Optimizing a shared service delivery system

• US 8,386,290 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2011
• Issued: 02/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Agarwal, Shivali, Bagheri, Saeed, Chaar, Jarir K., Ratakonda, Krishna C., Reddy, Vinay K., Sengupta, Bikram
• Primary Examiner(s): CHOI, PETER H
• Application Number:
  US13/155,580
• Publication Number:
  US 20120316912A1
• Time in Patent Office: 629 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.17
• US Class Current: 705/7.17
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202

Abstract

A computer implemented method, system, and/or computer program product optimize a shared service delivery system. A model of an existing shared service delivery system is created. Capacity of the existing shared service delivery system is defined according to required resources for existing projects, new projects, and proposed projects. Existing cells of practitioners in the existing shared service delivery system are identified, and any gaps or gluts of capacity in the existing cells of practitioners are identified according to a general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method comprising:

a processor creating a model of an existing shared service delivery system;

the processor defining a capacity of the existing shared service delivery system according to required resources for existing projects, new projects, and proposed projects;

the processor identifying existing cells of practitioners in the existing shared service delivery system;

the processor identifying any gaps or gluts in capacity in the existing cells of practitioners according to a general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system;

the processor, in response to identifying a gap of capacity in the existing cells of practitioners, transmitting a first message to a manager recommending a creation of a new cell of practitioners according to a skill set demanded by the gap of capacity; and

the processor recommending an assignment of practitioners to a particular cell of practitioners by utilizing a constraint of f(θ

)=Σ

w(e)/|E|, eε

E, where E denote edges in a subgraph formed by practitioners in the particular cell of practitioners θ

, w(e) is a weight of e where eε

E, and f(θ

) is a familiarity index of the particular cell of practitioners, and wherein the familiarity index is defined as an average number of times that each member of the particular cell of practitioners has worked with another member of the particular cell of practitioners.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

the processor, in response to identifying a glut of capacity in the existing cells of practitioners, transmitting a second message to the manager recommending an update to the existing cells of practitioners by reallocating excess practitioners away from existing cells having the glut of capacity.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

the processor identifying practitioners that are eligible to create the new cell of practitioners from a bench of idle practitioners, wherein selected practitioners have all skills needed to meet a project-specific resource requirement for the shared service delivery system for a particular project.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3, further comprising:

the processor, in response to determining that no practitioners from the bench of idle practitioners have all skills needed to meet the project-specific resource requirement, ignoring the project-specific resource requirement and identifying other practitioners from the bench to fill the new cell of practitioners, wherein the other practitioners still meet the general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

the processor, in response to determining that each of two sub-cells of practitioners, having a same skill set required to meet a gap in resources, is individually incapable of meeting the predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system, transmitting a recommendation to the manager to combine the two sub-cells of practitioners into a full cell of practitioners that meets the general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

the processor, in response to determining that a particular cell of practitioners is individually incapable of meeting the general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system, transmitting a recommendation to the manager to transfer a practitioner from another cell to the particular cell of practitioners in order to create an optimized single cell that meets the general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system.

7. A computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage media;

first program instructions to create a model of an existing shared service delivery system;

second program instructions to define a capacity of the existing shared service delivery system according to required resources for existing projects, new projects, and proposed projects;

third program instructions to identify existing cells of practitioners in the existing shared service delivery system;

fourth program instructions to identify any gaps or gluts in capacity in the existing cells of practitioners according to a general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system;

fifth program instructions to, in response to identifying a gap of capacity in the existing cells of practitioners, transmit a first message to a manager recommending a creation of a new cell of practitioners according to a skill set demanded by the gap of capacity;

sixth program instructions to, in response to identifying a glut of capacity in the existing cells of practitioners, transmit a second message to the manager recommending an update to the existing cells of practitioners by reallocating excess practitioners away from existing cells having the glut of capacity; and

seventh program instructions to recommend an assignment of practitioners to a particular cell of practitioners by utilizing a constraint of f(θ

)=Σ

w(e)/|E|, eε

E, where E denote edges in a subgraph formed by practitioners in the particular cell of practitioners θ

, w(e) is a weight of e where eε

E, and f(θ

) is a familiarity index of the particular cell of practitioners, and wherein the familiarity index is defined as an average number of times that each member of the particular cell of practitioners has worked with another member of the particular cell of practitioners; and

wherein

the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh program instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, further comprising:

eighth program instructions to identify practitioners that are eligible to create the new cell of practitioners from a bench of idle practitioners, wherein selected practitioners have all skills needed to meet a project-specific resource requirement for the shared service delivery system for a particular project; and

wherein

the eighth program instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising:

ninth program instructions to, in response to determining that no practitioners from the bench of idle practitioners have all skills needed to meet the project-specific resource requirement, ignore the project-specific resource requirement and identify other practitioners from the bench to fill the new cell of practitioners, wherein the other practitioners still meet the general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system; and

wherein

the ninth program instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media.

10. The computer program product of claim 7, further comprising:

eighth program instructions to, in response to determining that each of two sub-cells of practitioners, having a same skill set required to meet a gap in resources, is individually incapable of meeting the predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system, transmit a recommendation to the manager to combine the two sub-cells of practitioners into a full cell of practitioners that meets the general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system; and

wherein the eighth program instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media.

11. The computer program product of claim 7, further comprising:

eighth program instructions to, in response to determining that a particular cell of practitioners is individually incapable of meeting the general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system, transmit a recommendation to the manager to transfer a practitioner from another cell to the particular cell of practitioners in order to create an optimized single cell that meets the general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system; and

wherein the eighth program instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media.

12. A computer system comprising:

a central processing unit (CPU), a non-transitory computer readable memory, and a non-transitory computer readable storage media;

first program instructions to create a model of an existing shared service delivery system;

second program instructions to define a capacity of the existing shared service delivery system according to required resources for existing projects, new projects, and proposed projects;

third program instructions to identify existing cells of practitioners in the existing shared service delivery system;

fourth program instructions to identify any gaps or gluts in capacity in the existing cells of practitioners according to a general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system;

fifth program instructions to, in response to identifying a gap of capacity in the existing cells of practitioners, transmit a first message to a manager recommending a creation of a new cell of practitioners according to a skill set demanded by the gap of capacity;

sixth program instructions to, in response to identifying a glut of capacity in the existing cells of practitioners, transmit a second message to the manager recommending an update to the existing cells of practitioners by reallocating excess practitioners away from existing cells having the glut of capacity; and

seventh program instructions to recommend an assignment of practitioners to a particular cell of practitioners by utilizing a constraint of f(θ

)=Σ

w(e)/|E|, eε

E, where E denote edges in a subgraph formed by practitioners in the particular cell of practitioners θ

, w(e) is a weight of e where eε

E, and f(θ

) is a familiarity index of the particular cell of practitioners, and wherein the familiarity index is defined as an average number of times that each member of the particular cell of practitioners has worked with another member of the particular cell of practitioners; and

wherein

the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh program instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media for execution by the CPU via the non-transitory computer readable memory.

13. The computer system of claim 12, further comprising:

eighth program instructions to identify practitioners that are eligible to create the new cell of practitioners from a bench of idle practitioners, wherein selected practitioners have all skills needed to meet a project-specific resource requirement for the shared service delivery system for a particular project; and

wherein the eighth program instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media for execution by the CPU via the non-transitory computer readable memory.

14. The computer system of claim 13, further comprising:

ninth program instructions to, in response to determining that no practitioners from the bench of idle practitioners have all skills needed to meet the project-specific resource requirement, ignore the project-specific resource requirement and identify other practitioners from the bench to fill the new cell of practitioners, wherein the other practitioners still meet the general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system; and

wherein

the ninth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by the CPU via the non-transitory computer readable memory.

15. The computer system of claim 12, further comprising:

eighth program instructions to, in response to determining that each of two sub-cells of practitioners, having a same skill set required to meet a gap in resources, is individually incapable of meeting the predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system, transmit a recommendation to the manager to combine the two sub-cells of practitioners into a full cell of practitioners that meets the general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system; and

wherein the eighth program instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media for execution by the CPU via the non-transitory computer readable memory.

16. The computer system of claim 12, further comprising:

eighth program instructions to, in response to determining that a particular cell of practitioners is individually incapable of meeting the general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system, transmit a recommendation to the manager to transfer a practitioner from another cell to the particular cell of practitioners in order to create an optimized single cell that meets the general predetermined resource requirement for the shared service delivery system; and

wherein the eighth program instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media for execution by the CPU via the non-transitory computer readable memory.