Every business faces many challenges on its way to success, and professional service companies are no exception. With the need to maximize billable hours, acquire new customers, retain existing customers, manage payments and handle complex projects, service organizations give their work for them.
To be successful, professional service organizations need a technical solution that enables them to efficiently manage the entire supply life cycle, from business development to portfolio optimization. Professional Services Automation Software (PSA). Can enable organizations to realize the following five benefits.
1. Visibility
Everyone knows the proverb – you can not manage what you can not measure – but few understand its meaning. You can not measure what you can not see. With the right PSA solution, companies can get visibility regarding their projects, finances and resources.
Corrective action
One of the benefits of professional services automation software is its ability to provide real-time visibility into a company’s service delivery cycle. Suppose a project starts to suffer from a budget crawl. Invisibly, project managers may not be aware of the potential cut until it is too late to take corrective action. PSA solutions allow team members to see barriers, understand that a project is not taken for granted, and reduce potential problems. No one needs to explain to the client why the project is delayed and exceeds the budget.
A single source of truth
Many companies do not understand how much time is lost in trying to locate documents, emails or other information related to the project. If there is no control over the data, how do team members know if they are using the latest data? they are not. As a result, it may take hours to re-run a report or keep track of the latest version of a document.
PSA software can be used as a repository for all relevant information. This central location serves as one source of truth for all team members. They no longer have to wonder if they are working on the latest information or wasting time trying to determine what is most accurate. This extra peace of mind helps a lot in reducing stress and making a more productive environment.
2. Capacity and resource planning
Choosing the right people for the right job is a key aspect of effective project management. However, there are still some challenges here. For example, some organizations may face a lack of skills appropriate to a particular project. As a result, existing resources may be overloaded, and the project may not be delivered on time. Other companies may have enough resources to meet their customers’ needs, but have no idea how to measure their capacity efficiently and plan resource allocation.
When it comes to resource management, professional services automation solutions can provide you with better visibility regarding your team skills and availability. As a result, you can evenly distribute the workload among your specialists, set up the most skilled employees for the right task, and plan resources for future projects.
Data-driven decisions
PSA software can provide data to drive decisions about adding or reducing resources. It can help answer questions such as:
- Is it possible to add a new project this quarter?
- Will subcontractors be needed?
- Should new recruits be considered?
The right solution will also allow you to look at past project data in the context of resource utilization to see where bottlenecks have popped up and provide an opportunity to optimize future projects to avoid similar issues.
Impact analysis
The “what if” of business growth can be crippling. There are just too many variables.
- What happens if we move a resource from project “A” to project “B”?
- What if we assign a more skilled expert to the project?
- What happens if we switch resources between projects?
PSA software can provide the data to help predict and evaluate the impact of a given decision on a project outcome. This can provide insights, for example, into the impact of having senior and junior experts on the project. It also helps you see the balance between skills and resources in the project and what changes if those resources are rearranged.
3. Control over profitability
The goal of any professional services organization is to make a profit, but sometimes it’s not as easy as it sounds.
Financial project
Ideally, professional services automation software allows team members to enter costs and expenses and track progress against a planned budget in real time. PSA tools can help projects stay on track to ensure profit margins are met and projects do not lose money from the organization.
Resource management
Businesses need to maximize billable hours without overloading or taking advantage of employees. Finding the right balance is essential for a positive work environment. Thanks to the benefits of automation of professional services, companies achieve visibility into individual resources so that they can comprehensively examine the workforce. Making adjustments in the allocation of resources minimizes the risk of employee attrition while maintaining an ideal level of positive utilization.
4. Alignment between business units
When business units are not aligned, companies reduce their overall efficiency. Critical project requirements are lost in the system leading to inaccurate project costs, errors and delays. Using PSA tools that provide integration and automation can increase alignment.
- Combination. Supply cycle failures often occur when projects are moved from one business unit to another or when there is data discontinuity. Combining PSA software with applications, such as CRM software or bookkeeping, allows team members to better visualize what is happening across the organization. It also allows the team to be ready when a new client is on board or a new project needs a quote.
- automation. Report generation should be as automated as possible. In today’s business environment, waiting days for data collection and analysis means a waste of time and may lose business. The ability to refer to key performance indicators in the dashboard or turn a custom business intelligence report into a customer makes it easier to stay in touch with performance factors and keep your customer involved.
5. Improved collaboration and communication
If people within a professional service company do not call, it is impossible to provide the quality of service that customers expect. Instead of working together, employees are in conflict. PSA solutions can encourage collaboration and improve communication.
Elimination of silos
With PSA software, teams come together to complete their work on a unified platform. The platform enables real-time access to project data that teams can use to identify potential roadblocks and plan improvements. The result is greatly increased productivity and faster completion of tasks and projects.
Communication without e-mail
Who is not inundated with emails? With the PSA tool, all project-related communications can be centrally located. Employees no longer have to search an inbox to find information. Some solutions can be integrated into other applications such as Slack or Microsoft Teams.
Improving customer interactions
PSA solutions help organizations deliver a first-come, first-served strategy. Less time is spent in meetings, preparing for a customer update. Instead, the information is centralized for easier access, and more time can be spent addressing customer needs and strengthening the relationship. It is even possible to share certain information directly with customers through a guest account. The best way to improve customer relationships is to update them with relevant and timely information.
Summary
Every service organization is different, and so is everyone PSA platform. Deciding on the right solution to ensure that your firm realizes the professional automation benefits discussed here can be daunting. This is why businesses must identify the features and functionality that suit their needs. If not, they may ignore critical features that can help them thrive. Easy Projects’ Birdview PSA can provide you with all the benefits of professional services automation solutions listed here and much more. If you are not sure if you need such a solution, here it is Three signs that it is time to invest in the automation of professional services. To learn more about how PSA software can help your business grow, Ask for a consultation.