Analyzing Resource Utilization

This chapter provides an overview of resource utilization interactive reports and discusses how to:

Define resource utilization parameters.
Update resource utilization data.
Launch resource utilization interactive reports.
Analyze resource utilization interactive reports.

Understanding Resource Utilization Interactive Reports

This section lists prerequisites and discusses:

Utilization interactive reports from PeopleSoft Analytic Calculation Engine.
Resource utilization calculations.
Security and access.

Prerequisites

Before you can generate a resource utilization interactive report with meaningful results, resources or their supervisors must:

Ensure that resources have values for the Department (DEPTID), Job Code (JOBCODE), Location (LOCATION), Standard Hours (STD_HRS) and Standard Work Period (STD_HRS_FREQUENCY) fields in the Job record (JOB).
Submit forecasts using the Forecast Time - Summary page or the Review Forecasted Time page in the Employee Self-Service folder and Manager Self-Service folder.
Submit actual hours worked using the PeopleSoft Expenses self-service pages for time reports.

Note. You must use PeopleSoft Expenses to capture actual time for the Actual to Forecast Utilization interactive report. However, you can capture forecasts for the Forecast Utilization interactive report using PeopleSoft Program Management.

Before you can compare forecast utilization with capacity and actual utilization, administrators must:

Configure a PeopleSoft Analytic Calculation Engine server.

See ”Configuring and Starting Analytic Servers” in Enterprise PeopleTools PeopleBook: System and Server Administration
Run the utilization and capacity engines for the period of time covering the actual time and forecasted time submissions so that utilized hours and capacity hours are calculated and available for use by PeopleSoft Analytic Calculation Engine.

Utilization Interactive Reports from PeopleSoft Analytic Calculation Engine

With the Forecasting feature, you can analyze forecast utilization and actual utilization at a summary business unit or organizational level and drill down to detailed information for individual resources. PeopleSoft Analytic Calculation Engine provides the utilization interactive reports. You do not need a separate database to store data.

PeopleSoft Analytic Calculation Engine reports are dynamic and interactive. You can move data elements on a report and view them using different dimensions. Viewing information from different angles provides in-depth information about the organization, such as how much capacity is available for additional workloads and how well the organization was utilized in the past. You can also evaluate the accuracy of forecasted information by comparing forecasted utilization to actual utilization.

PeopleSoft Analytic Calculation Engine output can be exported to Microsoft Excel or printed. The communication between a PeopleSoft Analytic Calculation Engine interactive report and the database is one-way. The changes that you make on the interactive report do not affect the data in the database.

When you initiate a process request to launch the Forecast Utilization interactive report or the Actual to Forecast Utilization interactive report, the system:

Determines the scope of resources.
Determines capacity and forecasted utilized project and personal (policy) hours of the resources.
For the Actual to Forecast Utilization report, determines actual utilized project and personal hours of the resources, taking into account adjustments to actual time.
Obtains descriptions and setID mappings.

Resource Utilization Calculations

Utilization is defined as the number of utilized hours in a period divided by the number of capacity hours in the same period. Utilized time is the total number of hours during a specified period of time that an employee plans to work (or has worked) on an activity that the organization includes in its utilization analysis. You can configure the type of project time—such as billable, nonbillable, and internal—and the type of personal (policy) time—such as training, vacation, and administration—and include this information in the definition of utilized time. You can also configure the system to use pending forecasts, include external resources, and include specific job codes when performing the calculations.

Control over the definition of utilized hours enables you to adapt to changing business requirements.

The capacity of a resource is defined as the employee's standard work hours minus company holiday hours. The Services Forecasting feature determines capacity at a calendar-week level, where a week is defined as Sunday through Saturday. For example, the calculation for a resource's capacity for a given week is:

(8 hours [length of resource's standard work day] × 4 days [resource's standard work days in a week]) − (8 hours [length of resource's standard work day] × 0 holidays [standard company holidays for the week]) = 32 hours (capacity for a one week period)

Capacity is calculated for resources who are active during the reporting period.

Security and Access

You can use these security layers to restrict the amount of data that each user can analyze:

Standard row-level security.

Use row-level security to give users access to a specific list of business units from which to select when performing the analysis. At run time, the system requires users to select at least one human resources (HR) business unit on the Utilization Parameters - Business Units page or the Utilization Parameters - Organization Units page. The Business Unit field is a prompt-with-edit field that has a row-level security view that controls the business units from which the user can select, if row-level security is active.
Tree security based on business unit security.

Use tree security for users to analyze departments or locations by selecting from department or location trees that are associated with an HR business unit. On the Utilization Parameters - Organization Units page, users can only select from HR business units that are accessible to them through row-level security. The available department or location trees depend on the business units that a user can access.

Defining Resource Utilization Parameters

To define resource utilization parameters, use the Utilization Definition component (RS_AGG_DEF).

This section discusses how to define resource utilization parameters for HR business units.

Page Used to Define Resource Utilization Parameters

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Utilization Definition	RS_AGG_DEF	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Business Unit Related, Program Management, Forecasting, Utilization Definition, Utilization Definition	Define the parameters for calculating actual, capacity, and forecast utilization for each HR business unit.

Defining Resource Utilization Parameters for Business Units

Access the Utilization Definition page.

Use this page to define the rules for calculating capacity and actual and forecast utilization for each HR business unit.

Billing Action	Select all of the billing actions that constitute utilized project time. You can select one or more billing actions, or none at all. Options are Billable, Internal, and Nonbill (nonbillable). The resource must enter a billing action for every entry of project hours in PeopleSoft Expenses or the Services Forecasting feature. When you identify which billing action field values are utilized time, you enable the Utilization and Capacity Application Engine process (RS_AGG_ENG) and the utilization analysis tools to treat actual and forecasted time consistently when determining the type of project time that counts as utilized time.
Time Reporting Code	Specify which time reporting codes (TRCs) count as utilized personal time. The TRCs are setID-driven and defined on the Time Reporting Code page. TRCs appear on the Forecast Time - Summary page, the Forecast Time - Forecast by Period page, and the PeopleSoft Expenses Time Report Summary page for resources to enter personal time. When you identify which TRC field values are considered as utilized time, you enable the Utilization and Capacity process (and the utilization analysis tools) to treat actual and forecast time consistently when determining which nonproject time counts as utilized time.
Job Code	Select the job code values to indicate which resources within the organization are analyzed by the Utilization and Capacity process and included in utilization calculations. This setting controls which resources are analyzed across the business unit. For example, if you measure utilization only for the information services support team, enter only the job codes that are associated with support team resources. Available job codes are based on the HR business unit. Note. If you do not enter a job code, or if no resources match the job codes that you select for the business unit, the system does not perform any capacity or utilization calculations.
Include External Resources	Select to include external resources (such as contractors) in the utilization calculations. Clear to exclude resources with a non-employee status from the utilization calculations and analysis. Note. Resources are treated as non-employees if the Personnel Status field (PER_STATUS) value is N (non-employee) for the employee ID (EMPLID).
Include Pending Forecasts	Select to have the analysis include forecasts that are pending (not yet submitted). To determine the appropriate setting, decide whether you want to analyze forecast utilization based on forecasted hours that are prepopulated by the Populate Time process or wait until resources have submitted their forecasts before analyzing the utilization data. Note. Forecast status values of Pending and Submitted are different from the time report status values that contain actual hours entered into PeopleSoft Expenses.
Display Organization Tree	Select to display the Organizational Unit tree on the Utilization Parameters - Organization Units page. This option simplifies the process of selecting organizational units (such as departments, locations, and child departments and locations) for analysis.

Updating Resource Utilization Data

To update resource utilization data for reporting, use the Utilization and Capacity Engines component (RS_AGG_AEP).

This section discusses how to run the Utilization and Capacity Application Engine process (RS_AGG_ENG) to update Utilization and Capacity data. The Utilization Interactive Reports are only as current as the most recent time you refreshed the Utilization and Capacity data.

Page Used to Update Resource Utilization Data

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Utilization and Capacity Engines	RS_AGG_AEP	Program Management, Forecasting, Refresh Capacity/Utilization, Utilization and Capacity Engines	Run the Utilization and Capacity process.

Running the Utilization and Capacity Application Engine Process

Access the Utilization and Capacity Engines page.

Use this page to run the Utilization and Capacity process by HR business unit. You can schedule the processes for any HR business units for which a utilization definition exists. For example, you can group the units by time zone so that the processes refresh utilization and capacity data at a time of day that is convenient for the majority of users in the region, or you can run the processes for all HR business units at once.

You can analyze forecasted utilization, actual utilization, and capacity data with the data generated by the Utilization and Capacity engine.

All HR Business Units	Select this option to run the Utilization and Capacity process for all HR business units that have a utilization definition.
Specify	Select to run the process for a subset of HR business units.
Business Unit	Enter the HR business units to include in this run control of the Utilization and Capacity process.
Number of Past Months	Enter the number of months prior to the current date for which the Capacity or Utilization process calculates weekly capacity and utilized hours statistics. The process counts back from the current date by the number of months that are entered in this field, and it calculates capacity or utilized hours for all of the calendar weeks that fall within that range. When past weeks are recalculated by a subsequent Capacity or Utilization process, weekly data in the Utilization and Capacity Cache record (RS_AGG_CACHE) is updated if the week's data already exists for a resource. If a week's data does not exist for a resource, the data is added to the record. The process does not delete historical data. Note. A week is defined as Sunday through Saturday.
Number of Future Months	Enter the number of months following the current date for which the capacity or utilization process calculates weekly capacity and utilized hours statistics. The process counts forward from the current date by the number of months that are entered in this field and calculates capacity or utilized hours for all of the calendar weeks that fall within that range. When future weeks are recalculated by a subsequent Capacity or Utilization process, weekly data in the Utilization and Capacity Cache record (RS_AGG_CACHE) is updated if the week's data already exists for a resource. If a week's data does not exist for a resource, the data is added to the record. The process does not delete historical data.
Calculate Capacity	Select to refresh capacity data. The capacity calculations in this Application Engine process determine each resource's weekly capacity by calendar week, based on the rules that you specify on the Utilization Definition page. Capacity is defined as a resource's standard hours per calendar week minus company holidays. For the purposes of the Utilization and Capacity process and utilization interactive reports, calendar weeks begin on Sunday and end on Saturday. You can calculate capacity without calculating utilization, and vice versa.
Calculate Utilization	Select to refresh utilization data. The utilization calculations in this process use the rules that you specify on the Utilization Definition page to calculate each resource's actual and forecasted utilized time by calendar week. It calculates actual utilized project hours, actual utilized personal hours, forecasted utilized project hours, and forecasted utilized personal hours.
Run	Click to initiate the process. The results are written to the Utilization and Capacity Cache record and used by PeopleSoft Analytic Calculation Engine to generate the utilization interactive reports. Note. The Utilization and Capacity Cache record grows over time because the Utilization and Capacity process does not delete rows. Monitor the record and delete unnecessary rows based on the amount of history that you want to maintain.

Launching Resource Utilization Interactive Reports

To launch resource utilization interactive reports, use the Utilization Parameters component (RS_AGG_RUN).

This section discusses how to:

Launch resource utilization interactive reports for multiple business units, departments, and locations.
Launch resource utilization interactive reports for departments or locations in a single business unit.

Pages Used to Launch Resource Utilization Interactive Reports

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Utilization Parameters - Business Units	RS_AGG_RUN	Program Management, Interactive Reports, Utilization, Utilization Parameters - Business Units	Enter the parameters for the Forecast Utilization interactive report or the Actual to Forecast Utilization interactive report for multiple HR business units.
Utilization Parameters - Organization Units	RS_AGG_RUN2	Select the Organization Units tab on the Utilization Parameters - Business Units page.	Enter the parameters for the Forecast Utilization interactive report or the Actual to Forecast Utilization interactive report for organization units belonging to a single HR business unit.

Launching Resource Utilization Interactive Reports for Multiple Business Units

Access the Utilization Parameters - Business Units page.

Start Date

Select the first date from which the system extracts data for the analysis.

Note. Although you can enter a start date of any day of the week, the interactive report always begins analyzing data starting on Sunday in the calendar week in which the selected date occurs.

End Date

Select the last date from which the system extracts data for the analysis. You can enter an end date of any day of the week; however, the interactive report always covers data through Saturday in the calendar week in which the selected date falls.

For the Forecast Utilization interactive report, the end date must be less than or equal to the end date of the last forecast horizon period of the latest forecast time collection iteration for the general ledger (GL) business unit that is associated with the requested HR business unit. In addition, if you run a report with multiple HR business units that are associated with multiple GL business units, the end date is limited by the forecast horizon period end date of the GL business unit with the shortest forecast horizon period.

For example, suppose that you request a Forecast Utilization interactive report for two HR business units that map to different GL business units. Both GL business units specify weekly forecasting, but one specifies forecasts five weeks into the future and the other specifies forecasts ten weeks into the future. You must enter an end date that is less than or equal to the end date of the fifth week in the future.

For the Actual to Forecast Utilization interactive report, the end date must occur before or on the end date of the last PeopleSoft Expenses time entry reporting period for the GL business unit that is associated with the requested HR business unit. In addition, if you run a report with multiple HR business units that are associated with multiple GL business units, the end date is limited by the end date with the shortest time entry period.

For example, suppose that you request an Actual to Forecast Utilization interactive report for two HR business units that map to different GL business units. The first GL business unit requires semimonthly time report submissions, and the second GL business unit requires weekly time report submissions. The first GL business unit's current time entry period ends in nine days, and the second GL business unit's current time entry period ends in four days. You must enter an end date that occurs before or on the four days in the future.

Forecast Utilization

Select to analyze how the forecasted resource utilization compares to the organization's capacity to handle additional workloads.

Actual to Forecast Utilization

Select to analyze how the forecasted resource utilization compares to the actual resource utilization. Typically, you select this analysis if you enter a start date and end date that are earlier than the current date.

Launch Interactive Reports

After you select all the parameters that the system uses to extract information from the database, click Launch Interactive Reports to launch the interactive report.

Business Unit

Select an HR business unit for which you want to analyze data. To add business units to the analysis, add a new row and select another HR business unit.

Department

Select to filter the analysis for specific departments. To add departments to the filter, add a new row and select another department. If you don't select any departments, the system returns all departments for the HR business units.

Location Code

Select to filter the analysis for specific locations. To add locations to the filter, click the button to add a new row and select another location. If you don't select any location codes, the system returns all locations for the HR business units.

Launching Resource Utilization Interactive Reports for a Single Business Unit

Access the Utilization Parameters - Organization Units page.

The reporting options are identical to the Utilization Parameters - Business Units page. However, the selection of the utilization parameters (business unit and organizational units) is different on this page.

Business Unit	Select the HR business unit from which you want to extract data.
Tree Name	Select a department or location tree that includes the department or location to analyze. If the administrator enables the Display Organization Tree option on the Utilization Definition page and PeopleSoft Resource Management is installed, the PeopleSoft Resource Management organizational unit tree appears. Otherwise, the list of trees contains only the trees that are associated with the specified HR business unit.
Select an Organization	Select a department or location from which the system extracts data. You can select a node or detail value from the tree. If you select a node, all of the node child departments or locations are included in the report.
Node	Displays the department or location node that you select on the tree. To use a different node, either select a different node on the tree or click Look up Node to select a node from a list.
Description	Displays the department or location description if you selected a detail value from the tree.

Analyzing Resource Utilization Interactive Reports

You can analyze data by the following dimensions: HR business unit, department, location, job code, and employee.

To create a different view and have PeopleSoft Analytic Calculation Engine recalculate the data, simply drag and drop dimensions onto different parts of the page. You can expand, collapse, and filter the data elements.

Note. Utilization interactive reports always calculate utilized hours, capacity, and utilization percentages for full calendar weeks. For example, if you request a start date on Wednesday and an end date of the following Wednesday, the interactive report includes the capacity and utilized hours for the two full calendar weeks in which the start and end dates appear.

This section discusses how to:

Analyze actual to forecast utilization.
Analyze forecast utilization.

Analyzing Actual to Forecast Utilization

Launch the Actual to Forecast Utilization interactive report.

These are two examples of report views:

Forecast Utilization (%) Forecast Utilization Percentage

The percentage of the capacity hours that are forecasted as utilized for the given time period and specified parameters. The value is the result of dividing the total forecast utilized hours by the capacity hours.

Actual Utilization (%) Actual Utilization Percentage

The percentage of actual resource hours that were used compared to resource capacity for the given time period and specified parameters. The value is based on dividing the total actual utilized hours by the capacity hours.

Total Forecast Hours

The total number of forecasted utilized hours for the given time period and specified parameters. The value is the sum of the forecasted utilized project hours and the forecasted utilized personal hours.

Total Actual Hours

The total number of hours that were actually used for the given time period and specified parameters. The value is the sum of the actual utilized project hours and the actual utilized personal hours.

Forecast Less Actual Hours

The difference between the forecasted utilized hours and the hours that were actually utilized for the given time period and specified parameters. The value is based on subtracting the total actual utilized hours from the total forecast utilized hours.

Capacity Hours

The total number of standard resource hours available to engage in an activity that is considered utilized for the given time period and specified parameters.

Forecast Project Hours

The total number of forecasted project hours to be worked and considered as utilized for the given time period and specified parameters.

Actual Project Hours

The total number of project hours actually worked and treated as utilized for the given time period and specified parameters.

Forecast Policy Hours

The total number of forecasted personal hours that are considered utilized for the given time period and specified parameters.

Actual Policy Hours

The total number of personal hours actually worked and treated as utilized for the given time period and specified parameters.

Analyzing Forecast Utilization

Launch the Forecast Utilization interactive report.

These are two examples of report views:

Start Date	Select the first date from which the system extracts data for the analysis. Note. Although you can enter a start date of any day of the week, the interactive report always begins analyzing data starting on Sunday in the calendar week in which the selected date occurs.
End Date	Select the last date from which the system extracts data for the analysis. You can enter an end date of any day of the week; however, the interactive report always covers data through Saturday in the calendar week in which the selected date falls. For the Forecast Utilization interactive report, the end date must be less than or equal to the end date of the last forecast horizon period of the latest forecast time collection iteration for the general ledger (GL) business unit that is associated with the requested HR business unit. In addition, if you run a report with multiple HR business units that are associated with multiple GL business units, the end date is limited by the forecast horizon period end date of the GL business unit with the shortest forecast horizon period. For example, suppose that you request a Forecast Utilization interactive report for two HR business units that map to different GL business units. Both GL business units specify weekly forecasting, but one specifies forecasts five weeks into the future and the other specifies forecasts ten weeks into the future. You must enter an end date that is less than or equal to the end date of the fifth week in the future. For the Actual to Forecast Utilization interactive report, the end date must occur before or on the end date of the last PeopleSoft Expenses time entry reporting period for the GL business unit that is associated with the requested HR business unit. In addition, if you run a report with multiple HR business units that are associated with multiple GL business units, the end date is limited by the end date with the shortest time entry period. For example, suppose that you request an Actual to Forecast Utilization interactive report for two HR business units that map to different GL business units. The first GL business unit requires semimonthly time report submissions, and the second GL business unit requires weekly time report submissions. The first GL business unit's current time entry period ends in nine days, and the second GL business unit's current time entry period ends in four days. You must enter an end date that occurs before or on the four days in the future.
Forecast Utilization	Select to analyze how the forecasted resource utilization compares to the organization's capacity to handle additional workloads.
Actual to Forecast Utilization	Select to analyze how the forecasted resource utilization compares to the actual resource utilization. Typically, you select this analysis if you enter a start date and end date that are earlier than the current date.
Launch Interactive Reports	After you select all the parameters that the system uses to extract information from the database, click Launch Interactive Reports to launch the interactive report.
Business Unit	Select an HR business unit for which you want to analyze data. To add business units to the analysis, add a new row and select another HR business unit.
Department	Select to filter the analysis for specific departments. To add departments to the filter, add a new row and select another department. If you don't select any departments, the system returns all departments for the HR business units.
Location Code	Select to filter the analysis for specific locations. To add locations to the filter, click the button to add a new row and select another location. If you don't select any location codes, the system returns all locations for the HR business units.

Forecast Utilization (%) Forecast Utilization Percentage	The percentage of the capacity hours that are forecasted as utilized for the given time period and specified parameters. The value is the result of dividing the total forecast utilized hours by the capacity hours.
Actual Utilization (%) Actual Utilization Percentage	The percentage of actual resource hours that were used compared to resource capacity for the given time period and specified parameters. The value is based on dividing the total actual utilized hours by the capacity hours.
Total Forecast Hours	The total number of forecasted utilized hours for the given time period and specified parameters. The value is the sum of the forecasted utilized project hours and the forecasted utilized personal hours.
Total Actual Hours	The total number of hours that were actually used for the given time period and specified parameters. The value is the sum of the actual utilized project hours and the actual utilized personal hours.
Forecast Less Actual Hours	The difference between the forecasted utilized hours and the hours that were actually utilized for the given time period and specified parameters. The value is based on subtracting the total actual utilized hours from the total forecast utilized hours.
Capacity Hours	The total number of standard resource hours available to engage in an activity that is considered utilized for the given time period and specified parameters.
Forecast Project Hours	The total number of forecasted project hours to be worked and considered as utilized for the given time period and specified parameters.
Actual Project Hours	The total number of project hours actually worked and treated as utilized for the given time period and specified parameters.
Forecast Policy Hours	The total number of forecasted personal hours that are considered utilized for the given time period and specified parameters.
Actual Policy Hours	The total number of personal hours actually worked and treated as utilized for the given time period and specified parameters.