Balancing dynamic resource demands with portfolio complexities

Decoding custom resource management in life sciences: A Q&A with Nicola Clear

Effective cross-functional collaboration in resource management is no longer optional—it's essential. In life sciences, where complexity, speed, and precision matter, organizations must evolve beyond spreadsheets and fragmented systems to unified, data-driven frameworks like Alloc8.Check out this blog where PPM Subject Matter Expert Nicola answers a few critical resource management questions in life sciences project management.1. How can organizations improve cross-functional collaboration in resource management?When getting started with resource management, organizations must assess PMO processes weighing the level of their maturity and interconnectedness with other functional teams. Following aspects need assessing:Resource management tools – stand-alone or connected to other PPM tools?Project management tools – are they paired with good reporting to bring the portfolio together?Is strategic portfolio management linked to integrated schedule, cost and resource planning?Is the PMO/Resource ecosystem a collection of Individual tools or a unified smart integration with data warehouse strategy?While larger teams in global pharmaceutical organizations have excellent strategic and project management tools, with resource management, often things fall short. Despite maturity in portfolio planning, most resource allocation still relies on disconnected Excel spreadsheets—built on the fly during crunch time. This slows decision-making, making it inefficient and reactive. There is also no clarity on which projects can be delivered in-house, what needs to be outsourced, or making the case for additional resources.This disconnect is a pain point in large organizations, especially in R&D environments with complex, fast-moving portfolios with tight budgets, and limited resources.To tackle this, i2e’s purpose-fit digital resource framework Alloc8 becomes critical in bridging the gap between high-level strategic planning and day-to-day resource operations.Here’s how Alloc8 helps manage resources across teams:Speeds up decision-making and improve alignment—making sure the right people are working on the right projects at the right time.Unifies siloed data across HR, PMO, and line operations into a single, real-time platform with live dashboards and alerts—giving teams a shared, accurate view of resources, skills, and timelines.A connected resource management system that integrates seamlessly into any existing portfolio ecosystem.The result?Clearer communication, faster decisions, and real collaboration—because everyone is working from the same up-to-date information. 2. What are the benefits of dedicated digital solutions like Alloc8 for named resource management?Managers often stick with Excel for resource management because it's familiar. Excel works for one-off analysis, especially in ad hoc instances, for teams of fewer than 10 people. But in large, complex R&D environments managing tens of millions $s in demand across diverse skill sets, it breaks down fast.When the workforce needs shift weekly, not quarterly, and capacity planning is based on broad skill categories, a dedicated resource management system brings critical transparency. It enables faster, data-driven decisions on what can be delivered, what needs funding, and where trade-offs are required.But the impact is not just operational, it's also qualitative. In R&D, where success depends on collaboration, a shared resource framework structure & processes reduces stress, clarifies priorities, and supports team well-being.When tools like Alloc8 genuinely makes work easier for managers and teams, adoption isn’t a battle—it happens naturally because at its heart Alloc8 improves colleague well-being - through communication and expectations supporting the individual’s role in the team sport of drug R&D. Why is this?The visibility of allocation drives meaningful & quantifiable dialogue between colleagues, managers, and teams. When an employee sees they’re assigned 40% to Project A, 30% to B, and 30% to C—and understands why Project B is the priority and who else is involved—it brings clarity and focus. This alignment drives engagement, improves delivery, and makes employees feel empowered, valued, and connected to the bigger picture. The right dialogue on resourcing between managers and employees enables trust and engagement to develop in projects. Once resources are assigned to projects, identifying skill or knowledge gaps is the next priority—something Alloc8 addresses head-on. Alloc8 identifies skill and knowledge gaps by integrating with enterprise systems and using advanced LLMs can automatically recommend targeted training and surface relevant internal knowledge. This transforms traditional scheduling into real-time workforce enablement—offering a futuristic, AI-driven way to align people with projects and goals instantly. It also uncovers cross-divisional shadowing or delegation opportunities, matching it to individual growth plans. As a result of this smarter alignment, faster upskilling employee retention improves, colleagues stay where they feel supported and developed.Refer to our white paper called “Solving the mystery of named resource management in life sciences project management for organizational effectiveness” for more. 3. What roadblocks and barriers do organizations face with digital solutions for resource management?Factors that deter life sciences organizations from doing named resources.Disparate data: Life sciences organizations often hesitate on named resources due to fragmented data across unconnected systems, overlooking how integration can unlock new insights.Manual effort: The perception that named resource management requires time-consuming manual data gathering and updates—especially in tools like Excel—can hamper adoption.Lack of automation: Without automated notifications, critical updates on resource availability and task changes are missed, causing delays and misallocations.Regulatory compliance: Concerns about compliance with country-specific labor laws, particularly in the EU, are addressed by Alloc8’s configurable framework that ensures both efficiency and regulatory alignment. 4. What are the challenges and opportunities when integrating FTE forecasting, resource allocation and time carding data for resource decisions?Challenges in cross-functional data integrationDisconnected data systems: When your PPM, HR, and contractor capacity databases don’t talk to each other, comparing forecasted demand to actual capacity becomes manual hard work. It gets worse when insourced contractors are tracked separately, making total workforce visibility nearly impossible.Mismatch in forecast vs actuals: In theory, matching forecasts to actuals is simple, but any inconsistencies in naming and activity labels across systems make it difficult. For instance, a PPM forecast may list “chemist” for Project AB-234,777, Workflow 2, Activity A, while the timecard logs “chemist” under a different activity—causing misalignment when attempting forecast variance analysis. Without governance & standardization, linking forecast, allocation, and timecard data, data analytics are slow and error prone.Challenges in data maintenance: Scientists and teams often deprioritize forecast data updates, preferring to focus on their core science work rather than business forecasts. Many distrust forecasts and view manual updates as unproductive. But with custom digital resource frameworks, much of this can be automated—named allocations can update forecasts, calendar events can feed into timecards, and AI can refine future forecasts with human-in-the-loop approvals.Opportunities in cross-functional data integrationConnected forecasting: Data integration across functions is no longer optional—it’s now technically possible and essential. As digital transformation accelerates across every part of the organization, static forecasting templates quickly become outdated.Seamless data flow: Leaders need up-to-date, connected insights to compare forecasts, allocations, and actuals in real time and to accurately measure the ROI of digital investments. Without seamless data flow between systems like HR, PPM, finance, and operations, organizations risk slow or misinformed decisions, resource misalignment, and missed opportunities.Enhancing workforce administration with Alloc8: Resource management tools like Alloc8 are designed to work with—not against—the workforce. When integrated into the broader tech ecosystem, they help reduce manual admin, surface actionable insights, and identify training, knowledge or resourcing gaps early. This frees scientists, managers, and leaders to focus on higher-value innovative work, advancing science, solving critical problems, and driving innovation all the while letting technology handle the complexity behind the scenes.5. What about resource constraints and how can life sciences companies handle them?Yes, resource constraints are BAU for most Pharma companies, it’s a sign of a healthy growing organization to have a book of work larger than the capacity. Resource constraints are a normal part of any growing life sciences organization—but they only become a problem when there's no clear process to address them. Handling resource constraints with rapid, structured action involves:Verifying if the forecasted demand truly exceeds capacity by analyzing gaps in FTE or budget by skill set. Using named resource data to pinpoint which projects are under- or over-resourced relative to priorities, enabling faster and more accurate decision-making.Resolving gaps requires aligning existing talent with strategic priorities, securing additional budget for outsourcing or hiring, or making tough trade-offs on lower-priority projects.Alloc8 makes this decision-making process real-time by flagging skill shortages, overbookings, and workload bottlenecks. When teams see that managers are actively identifying and addressing resourcing issues, it builds trust, reinforces a team-first culture, and supports both performance and well-being. As a result, organizations can manage workload demands to balance productivity and colleague well-being. 6. Explain the 4Cs to optimize named resource allocation Organizations have the best interest of business and employees when they use 4Cs to optimize named resources. Culture: When employees trust the governance process and the leadership backing is strong, named resource allocation is seen as fair and beneficial.Communication: Regular one-on-ones, face-to-face updates, and AI-powered task automation ensure everyone stays aligned and knows their priorities.Connected: Linking resource plans to business strategy, OKRs, and KPIs ensures every allocation supports high-impact goals first.Change Management: For named resources to deliver as much time needs to be invested in stakeholder buy-in and training as the digital tech solution to ensure lasting adoption and effective implementation. Forget this last step at your peril!7.How can organizations solve demand forecasting disagreements?Purist vs directional, correct?Forecasting demand is never 100% precise because it’s based on general templates and estimates, often includes extra buffer time, often forgets to account for tasks like capturing lessons learned—so the over- and under-estimations tend to even out in the end. Managers recognizing this can usually reach forecasting agreements.Skill effectiveness varies too. For instance, a newer employee may deliver at 50% efficiency compared to someone experienced, making named allocation essential for accuracy. Historical data showing consistent over-forecasting—like deliverables met despite named resources being 20% below forecast—helps refine future predictions and find the true average algorithm.When disagreements arise, resource managers can use data from named allocations and timecards to show how work was actually delivered guiding more accurate, AI-supported future forecasting.

Common resource allocation challenges and how digital PPM solutions can solve them

Effective resource allocation and management is a critical success factor for project portfolio management. Projects can only achieve their intended goals when the right resources with the necessary skills and experience are assigned to the appropriate work packages. However, this task is often fraught with challenges which can result in over or under allocations, delayed timelines, over hiring or under utilizations. For example, one of the obstacles project managers faces is ensuring they have the right people with the right qualifications allocated to projects. It’s a delicate balance between leveraging existing talent and ensuring that team members are equipped with the necessary skills to handle the specific requirements of their assigned work packages. This requires an end-to-end visibility of the available resources, along with their allocations and skill sets. Traditional resource management practices are no longer able to sustain the growing portfolio requirements. So, how can resource managers tackle the resourcing issues? Read on as we present some of the most common resource allocation challenges and how modern PPM solutions like Planisware and Microsoft Project Online can help. Resource Allocation Challenges and how to Solve them?Identifying future skill requirements for long-running projects: Projects can span several years, from drug discovery and development to clinical trials and regulatory approvals. During this extended timeframe, the skill requirements for a project may evolve significantly. At the outset of a project, it can be challenging to accurately predict the specific expertise and competencies that will be needed as the project progresses through various phases. This uncertainty makes it difficult to allocate resources effectively, as the required skills may change, or new specializations may become necessary. Organizations often face situations where there is an unexpected surge in resource demand that exceeds their current bandwidth. In such cases, they must create contingency plans by either downsizing the resource demand, accelerating some projects while delaying others, or adjusting the scope of initiatives to smooth out the resource requirements over time. Digital PPM solution: Digital PPM solutions offer robust capabilities for prioritizing and ranking projects based on critical resource constraints, such as skilled personnel and budgetary limitations. These solutions typically incorporate algorithms and scoring mechanisms that consider various factors, including resource availability, skill requirements, and budgetary considerations. The ranking and scoring system provided by PPM solutions helps PMOs and decision-makers understand which projects should be prioritized based on resource alignment. Projects with higher scores, indicating a better match between resource availability and project requirements, can be given precedence in the portfolio, ensuring optimal resource allocation and increasing the likelihood of successful project execution. This data-driven approach to project prioritization and resource allocation helps organizations make informed decisions, mitigating the risks associated with resource constraints and maximizing the efficient utilization of scarce resources, such as skilled personnel and limited budgets. Lack of visibility and changing resource requirements: Unforeseen circumstances and changing scenarios can affect projects as they progress. Factors such as regulatory changes, emerging scientific developments, competitor activities, or shifts in market dynamics can significantly impact resource requirements. As these scenarios evolve, the resource needs for a project may change, requiring adjustments in staffing, expertise, and resource allocation.Digital PPM solution: By providing real-time insights into resource availability and project demands, these solutions offer better long-term visibility of projects, enabling organizations to effectively plan and allocate resources across their portfolios. With centralized platforms, these solutions enable quick adaptation to changing resource needs by facilitating dynamic resource allocation and planning. Additionally, automated workflows streamline resource management processes, ensuring the resources are allocated promptly and efficiently to meet project requirements. Collaboration features of these solutions foster seamless communication among teams, enabling swift adjustments to resource allocations based on evolving project needs. Moreover, robust risk management capabilities allow organizations to anticipate and mitigate potential disruptions caused by changing resource requirements, ensuring smooth project execution.Sub-optimal resource allocation due to siloed data: In many organizations, project data and resource information are often stored in separate systems or databases, leading to data silos. Such silos can exist between different departments, business units, or even within the same functional area. The lack of integrated and centralized data can significantly hinder effective resource allocation decisions during project portfolio management. When data is siloed, it becomes difficult to obtain a comprehensive view of the organization’s resource pool, their skills, availability, and utilization across various projects.Digital PPM solution: By consolidating data from various sources into a centralized repository, digital PPM solutions eliminate information silos, offering a comprehensive view of portfolio data. Additionally, integrated risk management modules facilitate proactive identification, assessment, and mitigation of project and portfolio risks, reducing the likelihood of delays or failures due to unforeseen circumstances. Robust reporting and analytics capabilities enable real-time visibility into project performance, resource utilization, and portfolio health, empowering data-driven decision-making. Advanced scenario analysis features allow organizations to simulate different resource allocation strategies, project prioritization scenarios, and potential risks, enabling informed decisions before committing resources.Inadequate resource utilization because of poor prioritization: Without clear prioritization, organizations may allocate their limited resources across too many projects simultaneously, leading to resource over-allocation, reduced productivity, and increased stress among team members. This misalignment can result in resources being allocated to projects that do not align with the company’s strategic objectives or long-term goals, leading to wasted efforts and missed opportunities. Furthermore, when resources are spread too thinly, it can cause delays in project delivery, as critical tasks may not receive the necessary attention or resources, leading to bottlenecks and timeline slippages.Digital PPM solution: These solutions typically help incorporate best practices that enable organizations to define and prioritize their strategic objectives, allowing for a clear mapping between projects and overall organizational strategy and facilitating better project prioritization. By integrating strategic objectives into the PPM tool, project proposals can be evaluated based on their alignment with these goals. The solutions can also provide a comprehensive view of how each project contributes to the achievement of specific strategic objectives, enabling decision-makers to prioritize and allocate resources towards projects that are most closely aligned with the organization’s strategic direction.By leveraging digital PPM solutions, companies can effectively align their project portfolios with strategic objectives, optimize resource allocation, and enhance the overall success and impact of their project initiatives. If you also want to incorporate digital PPM solutions within your organization, or are looking to adopt the best PPM practices, team i2e can assist you. We are a trusted partner in digital PPM services and solutions. Reach out today for tailored support and expertise in optimizing your project and portfolio management strategies. Let’s streamline your operations and maximize efficiency together.

5 pharma resourcing challenges and how insights and dashboards can solve them

Resource management is often the most overlooked aspect of R&D portfolio and project management. Despite its crucial role in ensuring project success, many organizations focus predominantly on project selection and prioritization, but neglect or defer addressing the complexities of allocating limited resources across multiple projects. This can lead to bottlenecks, delays and inefficiencies that not only undermine portfolio performance but also significantly impact time-to-market for new therapies. Research highlights that effective resource management and allocation can improve project success rates by up to 40%, underscoring their critical role in project portfolio success.McKinsey's report on strategic financial planning emphasizes that organizations which align their strategic financial plans with their resource allocation processes tend to outperform their peers. Companies that reallocate resources across business units within the year are significantly more likely to achieve superior revenue growth and return on capital In this blog, we will delve into how technical advancements can help resource and project managers have deeper visibility into named resource forecast, allocation, capacity and more. Leveraging technology for efficient resource management in life sciences Effective resource management is crucial, especially considering that large pharmaceutical companies typically manage hundreds of cross-functional and functional projects simultaneously across different therapeutic areas. With R&D spending in the industry averaging 15-20% of revenue, efficient allocation of both financial and human resources is key to portfolio success. Technology plays a vital role in effectively implementing any effective resource management. Life sciences organizations have an established ecosystem of tools and platforms which help to efficiently manage resources across all projects and portfolios. However, decisions on resource management capabilities are made through the lens of the enterprise, and typically do not provide the precision and granularity needed in the functional lines. In addition, data disparity and silos can still exist due to gaps in the tools in terms of visibility into named resource allocation, a clear idea on all auxiliary tasks assigned to the resources, etc. This can lead to insufficient visibility into resource allocation, task management, and coordination across teams. Introducing Alloc8 With vast experience in PPM resource management for the life sciences, i2e Consulting developed Alloc8. It is a dedicated resource management tool that seamlessly integrates with your existing PPM ecosystem and focuses specifically on optimizing the use of human resources. Alloc8 is a unique tool which complements and extends existing enterprise tools by giving complete visibility of resource forecasts and allocation to line leads, department heads and product teams that require granular resource management data. It integrates resource data (required to make informed resource allocation) from various systems such as PPM tool (project schedules, resource needs and forecasts at the role level) HR system (employee skills, and name allocations), and Full Time Equivalents (FTEs). Alloc8 then extends visibility into named resource forecasts, allocation, and capacity. With intuitive features like task allocation, real-time progress tracking, and efficient coordination, Alloc8 empowers teams to optimize resource utilization, and enhance project efficiency. Let’s go deeper into how Alloc8 can help life sciences organizations take data-driven decisions when it comes to resource allocation. Features Complete view: The tool integrates and extends information from different sources and offers a comprehensive view of the number of resources, their project schedules, forecasts, full-time equivalents, and HR systems. Spreadsheets are replaced with the compiled data, offering visibility into the skill sets and resource capacity.Automated workflow and optimization: Project managers can manage workloads effectively by utilizing the resources based on their availability and skillset. The advanced automated resource requisition fosters a shared model, thereby reducing internal conflicts and avoiding under- and over-allocation. Improved alerting and issue management: Alloc8 shares alerts and flags, proactively surfacing potential areas of concern. If desired, it can automatically takes meetings-related information from Outlook to streamline the collection of time spent/planned on project related meetings to enhance the identification of capacity constraints.Tracking and interactive visuals: Alloc8 provides detailed reports, interactive visuals, and real-time tracking that enables necessary changes as per the project’s progress. This keeps the project’s stakeholders informed and monitors the workflow as per the demands. Dashboards: The tool displays the forecasted availability of the resources for multiple tasks that lets the managers identify gaps and bridge them to minimize risks. Additionally, it facilitates governance and lets the managers devise mitigation strategies. For more details, check out Alloc8Now that we understand how technology can contribute to improving the efficiency of resource management, let’s see what business outcomes organizations can reap from a streamlined, and visible resource management process. Improves productivity One major advantage of efficient resource allocation is the boost in productivity it brings to an organization. With proper distribution of resources, organizations make sure that every team or project gets the right tools, time, and support that is required to achieve the best outcomes. It also ensures that employees aren't wasting time looking manually for resources or waiting for approvals; instead, they can focus on their main tasks and duties. Furthermore, resource allocation highlights bottlenecks or overburdened areas, allowing for timely corrections.A well-implemented resource allocation strategy significantly enhances productivity and streamlines operations, resulting in greater efficiency and better outcomes for the whole organization. 2. Boosts decision-making Efficient resource allocation provides resource and project managers with a clear understanding of the available resources and their distribution. This transparency allows for informed choices based on accurate data. Strategic resource allocation helps optimize efficiency, productivity, and overall success. With a well-structured plan and efficient decision-making, businesses can achieve their goals more effectively and boost profitability. 3. Enhances financial performance Smart resource allocation can significantly improve a company's financial performance. By distributing resources wisely, organizations can maximize productivity and minimize waste and unnecessary expenses. Proper allocation ensures every department or project receives the support and funding needed to meet its goals efficiently. This leads to smoother operations, better efficiency, and higher profitability. Additionally, it helps identify overused or underused resources, allowing for redirection to areas where they are needed most. Refining resource allocation strategies enhances financial performance and drives sustainable growth. Resource management in life sciences management is crucial to support complex, multi-disciplinary and long duration projects. Life sciences organizations are on a continuous journey to make their processes efficient and automated. Tools like Alloc8 would seamlessly integrate into your existing PPM systems and fill any gaps.