6 Capacity Planning Tools Used by Savvy Project Managers
Capacity Planning Tools are tools that help organizations identify the resources needed to balance their current and future business needs.
Capacity planning tools help managers to make the most of their resources. With the right tool, they can plan for any upcoming project, or events, track the status of their project, allocate resources needed, and avoid overloading their team or creating bottlenecks in the workflow.
The right capacity planning tool, will help project managers meet project deadlines and have a clear idea of how many people will be needed to complete their company’s or a client’s project.
To help you choose the best capacity planning tool for your company, we’ve curated this list of the best capacity planning tools used by savvy project managers. Any one of these tools will help you allocate, consolidate and optimize the resources needed for the successful completion of your project.
Ready to see which tool matches the specific needs of your business?
Keep reading!
1. Wrike – Cloud-based collaboration and project management tool
Wrike is an easy-to-use powerful online project management software that connects organizations to a centralized communication system that facilitates collaboration between teams.
With its latest recent innovation, Wrike Lightspeed, every team can achieve success by working as one. Wrike is a great choice for agencies, marketing teams, or professional service providers with large teams.
This does not mean that Wrike is for enterprise-scale companies only. Far from it, but due to its high price plan, it might not be the best choice for smaller teams that won’t take advantage of its robust project tracking and analytics tools.
Wrike is Best for
Mid-size businesses
Large enterprises
Features
Attendance Management
Attendance Tracking
Audit Management
Budget Management
Budget Tracking
Budgeting/Forecasting
Campaign Management
Campaign Planning
Campaign Scheduling
Campaign Tracking
Capacity Management
Capacity Planning
Change Management
Change Order Management
Collaborative Editing
Customizable Workflows
Forecasting
Native Mobile Apps
Organized File Management
Project Accounting
Project Estimating
Project Management
Project Planning
Project Planning/Scheduling
Project Scheduling
Project Templates
Project Time Tracking
Project Tracking
Project Workflow
Seamless Communication etc.
Integration
Salesforce
SAML
Zapier
Jira
TimeCamp
GitHub etc.
Platforms supported
Web
Android
iPhone/iPad
Pros:
Robust Application
Free Version
Good Customer Service
Integration with other apps
Good Search Engine
Cons:
Overwhelming for new users
Difficult onboarding
Lack of filtering options
Slow Speed
Confusing UI
High price
Pricing Overview
Wrike provides a 14-day trial period. A free plan for centralized task management is available.
Its entry-level “Professional” plan costs $9 per user each month. However, it is not an affordable solution for companies that take on big projects.
The “Business plan,” which starts at $24.80 per user/month, invoiced either monthly or annually, is the most advantageous Wrike plan for capacity planners.
The Enterprise Plan is available for large teams and includes Enterprise-grade security and scalability. However, you need to contact Wrike Support to get the price.
Compared to other capacity planning tools on our list, Wrike offers a more expensive solution.
2. Monday.com – Cloud-based tool for keeping multiple tasks and projects on track
Monday.com is a code-free cloud-based platform used by more than 180,000 customers globally. With Monday.com, mangers can create and manage projects from a single interface improving teams collaboration, productivity, and workflow speed.
Furthermore, Monday.com makes it easy for teams to create apps in minutes and provides an intuitive, customizable, and easily navigable dashboards, making it easy for teams to delegate tasks, automate tasks, track progress and integrate multiple tools that helps manages to meet important deadlines.
Monday.com is Best for
Freelancers
Large Enterprises
Mid Size Business
Non Profit
Small Business
Features
API
Access Controls/Permissions
Activity Dashboard
Activity Planning, Tracking, and News FeedResources management
Budget Management
Budget Tracking
Budgeting/Forecasting
Capacity Management
Capacity Planning
CRM management
roject Planning
Project Planning/Scheduling
Project Scheduling
Project Templates
Project Time Tracking
Project Tracking
Project Workflow
360 Degree Feedback
Integrations
Google Drive
Microsoft Excel
Trello
Zoom meetings
Mailchimp
Platforms supported
Web
Android
iPhone/iPad
Pros:
Project and Time management
Integrate task Into calendars
Visually stunning
Great management tools
Cons:
Some users complained about the tool Spamming their inbox
Some users complained of limited UI features
Ineffective time and expense tracker
Pricing Overview
Monday.com provides a 14-day free trial period. Its “Individual Plan” is free forever and includes access to 3 boards, unlimited docs, 200+ templates, up to 2 team members, and other features.
Monday.com offers fair rates in comparison to many other capacity planning software that include CRM features. CRM features makes capacity planning more efficient, So you don’t have to pay extra for a CRM software subscription.
You can look into the free forever plan. Once you’re convinced of the usefulness of this tool, you can upgrade to a paid plan for as little as $10 per seat/month (or $8/seat/month when billed annually).
For the Enterprise pricing, contact Monday.com.
3. Clickup -A Project management and analysis tool
ClickUp is a multi – functional productivity platform that allows teams to plan, organize, collaborate, and centralize all of their work in one place.
Clickup can help you plan and track your team and create milestones and goals. You can set up budgets, allocate resources, forecasts, manage tasks, and create reports on productivity.
ClickUp can be used as a standalone tool or integrated with other productivity tools and other business tools Slack or Asana to make collaborating with others in your organization seamless.
Clickup is Best for
Freelancers
Small businesses
Mid-size businesses
Large enterprises
Features
Access Controls/Permissions
Real-Time Reporting
Activity Dashboard
Activity Tracking
Agile Methodologies
Budget Management
Budgeting/Forecasting
Calendar Management
Calendar Sync
Calendar/Reminder System
Campaign Analytics
Client Management
Milestone Tracking
Project Planning
Project Planning/Scheduling
Project Scheduling
Real Time Editing
Real Time Notifications
Real Time Reporting
Integrations
Dropbox Business
Zoom meetings
Timecamp
Asana
OneDrive
GitHub
Pros:
Integrate with over 1,000 tools for free
User-friendly interface enables users to plan, track, and manage any type of work for any type of team.
Simplifies task management and work planning
High level of customization
Project managers can create a perfect Agile workflow using board view
Cons:
Report performance could be improved
Too many notifications
Need a more Intuitive dashboards
Limited time tracking
Platforms supported
Web
Android
iPhone/iPad
Pricing Overview
It offers a free package with 100MB storage, Unlimited Tasks, and Unlimited Users
It has an unlimited plan at $5 user/month billed annually or $9 user/month billed monthly
Its business plan starts at $9 user/month billed annually or $19 user/month billed monthly.
For enterprise plans, contact Clickup Sales.
4. Teamwork.com – A Specialized project management platform built for client work.
Teamwork is the only project management platform developed specifically for client work. This platform delivers work on time and on budget, eliminates client chaos, and understands profitability.
Teamwork has some features like billing and invoicing, integrated team chat, and easy document management that other well-known project management software don’t have which makes Teamwork the best choice.
With suite features integrated solutions such as helpdesk, collaboration, knowledge sharing, and customer relationship management extensions, it enables Teamwork to be the ‘one-stop shop’ solution for business owners and allows customers to track and manage their projects.
Teamwork is Best for
Small businesses
Mid-size businesses
Large enterprises
Features
Activity Tracking
Ad hoc Reporting
Budget Management
Business Process Automation
Calendar Management
Capacity Management
Client Management
Client Portal
Collaboration Tools
Progress Tracking
Project Management
Project Planning
Integrations
Jira
Basecamp
Google Drive
Mailchimp
PayPal
Platforms supported
Web
Android
iPhone/iPad
Pros:
Easy to use and Navigate
Displays great details on each projects and tasks
Excellent project tracking, collaborating, time tracking, task boards,
Excellent for both teams of people, and individuals.
Cons:
No chat option
Poor CRM
It’s not as robust
Pricing Overview
Teamwork offers a 30-day free trial, after signing up
There is a Free Forever offer at $0 for 2 projects and up to 5 users
For the Deliver package, it charges $10/user/month billed annually (or $12.50/user/month when billed monthly).
For the Grow package, it charges $18/user/month billed annually (or $22.50/user/month when billed monthly).
For Enterprise, you need to contact Teamwork directly to receive accurate pricing information.
5. Resource Guru – A fast and flexible way to schedule projects and teams
Resource Guru capacity planning tool provides a fast, flexible way to schedule people and projects. You can get full team visibility in one calendar, create and edit bookings in seconds, and resolve scheduling problems as they arise.
Resource Guru facilitates effective management of teams, freelancers, meeting rooms and equipment, all in one place. This extremely easy-to-use and super reliable tool loads quickly and is a go-to software for managing any project.
With the great features on Resource Guru, Powerful filters, help you in finding who you need fast and track availability in real-time so you can avoid double-bookings and unrealistic workloads.
Resource Guru is Best for
Freelancers
Small businesses
Mid size businesses
Large enterprises
Features
Access Controls/Permissions
Activity Dashboard
Activity Tracking
Appointment Scheduling
Capacity Management
Client Management
Collaboration Tools
Contractor Management
Dashboard
Data Import/Export
Drag & Drop
Employee Activity Monitoring
Employee Database
Planning Tools
Prioritization
Progress Tracking
Project Management
Project Planning
Project Planning/Scheduling
Project Time Tracking
Project Workflow
Task Planning
Task Progress Tracking
Task Scheduling
Integrations
Slack
Gmail
Google sheet
Zapier
Jira
Platforms supported
Web
Pros:
Very easy to use
Allows capacity managers effectively manage teams
Fast and super reliable
Regular updates of functions
Cons:
No Undo Button
Some users complain of being unable to sort resources by experience level
Pricing Overview
There is a 30-day free trial period that doesn’t require a credit card.
The Grasshopper package charges $5/user/month (billed monthly) or $4.16/user/month (billed annually).
The Blackbelt package charges $8/user/month (billed monthly) or $6.65/user/month (billed annually).
The Master package charges $12/user/month (billed monthly) or $10/user/month (billed annually).
6. Saviom – Resources management and demand forecasting for mid-large enterprises
Saviom is a platform developed for workforce planning and resource management that helps organizations to reduce resourcing costs, build an optimized workforce, and futureproof business against market volatility.
This comprehensive ERM suite enables companies to identify and allocate competent resources based on the needed skills, qualifications, experience, cost, and availability of the projects.
Using the advanced features of Saviom, forecasting and capacity planning, businesses can meet up with the project demand ahead of the curve and ensure successful project delivery.
Saviom is Best for
Small businesses
Mid-size businesses
Large businesses
Features
Activity Tracking
Agile Methodologies
Alerts/Notifications
Budgeting/Forecasting
Calendar Management
Capacity Management
Collaboration Tools
Customizable Fields
Customizable Reports
Integrations Management
Labor Forecasting
Reporting/Project Tracking
Resource Allocation & Planning
Resource Management
Workflow Management
Integrations
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Excel
Salesforce Platform
WorkflowMax
Workflow.com
Platforms supported
Web
Android
iPhone/iPad
Pros:
Easy navigation
The filters are highly comprehensive and precise in their depth
Changeable features to meet your preferences
Cons:
Charges extra fees
Some users complain of being able to access Saviom only when linked to the office network
Some users complain of Unstable audio transmission
Pricing Overview
Saviom provides customized quotes depending on the user type, number of users as per the client’s requirements. For pricing contact Saviom.
Factors to consider when choosing a capacity planning tool for your business
To determine the best capacity planning tool for your business needs, consider these 4 factors:
1. Responsive user interface
A quick and user-friendly interface helps in accomplishing tasks quickly and efficiently. It should also be easy enough so that both technical and non-technical people use it.
Choosing agile and easy-to-use software will help you concentrate on long-term goals and business development better.
2. Capacity planning accuracy
A sound Capacity Planning tool is one that works accurately despite complex process feeds and overlapping operations. A good Capacity Planning tool will help you mitigate risks and avoid miscalculations.
3. Simple and comprehensive reporting
The simplicity of reporting across business function heads is a key feature of successful capacity planning software. By selecting a tool that accurately reports facts, you may streamline the information-sharing process and spend less time and effort analyzing and extracting insights from these reports.
4. Scalability of operation
Scalability is of utmost importance in selecting capacity planning tools and Utilizing one that can seamlessly integrate into all available data sources is an ideal choice. An excellent capacity planning tool can accurately monitor and make predictions about thousands of data sources instantly.
5. Value for money
Consider tools with a free trial so you can test the software before purchasing it. You should also look for tools that can help you achieve multiple goals and provide different capacity management options for projects and clients.
Conclusion
Capacity planning helps project managers and companies to maximize their productivity, manage budget, track, scale, and balance the resources needed for the successful completion of projects. It helps organizations to meet the current demand at the appropriate time frames without working them overtime.
In this article, we listed some excellent capacity planning tools including Wrike, Monday.com, Clickup, Teamwork, Resources Guru and Saviom. Utilizing any of these tools will help you deliver projects successfully and grow your businesses whether you are a freelancer, small business, mid-sized, or a large business.
Did you find this post helpful? Please tell us in the comment box, which one of these tools seems like a perfect fit for your business.
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Posted Jul 17, 2024
Capacity Planning Tools are tools that help organizations identify the resources needed to balance their current and future business needs. Capacity planning t…
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