Best capacity planning tools will be described in this article. One of the most crucial project planning tasks is capacity planning, which involves matching a team’s capacity with a projected project demand. Project leaders must juggle a lot of various responsibilities.
The supply of resources that are accessible to a project team and the resource requirements of the project must be carefully balanced during capacity planning.
If not, it is the responsibility of the leader to secure the resources required. Leaders must determine whether or not their team has the ability and resources to meet the project demand.
The uncertainty involved in estimating deadlines and allocating resources is taken out by capacity planning.
When a business is scaling, this kind of planning is particularly crucial to ensure that you can expand without your staff becoming burned out.
By guaranteeing that a team completes a project on schedule and within budget, capacity planning can help businesses.
Many of the laborious chores involved in capacity planning can be streamlined with the use of resource capacity planning tools.
Discover our selections for the top ten capacity planning tools in 2023 by reading on.
Why use a capacity planning tool?
Creating timesheets is only one aspect of capacity planning.
Project managers must first determine the specific requirements of the project before converting those needs into resources and capacity.
This might include the number of hours of labour required or particular tools the team will need to use.
Finding their team’s capacity in relation to the project’s timeline is the next stage.
The capacity must be matched with demand if the project manager discovers a discrepancy between the resources that are accessible and the project’s demand.
The project manager may shorten the time to completion or reduce the size of the team if capacity is higher than demand.
The project manager may decide to change priorities or expand the team if the demands of the project are frequently higher than the team’s capacity.
Through the automation of procedures like resource usage and optimization, a capacity management system makes this process simple and painless.
Project managers can obtain a more precise image of their team’s bandwidth with the aid of capacity planning tools that automate scheduling and monitor team performance.
They can also generate reports and reviews automatically that provide stakeholders with information about present capacity.
Use a timetable tool like Clockwise in addition to capacity planning tools.
When it comes to managing everyone’s time, Clockwise offers managers immediate insight into how many hours each team member spends in Focus Time versus meetings.
What to look for in resource capacity planning tools
Although not all tools are created identical, resource capacity planning tools are a crucial component of accurate and efficient planning.
Four key characteristics should be considered when selecting capacity planning tools: integration, automation, real-time reporting, and flexibility.
1. Integration with existing software
The goal of capacity planning software is to make a project manager’s work simpler, not harder.
Search for tools that easily work with the project management and human resources management software your team is already using.
2. Automation is key
As much of the capacity planning procedure as feasible is automated by the best capacity planning tools.
Without automation, Microsoft Excel spreadsheet setup takes too much time for capacity managers.
The most efficient capacity planning tools, however, go beyond basic task automation and use AI to automatically adjust capacity as circumstances, like supply chain disruptions, change.
Additionally, AI can predict project capacity in the future.
3. Reports and analytics in real time
For resource capacity planning tools, real-time reporting and statistics are crucial.
Project managers can quickly assess employee availability and get a bird’s-eye view of capacity thanks to real-time reporting.
This enables project administrators to change schedules and resource allocation along the way.
4. Flexibility and scaling
The best capacity planning tools give flexibility and customization because each organization’s capacity planning requirements are unique.
Search for capacity planning tools with choices that can grow with your company.
Here are our selections for the top ten capacity planning tools for 2022 based on the aforementioned factors.
Top 10 Best And Demanding capacity planning tools for 2023
1.Kantanta
An extensive project administration tool is Kantanta (previously Mavenlink).
Resource control and optimization are features of this tool.
Its ability to access data from all of your systems and its powerful demand forecasting and planning capabilities are two of its strongest points.
Features: Business analytics, integrations, resource scheduling and optimization, and workflows
Pros: Complete usefulness and strong integrations
Pro: Expensive
Available upon order; price
Ideal for: Large companies that must integrate capacity planning tools with legacy software.
2. Toggl
Three dashboards for a project are provided by Toggl, an all-in-one project management tool: one for project management, one for team planning, and one for job management.
This makes keeping track of tasks and the workload of your staff simple.
Features: All-in-one HR tool, project administration, and project scheduling
For project managers and team members, this is one of the finest capacity planning tools available.
Cons:
- Non-HR resources and equipment are not taken into consideration in people-centric capacity planning.
- Pricing: Paid options begin at $9 per user per month with a free trial period.
- pro plans come with a 30-day trial so you can push them out before you purchase.
- Best suited for: Businesses that only use hours worked as a resource for capacity planning
- Another resource management tool with a complete feature set is forecast.
- It makes use of AI to generate insightful data and forecast—as the term implies—future capacity planning.
3. Forecast
Tools for project accounting, resource administration, business intelligence, and project management.
AI-powered insights and thorough connections are advantages.
Pros: Expensive and contains tools that not all teams require.
Pricing: From $39 per person per month.
Best suited for: Larger companies seeking a single tool to support all facets of project management
4. Saviom
Saviom is enterprise-level software that offers real-time scheduling, forecasting, resource and workforce administration, as well as capacity planning tools.
Saviom goes a step further and keeps track of KPIs and other commercial data.
Features: A warning system to locate and clear project bottlenecks, as well as real-time features that adapt capacity forecasting to shifting conditions.
Pros: Effective real-time adjustments and business-oriented data
Cons: Some functions, such as KPI tracking, may be superfluous or already included in another piece of software.
Pricing: Demos are free, but paid plans are not mentioned at a price.
Ideal for: Big businesses searching for a comprehensive solution
5. ClickUp
Yes, ClickUp is more than just a work management tool.
In contrast to other task apps, ClickUp also includes a workload view function that aids in planning and illustrating the capacity of a team.
The capacity of ClickUp can be measured in jobs, hours, or points (using the Agile and Scrum points system).
Features include a Gantt chart for creating roadmaps and a real-time glimpse of activity levels.
Advantages: integrated job management and capacity planning tool
Cons: Limited ability to spot bottlenecks and clumsy UI
Pricing: Free plan for life; paid options start at $5 per user per month
Tiny businesses that don’t require sophisticated resource capacity planning tools should use it.
6. ResourceGuru
The key selling factors of ResourceGuru are its robust features and user-friendly interface.
You can quickly see how much capacity each team member has remaining thanks to its humorous calendar layout, which also includes alerts for scheduling overload.
ResourceGuru’s drag and drop UI makes it simple to use.
- Features: Contains reservation of meeting spaces and equipment administration
- Positives: Easy to use, quick, and prevents overbooking
- Cons: Lacks flexibility and customizable characteristics
- Pricing: $2.50 per person, per month.
- Best for: Businesses whose capacity planning must take equipment management into consideration.
7. Runn
Project administrators can use Runn for free to get started.
It offers both a broad calendar look and detailed information on particular team members.
Runn also features money tracking and reporting for projects.
- Features: Detailed and high level information
- Positives: Small-team-friendly characteristics
- Cons: Does not have advanced tools that larger teams may require.
- Pricing: Free for up to five users; a pro package is $10 per user per month.
- Nonprofits and groups from low-income nations receive 50% off.
- Best suited for: Small businesses seeking for a free tool, particularly nonprofits
8. Smartsheet
The capacity planning software 10,000ft was purchased by Smartsheet in 2019.
Smartsheet provides straightforward but dynamic data on capacity.
This is one of the finest capacity planning tools because they provide a variety of plans with different features that can accommodate teams of varying sizes.
Features: resource distribution, capacity forecasting, and time logging
Features that adapt to the size of your company are a plus.
Cons: Only effective when used with the Smartsheet environment
Pricing: Professional, Business, and Enterprise
Best for: Teams that need a tool that will scale with them as they grow and foresee doing so.
9. Monday.com
It all can be done with Monday.com, a highly customizable integration management application.
For teams that require specialised features, Monday.com is one of the best power planning tools due to its powerful integration capabilities and customization.
Project roadmaps, resource distribution, team capacity evaluation, and forecast are some of the capacity planning tools that are accessible on Monday.com.
Features: Modular and incorporation customization
Positives: Easily customizable and compatible with almost any programme
Cons: Setup and customization take effort and expertise.
Pricing: There is a free plan for life, and premium options start at $8 per user per month.
Who should use it: Companies with specialised capacity planning requirements
A “people first” strategy to capacity planning is used in the HR and capacity planning tool called Float Float.
With float, project supervisors can see what team members are working on thanks to a shared work schedule.
10. Float
In order to fill in any voids in advance and complete projects on time, managers can use float.
Features: A shared calendar and HR administration tools
Positives: The availability of a single instrument for capacity planning and HR requirements
Cons: Ignores non-HR resources that are required for some tasks.
Price: $6 per user per month for the basic package with resource planning.
The cost for time monitoring is $10 per user per month.
Best for: Businesses that frequently outsource work, have fluctuating staffing requirements, and must keep account of billable hours
Going Forward
Project managers can successfully allocate project resources and predict their teams’ ability to scale and take on new projects by using capacity planning tools.
The finest capacity planning tools support real-time analytics, automation, flexibility, and integrations.
A project manager can benefit greatly from any one of our top ten capacity planning tools for 2023!
