group. Like IDC’s research, these projections are based on the belief that an increasing number of industries will benefit from big data analysis.
In the years following 2016, demand for professionals who have DB2 certification orSQL certification is likely to spike. Likewise,VCP certificationwill become a more valuable credential as data center consolidation and virtualization become priorities, both of which will be essential to the development of improved big data infrastructure.
Ultimately, big data will play an important role in most industries, and will somehow impact nearly every corner of information technology.With multiple studies corroborating this fact, now might be the ideal moment to start earning credentialsto become a big data specialist. The more IT professionals know about big data analytics, the better prepared they will be for new and exciting career opportunities that may lie in wait just around the bend.
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Find TrainingInformation Security Training At New Horizons, our information security offerings are designed to ensure that your organization can be the “Secure Organization”—enabling you to target specific training for your business based on information security threats and organizational job roles.A Stranger in the Server Room
A recent message from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to Google has allowed for the driverless car initiative to advance yet another step. The letter, written by NHTSAChief Counsel Paul Hemmersbaugh, has stated that the regulatory body now considers the computer systems on board these vehicles to be the driver, according to Reuters.
While this hasn’t completely cleared all the obstacles for mass deployment of driverless cars, this recognition from the NHTSA marks a giant development in the technology.
Huge leap forward for AI
This may seem like a simple development to some, as the computer is clearly the one piloting the vehicle. But the NHTSA’sletter to Google shows that regulatory bodies are beginning to accept the real possibility of a future filled with self-driving cars.
The first perceived ramification of this correspondence is how blame will be distributed in the event of an accident. Although the letter itself doesn’t discuss fault in detail, the fact that the NHTSA considers the car itself to be the driver means that occupants within the vehicle will not be thought to have been “behind the wheel” as it were when a crash occurs. In fact, Google and Volvo have gone on record stating they will accept full responsibility in the event of a wreck of one of their driverless cars.
What’s more, these self-driving vehicles couldseverely reduce the number of accidents caused by human error. In fact, Google’s cars may be too cautious.An early model of Google’s car got stuck at a stop sign in 2009 because other human-driven cars refused to fully stop, forcing the car to wait until its safety programming told it to go. Something as simple as rolling through a stop sign is hard to program in a computer system, but this example points to the level of safety these vehicles observe on the road.
Still many obstacles to overcome
Although this is a great step for the driverless car industry, there are still many challenges to face before self-driving vehicles become a mainstay on the roads. One of the points of contention is that many drivers don’t want to give up control of their cars. In fact, the letter reminds Google that there are many regulations in place that force auto manufacturers to put objects like steering wheels and foot brakes in their cars.
While these may seem like necessary pieces of equipment, Google doesn’t like the idea of humans being able to take control whenever they so choose. The Reuters article pointed out that the NHTSAis fully aware of this concern, with the letter having stated that regulations will need to be changed if Google wants its cars to be entirely autonomous on the road.
There is still a long road ahead of Google before its car sees mass deployment, but this most recent development from the NHTSAshows that regulatory bodies are recognizing this technology’s viability.
Cisco on the forefront of IoT development
Although this recognition of the status of self-driven cars is a milestone for the auto makers themselves, it also shows that the Internet of Things trend is gaining even more momentum. A driverless car would undoubtedly need an Internet connection – a technology that Cisco is working hard to continue to innovate.
With recent acquisitions and the Internet of Everything initiative, Cisco is showing serious interest in the prospect of connecting everyday items. In fact, an infographiccreated for Wired by Cisco discusses some of the benefits of a connected car.
The graphic states that these cars would be able to “talk” with the computer systems at mechanic shops, telling them about issues with the car’s functionality before they become serious problems. This would allow for driverless car manufacturers such as Google to further point out the safety benefits of their vehicles, as a human driver would almost never be able to know about a mechanical problem before it began to affect their driving.
Cisco has long been known for itsnetworking capabilities, so it makes sense that the company would make a move into the IoT. While it’s impossible to say what technology will go into the future of driverless cars, it’s clear that Cisco is doing everything it can to place itself within this revolution.
Interested in Cisco training? Luckily, New Horizons offers a variety of courses to help you obtain three levels of Cisco certifications including entry, associate, and professional!
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Cisco Training & CertificationsWhether you’re new to Cisco or ready to advance your existing Cisco skills, New Horizons Learning Group can help you obtain three levels of Cisco certifications, including entry, associate and professional—all accreditations that are highly valued by employers and networking professionals worldwide.Cisco Moves Deeper Into the IoT with Jasper PurchaseIt’s a great day for the Internet of Things and those who like to trumpet its expected success. Cisco has announced that it will be purchasing Jasper Technologies, a company that wants to help enterprises connect their commodities to the Internet. The IoT is all about getting devices once thought to be cut off from the Internet onto the network, thereby allowing them to communicate with each other and make your life easierWomen Are Needed to Fill IT VacanciesThe information technology job market has remained stable for the most part, even during recent times of economic downturn. Growth in technology sectors that include big data, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, data center consolidation and cybersecurity are creating new job opportunities for aspiring IT professionals with basic computer training, as well as certified professionals. The rise of big data, for example, is fueling new opportunities for IT workers with DB2 certification. Likew
IT networking has changed dramatically over the past decade. For starters, many organizations have been able to divest themselves from on-premises network infrastructures and instead connect their most important applications and services to the public cloud. This switch has fueled tremendous growth for business cloud ecosystems such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, which can provide networking resources on-demand.
Moreover, there has been the recent rise of software-defined networking as well as the more specific software-defined wide area network. According to IDC’s 2016 projections, the SDN market will have a 53.9 percent compound annual growth rate from 2014 to 2020,ultimately reaching $12.5 billion in value. But what are SDN and SD-WAN, exactly? And what do these new families of technologies mean for Cisco certifications?
Understanding SDN and SD-WAN
Let’s start with a few definitions:
SDN is the decoupling of a network’s control plane (where decisions are made about packets) from its data plane (where the packets are actually forwarded). The idea is to give network administrators more flexibility in how they control their networks, by freeing them from the need to touch individual switches. Instead, they can shape traffic from a central console and respond quickly to evolving requirements.SD-WAN is a bit more specific. With an SD-WAN, long-distance connections between enterprise sites, including branch offices and data centers, are made using cloud-based controls. This means that traffic can be precisely shaped, specific paths/links can be prioritized and a wide variety of connection types (including MPLS, broadband internet and even cellular) can be supported.Both SDN and SD-WAN are important components in the emerging software-defined data center. The central idea of the SDDC is that data center infrastructure should be as flexible, responsive and cost-effective as possible. Using advanced software on top of less expensive hardware – SDN in particular is known for its synergy with commodity “white box” switches – is one way to accomplish this.
Cisco’s investments in SDN and SD-WAN
At first, it looked like SDN and SD-WAN were major threats to Cisco’s dominant position in networking equipment. However, the company has since rolled out several solutions that expand its huge product ecosystems into the SDN/SD-WAN world:
Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure
Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure is a unique approach to SDN that emphasizes tight integration of physical and virtual components, with a centralized management possible through the Application Policy Infrastructure Controller. A shared policy-based operating model is present across all ACI elements. Overall ACI functionality is greatly enhanced by the use of Nexus switches and Cisco fabric in the larger network.
Cisco Intelligent WAN
In March 2016, Cisco announced its Intelligent WAN Automation Services, which are built on the company’s comprehensive Digital Network Architecture. DNA complements ACI by taking a similar approach across the entire corporate networking footprint, including the WAN.
In practice, Cisco IWAN greatly simplifies connectivity for branch offices. With only a few clicks, an enterprise can ensure that these remote sites are properly connected to company data centers and headquarters.
“IWAN automationeliminates configuration tasks for advanced networking features, and automatically enables Cisco best practices, application prioritization, path selection and caching to improve the user experience,” explained Cisco’s original announcement.
Preparing for the software-defined future
Cisco equipment will continue to be at the center of the enterprise networking picture even as groundbreaking trends such as SDN and SD-WAN evolve. With aCisco Certified Network Associate Routing and Switching certification, you can make sure that you have the knowledge and skills to succeed in the current and future networking landscape.
Talking to one of the Oracle Corporation sales managers, I was introduced to the idea of seeing change as an opportunity. Everybody hears about the management asking their team members and leads to see change as an opportunity. But how many of us actually believe it? Most often, change is equated to “pain”.
Every project manager will agree that managing change and getting the team to adjust to it is crucial to the success of any project, no matter how small or large. The right attitude is key to managing change and maximizing the potential for growth. The model employee would be the one to use the new process, even if most of the team has already stated the reasons why it is not appropriate.
Any organization can undergo change if it has one of these three types.
Process Change: This is the goal of process change. It is about streamlining the business process and making them more efficient to reduce costs and improve quality. If one is open-minded and adapts to new processes, they will be able to demonstrate tangible benefits.
Structural change: This refers to organizational restructuring, changes in the reporting structure, and so forth. These changes may not affect the team but are most relevant to the top management.
Cultural Change: This could be a change in business practices, Ai product centric to customer-centric or an organizational change. The management would approve if the individual adhered to the new way of doing things again.
According to a survey by a prominent consulting firm, there is almost 66% chance of a project failing. Antagonism among the people involved in the change is the main reason for the high failure rate. The organization must change the way it approaches the change project. This will help employees see the change as a chance to succeed and make an impact.
It is essential to have the right leadership team in place to implement change. They must communicate clearly and have analytical skills to show how the change will benefit the entire team or organization. To make the change easy to accept, it must be presented as an opportunity.
Software for Project Management
If you’re interested in learning more about top rated project management software, the editors at Project-Management.com actively recommend the following:
The economy of Kenya has seen an increase in growth since the 1990s. We have seen lenders diversify their investment portfolio to real property, which has led to the current boom in the property market. According to the 2015 economic survey, the real estate sector’s contribution to the GDP increased from 6% in 2013 and 8.5% in 2014. Developments such as the Garden City development, Konza Technopolis and two rivers in Kiambu, LAPSET project, Thika Superhighway and Standard gauge railway, Tatu City, and Konza Technopolis are some of the many capital-intensive projects that are changing the region’s construction landscape. The bad news is that these projects can lead to a property bubble and eventually, the entire East Africa region’s economy will suffer.
Construction Project Management
Construction Project Management has emerged in the 21st century because of the increasing complexity and size of construction projects.
Project Management, as defined in the PMBOK is the “Ao,Aoapplications of skills, knowledge and techniques to project activities in order to meet project objectives”. A successful project is one that meets the three bottom-lines of time, budget and acceptable quality.
21st Century Construction Project Management Challenges
Discipline is key to the delivery of successful projects. However, it has not been widely adopted in Kenya. These are the challenges.
Risk Management
Uncertainty is the leading cause of large variations in output in the construction industry. The “Aoconstruction boom” has led to an increase in the number of projects, which in turn has increased the complexity and required greater coordination between the different disciplines. We have seen many projects suffer cost escalation and delayed completion.
Without risk management, lenders are exposed, developers suffer great losses, and the reputation of consultants is at risk. This is why Project Managers are needed in the construction industry.
Paradigm Shift
The Architect was traditionally the lead consultant on construction projects. This is still the case in Kenya and East Africa. Incorporating the services of a Project manager into the construction process is seen as increasing professional fees and, on the other hand, supplanting authority from the lead consultant. It is important to embrace the positive changes of 21st century practice and accept this new ideology, which will add value to the industry.
Recognization of the Profession
Project management in Kenya has not been accredited or recognized as of today. This is despite the widespread adoption of project management techniques and practices for the successful execution of major global projects. Uncertified quacks have taken advantage of this and damaged the professionalism of the profession by managing projects poorly without taking into account the constraints. This is evident in the collapsed structures all around the city. The profession would be restricted to those who are accredited, which would encourage project management in the professional world.
Supremacy Wars
The world is a jungle, and survival instinct is an animalistic instinct. These situations, however primitive they may seem, are quite common in the workplace, especially when a new discipline has been introduced. As is evident in the context for the construction industry, people will instinctively react to their dominance. A lack of knowledge about project management coupled with unclear roles are two reasons why.
Ai visibility is essential in order to implement AgilePortfolio Management. One of the main concerns about moving to Agile methods is that sprint-style deliverables and shifting priorities inherent in Agile aren’t always compatible with traditional methods of project management or portfolio management. It is important to recognize one of the core principles of Agile PortfolioManagement: Centralize portfolio and project management, regardless of methodology.
Regardless of your methodology, centralize project and portfolio management
Let’s take a moment and discuss the extremely complex and demanding job that portfolio managers have to do. Project and portfolio managers are constantly under pressure to balance demands, resources, and strategic priorities in the digital economy. This allows them to deliver more, faster, and increase customer satisfaction. Gartner found that project managers (PMs), are under increasing pressure to respond faster and deliver better business results last year. They must have the information and visibility they need to make quick, informed decisions. This is where centralization comes in.
Why centralize?
Centralization allows your project manager office (PMO), to bring all projects into one portfolio, regardless of their type or approval workflow. This facilitates timely and efficient decision-making. A software development team might have been using Jira as an Agile development tool, but the infrastructure group may be running more traditional Waterfall projects. Ai and the PMO must somehow link both initiatives into a portfolio report for executives. This meant that the PMO had to coordinate many meetings, manual effort and phone calls with executives. Even basic functions like capacity planning, Ai, i.e. can we take on more work, became an operational nightmare. Agile Portfolio Management requires a solution that can centralize all projects into one reporting hub that provides visibility, comprehensive, timely reporting, and rollup to portfolio level. Portfolio and project managers can see in one place who is involved in a project, what tasks are currently in progress, and whether resources are being fully utilized.
Organizations also benefit from Agile Portfolio Management in another important way. Agile Portfolio Management allows leaders to be more deliberate in their project selection and ensures that their decisions align with their business goals. It also keeps a rolling backlog so that priorities can change. This reduces risk, maximizes resource use, and supports sound investment overall. Ofcourse, it also delivers greater business value and customersatisfaction.
An Agile PortfolioManagement approach can also include traditional Waterfall projects. This is useful for deliverables that require a linear process, or hybrid projects that combine Agile and traditional methods. In this case, and arguably more often than not, Agileis best suited at the portfolio level, even if some projects within are traditional.What truly matters is that information is centralized within the PMO, andportfolio leaders can collect data on all projects to drive effectivedecision-making, capacity planning and a project backlog.
This last benefit, backlog, is particularly important because it allows portfolio managersto keep the workpipeline stocked with ready-to run projects that fill in the value-sapping gaps that are common to non-centralized methods. It’s possible for PMs to not be aware that valuable resources are being held back by stalled deliverables, rather than flowing into new initiatives. Is that the Gartner article I mentioned a moment ago? Pr
Is capacity planning the exact same thing as resource management? This question was asked to me in a job interview. I immediately wondered if it was a trick question. It’s not exactly the same thing. Many people confuse the concepts or use them interchangeably. Understanding the difference can help to avoid one of the biggest pitfalls in resource capacity planning, especially when it comes to professional services.
You will be better able to communicate, articulate, and evaluate the potential of your organization’s capacity planning.
What is the difference?
Although they are closely related, capacity planning and resource management can be seen as two distinct things. You can’t have both, but they will produce different results for you organization.
Resource management is the ability to ensure that you have enough resources to complete work. This is a simple way to ask if you have enough people to complete the project. However, it becomes more complicated when you consider resource allocation and utilization.
Capacity planning is, however, more of a match-up game than a strategic snapshot. Capacity planning is only possible when visibility and assessment are combined to understand and communicate the organization’s capabilities at any given moment.
Resource Capacity Planning, and the “Next Cool Thing”
It is important to understand the differences between capacity planning and resource management. In practice, however, it can be much more difficult to say no to projects, especially if it’s the “next coolest thing” that everyone, from C-level executives to product development to marketing team members, is eager to pursue.
We know better than anyone that there are many great ideas within organizations. However, it’s not as simple as it sounds to pursue these opportunities. These projects are what I call “the golden snitch” with a nod to Harry Potter. They seem so bright and shiny that we should all chase after them. We know that when we try and do too much with what we have, it often means that something else fails.
One example: A former organization I worked with was asked to submit a bid for the production of a component of a product line by a large national retailer. This was not just “the next cool thing”; it would have resulted in tens of million dollars in increased revenue. However, I was unable to handle the additional work until several programs were either put on hold or discontinued.
I had to write the note that all PMPs hate sending to the executive leadership team: “No. With all the other things we have to do, this is impossible. ” I was fortunate to have a solid understanding and the data to prove it impossible. I was able confidently to tell the CEO and CFO that it was time to decide what was most important. This is our ability. ”
If you don’t have the ability to assess your organization’s true capacity, you will be constantly being given more work than you can handle. You can’t allow new projects to take place until you can prove that you have the capacity to do so.
How to get there: Resource Capacity Planning Maturity
Although every project leader wants to be able to plan confidently, it is not an easy task. You can take steps now to improve your resource management and forecast (and then communicate) your resources.
Capacity planning is the art of identifying a resource capacity that is capable of meeting the expected demand. Organizations with mobile workforces have a strong dynamic environment. It becomes difficult to manage the workforce in such cases. It is difficult to properly re-source the field teams cost-effectively and efficiently. This has led to a significant increase in the cost of service delivery.
Capacity Planning, however, helps to identify the amount work required within a particular period using the demand forecast. The demand forecast will then be used to optimize the supply and demand, thereby avoiding over- or undersupply. Most solutions tend to focus on two elements. Ai is identifying the business’ ability and capacity to execute.
Bottlenecks and CriticalPaths
Two concepts are crucial for capacity planning: Ai critical paths and bottlenecks.
A bottleneck is a process with less capacity than the rest. This can have a cascading effect in that the overall process’s capacity is reduced. It is important to identify the person or department responsible. It is easy to identify the problem once all the numbers are compiled. The reduction of bottlenecks can make a big difference in the process. It increases productivity and frees up staff.
These bottlenecks can be eliminated by understanding the processes that run through an organization. This is essential because processes overlap and sometimes share resources. The critical path is the longest sequence of activities that must be completed in order for the project’s completion on time. It is possible to reduce the project’s duration by understanding and reducing dependencies on the critical path. You can also use the insights from the critical path to make changes.
CapacityPlanning Steps & Application
Capacity planning is a significant benefit for a manufacturing plant, which results in logistical and financial benefits. This improvement is possible regardless of the size of a business, since it is primarily about efficient use of resources. It is applicable to elements such as workforce maintenance, storage, and even the manufacturing of products. This strategy can be executed successfully by following three steps.
Recommended article: How to Grow your Business
IdentifyingRequirements at Service Level
This step will help to break down the business into different categories. There are three steps in this initial step: setting up workloads, identifying work units and assigning service levels. Organization of work by businesses depends largely on the type of work performed, the job involved, and the processes involved. Then comes the creation of satisfactory services for each load.
Studying Existing Capacity
To evaluate the capacity of a business’s production schedules, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive study. These are some of the steps involved in measuring properties such as system and workload.
All items referred to in the service level agreement must have the measurements compared to the different objectives
Analyze the usage of various resources within a system
Every workload should be evaluated for its resource utilization so that those that use a greater portion of the resource can be identified
Identify the areas where a workload spends the most time. This will allow you to identify the resources that take up a greater portion of each workload.
MakingFuture Plans
It is time to create a plan for the future after an analysis of the current capacities. This plan should be developed in s