Method and system for allocation of resources in a project portfolio

• US 7,991,632 B1
• Filed: 01/28/2011
• Issued: 08/02/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FMR LLC
• Original Assignee: FMR LLC
• Inventors: McGuire, Thomas, Nikolaev, Igor, Kroeger, Keith, Morris, Sean
• Primary Examiner(s): Jasmin; Lynda
• Assistant Examiner(s): Miller; Alan S.
• Application Number:
  US13/016,551
• Time in Patent Office: 186 Days
• Field of Search: 705 711- 714, 705/7.23
• US Class Current: 705/7.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors

Abstract

Described are methods and apparatuses, including computer program products, for optimizing allocation of resources across projects in a project portfolio. The method includes receiving, at a computing device, (i) resource information, (ii) a portfolio of project definitions and (iii) one or more portfolio-level optimization criteria. The resource information representing a plurality of resources available for allocation to the projects, and each project definition includes a unique identifier and one or more project-level constraints. The method also includes generating, using the computing device, a plurality of project portfolio allocation scenarios and determining one or more optimized project portfolio allocation scenarios from the plurality of project portfolio allocation scenarios. Each project portfolio allocation scenario satisfies the one or more project-level constraints associated with each project definition. Each optimized project portfolio allocation scenario optimizes a sequence of the projects to satisfy the one or more portfolio-level optimization criteria.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for optimizing allocation of resources across projects in a project portfolio, comprising:

receiving, at a computing device, (i) resource information representing a plurality of resources available for allocation to the projects, (ii) a portfolio of project definitions, each project definition comprising a unique identifier and one or more project-level constraints, and (iii) one or more portfolio-level optimization criteria including an objective function defined by the equation,

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the one or more optimized project portfolio allocation scenarios comprises:

selecting, using the computing device, a first project portfolio allocation scenario from the plurality of the project portfolio allocation scenarios; and

revising, using the computing device, the sequence of the projects in the first project portfolio allocation scenario to satisfy the one or more portfolio-level optimization criteria scaled by the respective weight.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising changing, using the computing device, the allocation of the resources in the first project portfolio allocation scenario to satisfy the one or more portfolio-level optimization criteria scaled by the respective weight.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising defining, using the computing device, at least one of the one or more project-level constraints, the one or more portfolio-level optimization criteria, and the weights based on one or more user inputs.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more project-level constraints comprise:

one or more start dates or date ranges, one or more end dates or date ranges, one or more resource constraints, a cost constraint, one or more location constraints, or any combination thereof.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more portfolio-level optimization criteria comprises a resource utilization criterion, a schedule criterion, a risk level criterion, a cost criterion, a return-on-investment criterion, an inter-project dependency criterion, or any combination thereof.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the portfolio-level optimization criterion is a return-on-investment criterion.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising generating an action plan based on the optimized project portfolio allocation scenario, the action plan comprising at least one of modifying resource allocation of the plurality of resources or acquiring additional resources.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of resources comprise one or more human resources, one or more physical resources, or any combination thereof.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of resources comprises one or more physical resources including one or more computer resources, one or more geographic locations, one or more supply materials, one or more equipment items, or any combination thereof.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the resource information comprises attribute information for one or more of the plurality of resources.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the attribute information comprises skills information, geographic location information, language information, availability information, or any combination thereof, for one or more human resources.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein each project definition from the portfolio of project definitions further includes information indicating a priority level.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein allocating one or more of the plurality of resources to one or more of the unique identifiers comprises allocating resources to a first unique identifier before allocating resources to a second unique identifier, wherein the first unique identifier is associated with a first priority level higher than a second priority level associated with the second unique identifier.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein assigning the date value to at least one of the unique identifiers comprises assigning, using the computing device, a null date value indicating that the project associated with the unique identifier is canceled or not scheduled.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the portfolio of project definitions comprise a baseline set of project definitions and a new project definition, the resource information further including allocation information associating the plurality of resources with the baseline set of project definitions.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of resources comprises a set of allocated resources and one or more unallocated resources, the resource information further including allocation information associating the set of allocated resources with the plurality of project definitions.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the resource information comprises baseline allocation information associating the plurality of resources with the portfolio of project definitions.

19. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage device, for optimizing allocation of resources across projects, the computer program product including instructions being operable to cause data processing apparatus to:

receive (i) resource information representing a plurality of resources available for allocation to the projects, (ii) a portfolio of project definitions, each project definition comprising a unique identifier and one or more project-level constraints, and (iii) one or more portfolio-level optimization criteria, including an objective function defined by the equation,

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the portfolio-level optimization criterion is a return-on-investment criterion.