IT Monthly Estimation and Planning Tool

Instructions
Introduction
This tool allows the IT team to estimate, roughly, the projects and resource allocations for the near-term horizon (focused on 2 months out)
It's intended to be used as an estimating scratchpad, not as a precise day-by-day planner
Prerequisites
You must have the Analysis ToolPak enabled in Excel, since the functions NETWORKDAYS() and EOMONTH() come from there.
Choose Tools/Add-Ins, and check Analysis ToolPak. You'll only have to do this once.
Make sure that you have your security levels set to prompt you for use of macros.
(Choose Tools/Options/Security/Macro Security: Medium; exit Excel and reopen document)
Steps
1) Make a fresh copy of the workbook template for each month you begin planning
2) Most of your work will be done on the Planner tab, but you need to enter some info in advance
3) Set the date for the start of the period on the Parameters tab. Holidays and weekends color in automatically on the Planner
4) Load the titles for all the projects for the month into the Projects tab. Suggestion: keep the ongoing projects the same color from month to month!
5) Allocate each resource to one of the 9 projects, or to vacation or sustainment, for each day, using the project number (1-9) or a "V" or an "S"
6) Resources with planned vacation should have a V put into the appropriate cell for each day they'll be gone
Maintenance
Adding new team members: be sure to keep the Lead as the last one shown on the team in the Planner tab
(i.e., insert new team members before the Lead row)
Also add new team members to the Resources tab first, along with their role and team. Do NOT simply add new resources to the Planner tab!
Holidays must be added on the Holidays tab. The appropriate column on the Planner tab will automatically be colored red when a holiday is added.
Weaknesses/Still To Do
Need to allow more seamless color changing (Planner tab needs to recolorize upon a color change to the project legend)
(Currently does a workaround, in that it recolorizes after every entry)
Background and Technical Approach

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Planner
August September
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1
M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S
Applications 3
Resource 1 - TBH N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
Resource 2 - Jeff 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Resource 3 - Mitch 1 1 5 1 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Resource 4 - Randy 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Resource 5 - John 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Resource 6 - Larry 2 2 N N N 2 N N N N 2 N N N N 2 N N N N 2 N N N N
Resource 7 - Sally N N N N N 2 2 N N N 2 2 N N N 2 2 N N N 2 2 N N N
Resource 8 - Jill N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
Manager - Maria 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 V V V V V 4 4 4 4 4
Sustainment Engineering
Resource 1 -
Resource 2 - Betty 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 V V
Resource 3 - Denny N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
Resource 4 - Karen S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
Lead
Quality Assurance
Resource 2 - Julia N N 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Resource 3 - Glenn N N 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Resource 4 - Zoey N N 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 V V V 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Lead--TBD

#ADDIN? budgetable workdays for month of August, 2011 Allocated for

Ratio, Month %
Workday Project Summary for August Proposed Launch Date Dev/QA Aug ###
1 40 Website 3.0 January 31, 2012 1.3 ### ###
2 94 Deferred Revenue February 2, 2012 1.5 ### ###
3 23 Website Performance TBD 6.7 ### ###
4 0 CRM TBD - ### ###
5 6 Sunset App X January 17, 2012 - ### ###
6 0 Data Warehousing TBD -
7 23 Internal get-well TBD -
8 0 Refactor cache TBD -
9 0 Upgrade bug tracking March, 2012 -
V 3 PTO
S 23 SUSTAINMENT #N/A
#ADDIN?
Dev: 149 days, QA: 63 days

V = Vacation
T = Training
N = rolled off or not yet available
S = Sustainment (non-project) work

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 IT Monthly Estimation and Planning Tool
Parameters
Parameter Value Note
Start date 08/01/11 Changing this resets the spreadsheet, recolorizes the Planner tab, etc.
Planning horizon start 08/01/11 This is a month, but the model allows for planning for two months in advance
Planning horizon end 08/31/11
Total workdays, first month #ADDIN? Calculated; excludes weekends and holidays
Total workdays, second month #ADDIN? Calculated; excludes weekends and holidays

Lead productivity multiplier 0% Portion of a lead's workday spent on project work

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Projects
Points Workdays
Number Name Estimated Estimated
1 Website 3.0
2 Deferred Revenue
3 Website Performance
4 CRM
5 Sunset App X
6 Data Warehousing
7 Internal get-well
8 Refactor cache
9 Upgrade bug tracking
V PTO
S Sustainment

Bubbling under:

CMS
Localization
Knowledge Base

MAINTENANCE

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 IT Monthly Estimation and Planning Tool
Holidays
Date Holiday Day of Week
11/23/05 Day before Thanksgiving Wednesday
11/24/05 Thanksgiving Thursday
11/25/05 Day after Thanksgiving Friday
12/16/05 Holiday Party Friday
12/23/05 Christmas Prep Friday
12/25/05 Christmas Day Sunday
12/26/05 Day after Christmas Monday
01/02/06 New Years Monday
01/16/06 Martin Luther King Day Monday
02/09/06 Roller Skating Day Thursday
02/20/06 President's Day Monday
05/29/06 Memorial Day Monday
07/04/06 July 4th Tuesday
09/04/06 Labor Day Monday
11/23/06 Thanksgiving Thursday
11/24/06 Thanksgiving Friday
12/25/06 Christmas Day Monday
01/01/07 New Years Monday
11/22/07 Thanksgiving Thursday
11/23/07 Day after Thanksgiving Friday
12/24/07 Day before Christmas Monday
12/25/07 Christmas Day Tuesday
01/01/08 New Years Tuesday
02/18/08 President's Day Monday
05/26/08 Memorial Day Monday
07/04/08 Independence Day Friday
09/01/08 Labor Day Monday
11/27/08 Thanksgiving Thursday
11/28/08 Thanksgiving Friday
12/24/08 Day before Christmas Wednesday
12/25/08 Christmas Day Thursday
01/01/09 New Year's Day Thursday
05/26/08 Memorial Day Monday
07/04/08 Independence Day Friday
09/07/09 Labor Day Monday
11/26/09 Thanksgiving Day Thursday
11/27/09 Day after Thanksgiving Friday
12/25/09 Christmas Day Friday
01/01/10 New Year's Day Friday
05/31/10 Memorial Day Monday
07/05/10 Independence Day Monday
09/06/10 Labor Day Monday
11/25/10 Thanksgiving Day Thursday
11/26/10 Day After Thanksgiving Friday
12/24/10 Day before Christmas Friday
12/25/10 Christmas Saturday
12/31/10 New Year's Eve Friday
01/01/11 New Year's Day Saturday
05/30/11 Memorial Day Monday
07/04/11 Fourth of July Monday
09/05/11 Labor Day Monday
11/24/11 Thanksgiving Day Thursday
11/25/11 Day After Thanksgiving Friday
12/26/11 Christmas Monday
12/31/11 New Year's Eve Saturday
01/02/12 New Year's Day Monday
05/28/12 Memorial Day Monday
07/04/12 Fourth of July Wednesday
09/03/12 Labor Day Monday
11/22/12 Thanksgiving Day Thursday
11/23/12 Day After Thanksgiving Friday
12/25/12 Christmas Tuesday
01/01/13 New Year's Day Tuesday

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 IT Monthly Estimation and Planning Tool
Resources
Workdays Workdays
budgetable, budgetable,
Name Team Role August September
TBH Applications #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Jeff Applications #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Mitch Applications #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Randy Applications #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
John Applications #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Larry Applications #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Sally Applications #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Jill Applications #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Maria Applications Lead #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Robert Sustainment #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Betty Sustainment #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Denny Sustainment #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Karen Sustainment #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Sustainment Lead #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Julia Quality Assurance #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Glenn Quality Assurance #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Zoey Quality Assurance 23 20
TBH Quality Assurance Lead #ADDIN? #ADDIN?

Total Strategic Resources By Team

Applications 9
Sustainment 5
Quality Assurance 4
Leads 3
Total available resources: 15

Workdays budgetable, 1st month, all #ADDIN?

Workdays budgetable, 2nd month, all #ADDIN?
Workdays budgetable, 1st month, Dev #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
Workdays budgetable, 2nd month, Dev #ADDIN?
Workdays budgetable, 1st month, QA #ADDIN?
Workdays budgetable, 2nd month, QA #ADDIN?

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 IT Monthly Estimation and Planning Tool
Allocation summary
Based on allocations made on the Planner tab:
Month Workdays Resource Days Days allocated % allocated
August #ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
#ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
#ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
#ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
#ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN?
#ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN? #ADDIN?

#ADDIN?

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 IT Monthly Estimation and Planning Tool
Project Summary
Based on allocations made on the Planner tab:
Monthly Project Workday Summary for August
TOTAL
Applications Applications Sustainment Sustainment QA QA Allocated
main lead main lead main lead Days
1 17 0 2 0 21 0 40
2 37 0 21 0 36 0 94
3 20 0 0 0 3 0 23
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 6 0 0 0 0 0 6
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 23 0 0 0 0 0 23
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
V 0 0 0 0 3 0 3
S 0 0 23 0 0 0 23
#ADDIN?

Monthly Project Workday Summary for September

TOTAL
Applications Applications Sustainment Sustainment QA QA Allocated
main lead main lead main lead Days
1 10 0 0 0 2 0 12
2 2 0 0 0 4 0 6
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
V 0 0 2 0 0 0 2
S 0 0 4 0 0 0 4
#ADDIN?

Total Project Workday Summary for August and September

GRAND Originally August September
TOTAL Estimated Total Ratio, Ratio, Dev Ratio, Dev
Project Allocated Total Dev to QA to QA to QA
1 Website 3.0 52 0 1.3 0.9 5.0
2 Deferred Revenue 100 0 1.5 1.6 0.5
3 Website Performance 23 0 6.7 6.7 -
4 CRM 0 0 - - -
5 Sunset App X 6 0 - - -
6 Data Warehousing 0 0 - - -
7 Internal get-well 25 0 - - -
8 Refactor cache 0 0 - - -
9 Upgrade bug tracking 0 0 - - -
V PTO 5 0 0.7 - -
S Sustainment 27 0 - - -
Grand Total: 238 2.5 2.5 3.0

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