# Capacity planning for IT services firms: use cases and limits

> IT services firms: Workload for the internal IT department and delivery teams, a PSA for billing. Use cases, limits, and alternatives.

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## Is Workload suited to an IT services firm?

Workload suits an IT services firm for planning internal capacity: delivery teams, the firm's own internal IT department, internal projects, and assignment conflicts. It is not built for client billing, margin per engagement, or the commercial management of the bench: a PSA (Professional Services Automation) tool is a better fit for that.

## What Workload covers

- Net team capacity (leave, training, bench) and allocation rate.

- Conflict detection when a consultant is requested on several engagements or internal projects.

- Skills, with transparent scoring of fit between need and profile.

- Planned vs actual from logged time.

## What Workload does not cover

- Client billing and margin tracking per engagement.

- Revenue forecasting and billable utilization.

- Commercial management of available consultants, which belongs to a PSA or CRM.

## Capacity indicators useful to an IT services firm

- **Allocation rate** : Planned workload ÷ available capacity per consultant or team.
- **Bench** : Unassigned capacity available for new engagements.
- **Scheduling conflicts** : Consultants requested on several engagements in the same period.
- **Planned vs actual variance** : Reliability of delivery workload plans.

## Typical workflow for delivery capacity

1. Model teams, consultants, and skills.
2. Plan engagements and internal projects.
3. Detect conflicts and rebalance before committing to the client.
4. Track actuals with synced time.

## FAQ

### Does Workload replace a PSA?

No. For client billing and profitability per engagement, use a PSA; Workload covers capacity and assignments.

### Can you track billable utilization?

Workload computes allocation rate, but not billing. Billable utilization belongs to a PSA.

### What about the firm's internal IT department?

That is a typical Workload use case: internal IT, internal projects, and shared capacity.

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