Resource Allocation through Scheduling Optimization

Project management is especially critical when developing new information technology applications as there have been many project failures due to lost time and wasted effort (cf. e.g., Nelson, 2007). Despite a vast amount of research, this continues to be a problem. Even though Information Systems can involve leading edge technology, it seems to be lacking in its risk management abilities (Kappelman et al., 2006). Poor scheduling seems to be at the top of the causal ladder and Project Managers (PMs) often spend much of their time attending to the details of the schedule instead of dealing with the issues critical to the project that arise as the work progresses. This chapter is devoted to resource allocation, which the authors believe can be achieved through schedule optimization. The authors introduce a user-friendly program that provides an optimal schedule and takes into account the constraints imposed by having a limited number of resources.