SYSTEM AND METHOD TO ALLOCATE RESOURCES IN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS WITH NON-LINEAR WORKFLOWS

• US 20100218192A1
• Filed: 02/25/2009
• Published: 08/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Dunn, David A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,135,596 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/104
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5027 the resource being a machine, e.g. CPUs, Servers, Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/505 considering the load
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations

Abstract

A method can include determining a number of cases received (e.g., a case load), a number of cases processed (e.g., a case rate), and dividing the case load by the case rate. The resource demand can be compared to a resource allocation, and the resource allocation can be changed based upon the resource demand. A information handling system can include a processor and a memory. The memory can have code stored therein, wherein the code can include instructions, which, when executed by the processor, allows the information handling system to perform part or substantially all of the method.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining a case load for an organization, wherein the case load includes a number of cases the organization expects to process in a duration of time;

determining a case rate for a work resource in the organization, wherein;

the case rate includes a number of cases that the work resource can process in the duration of time; and

a first particular case within a subset of a plurality of cases is processed non-linearly;

determining a resource demand prediction by dividing the case load by the case rate;

comparing the resource demand prediction to an actual resource allocation in the organization; and

in response to comparing the resource demand prediction to the first actual resource allocation, changing the actual resource allocation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first particular case is processed by the work resource in more than one incident.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a second particular case is processed by the work resource in one incident.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the case rate for the work resource further comprises:

determining a first amount of time the work resource is available to work on cases;

determining a first average amount of time per case that the work resource spends processing the plurality of cases; and

dividing the first amount of time by the duration of time and by the first average amount of time per case.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the first average amount of time per case includes averaging a second amount of time the work resource spends processing:

the first particular case; and

the second particular case.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first average amount of time per case is determined as the sum of:

a third amount of time the work resource spends processing the plurality of cases; and

a fourth amount of time the work resource spends preparing to work on the plurality of cases.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the fourth amount of time is determined as:

an average number of incidents to process the plurality of cases, multiplied by;

the sum of;

a second average amount of time per incident to list the plurality of cases;

a third average amount of time per incident to open the plurality of cases; and

a fourth average amount of time per incident to read the plurality of cases.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein, when the resource demand prediction is greater than the actual resource allocation, changing the actual resource allocation includes increasing the number of work resources.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein, when the resource demand prediction is less than the actual resource allocation, changing the actual resource allocation includes decreasing the number of work resources.

10. A memory for an information handling system, wherein the memory has machine-executable code stored therein, and wherein the machine-executable code includes instructions for carrying out a method comprising:

determining a case load for an organization, wherein the case load includes a number of cases the organization expects to process in a duration of time;

determining a case rate for a work resource in the organization, wherein;

the case rate includes a number of cases that the work resource can process in the duration of time; and

a first particular case within a subset of a plurality of cases is processed non-linearly;

determining a resource demand prediction by dividing the case load by the case rate;

comparing the resource demand prediction to an actual resource allocation in the organization;

in response to comparing the resource demand prediction to the actual resource allocation in the organization, storing a recommended resource allocation in the memory, wherein the recommended resource allocation is based on the difference between the resource demand prediction and the actual resource allocation; and

in response to storing the recommended resource allocation, changing the actual resource allocation.

11. The memory of claim 10, wherein the first particular case is processed by the work resource in more than one incident.

12. The memory of claim 11, wherein a second particular case is processed by the work resource in one incident.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the case rate for the work resource further comprises:

determining a first amount of time the work resource is available to work on cases;

determining a first average amount of time per case that the work resource spends processing the plurality of cases, wherein determining the first average amount of time per case includes averaging a second amount of time the work resource spends processing;

the first particular case; and

the second particular case; and

dividing the first amount of time by the duration of time and by the first average amount of time per case.

14. The memory of claim 13, wherein the first average amount of time per case is determined as the sum of:

a third amount of time the work resource spends processing the plurality of cases; and

a fourth amount of time the work resource spends preparing to work on the plurality of cases, wherein the fourth amount of time is determined as;

an average number of incidents to process the plurality of cases, multiplied by;

the sum of;

a second average amount of time per incident to list the plurality of cases;

a third average amount of time per incident to open the plurality of cases; and

a fourth average amount of time per incident to read the plurality of cases.

15. The memory of claim 10, wherein, when the recommended resource allocation is greater than zero, changing the actual resource allocation includes increasing the number of work resources.

16. The memory of claim 10, wherein, when the recommended resource allocation is less than zero, changing the actual resource allocation includes decreasing the number of work resources.

17. An information handling system comprising:

a memory device having machine-executable code stored therein; and

a processor operable to execute the machine-executable code to;

determine a case load for an organization, wherein the case load includes a number of cases the organization expects to process in a duration of time;

determine a case rate for a worker in the organization, wherein;

the case rate includes a number of cases that the worker can process in the duration of time; and

a first particular case within a subset of a plurality of cases is processed non-linearly;

divide the case load by the case rate to determine a headcount prediction;

subtract the headcount prediction from an actual headcount in the organization to determine a recommended headcount;

store the recommended headcount in the memory device; and

reallocate a resource within the organization based upon the recommended headcount.

18. The information handling system of claim 17, wherein, in determining the case rate for the worker, the processor is further operable to:

determine a first amount of time the worker is available to work on cases;

determine an average amount of time per case that the worker spends processing the plurality of cases; and

divide the first amount of time by the duration of time and by the average amount of time per case.

19. The information handling system of claim 18, wherein, in determining the average amount of time per case that the worker spends processing the plurality of cases, the processor is further operable to sum:

a second amount of time the worker spends processing the plurality of cases; and

a third amount of time the worker spends preparing to work on the plurality of cases.

20. The information handling system of claim 18, wherein, in determining the third amount of time, the processor is further operable to:

multiply a first average number of touches to process the plurality of cases to;

the sum of;

a second average amount of time per touch to list the plurality of cases;

a third average amount of time per touch to open the plurality of cases; and

a fourth average amount of time per touch to read the plurality of cases.