To get set up with BigTime Resource Management, you’ll need your designated customer support person to turn it on. From there, you can expect a few standard things to happen with your data as it syncs to Resource Management from BigTime. This article will explain, piece by piece, exactly what happens to your BigTime account when you first integrate with Resource Management. These changes streamline processes, centralize key data, and enhance oversight of staff, projects, and contracts.
Activating Resource Management in BigTime
Navigation in BigTime
Projects & Staff
Contracts and Managing Costs
Changes in Staffers' Profiles
User Permissions
Skills Management
Time and Expense Tab
Activating Resource Management in BigTime
To begin using BigTime Resource Management, a BigTime representative must enable it. Once activated, you will see a new tab labeled Resourcing in your main navigation. This tab gives you access to the people calendar, project calendar, skills list, and other Resource Management features.
Navigation in BigTime
With Resource Management activated, the Resourcing tab becomes a key resource management area. It includes:
My Settings: Personalize your Resource Management experience (e.g., set calendar colors, configure substitute managers, and adjust utilization settings).
Demand Calendar: A tool for forecasting future projects and resource needs.
Team Member Calendar: This lets managers view their team’s work hours and time-off requests.
Project Calendar: A space for tracking project progress.
Skills List: A place to manage employee skills, seniority levels, and time-off types.
Analytics Tools: Provides access to key reports such as the availability, project finances, and utilization reports.
Tabs prefixed with "My" (e.g., "My Time Off", "My Skills") are for individual staff and show personal information.
Projects & Staff
All projects and staff set up in BigTime will automatically sync with Resource Management. You’ll notice a new View Project Calendar button on your project list, redirecting to the Resource Management project calendar. Teams are now created in Resource Management, and the changes are synced back to BigTime.
You can still designate a staffer as a team lead in BigTime. However, assigning team members to projects will now occur exclusively in Resource Management. Existing project teams will also sync automatically when Resource Management is activated, allowing for further edits in it.
Resource Management will become the place where you will create teams. The teams you create in Resource Management will sync back into BigTime.
Contracts and Managing Costs
In Resource Management, contracts are the foundation for managing employee periods and costs. Once synced, a contract is automatically created for each staff member based on the employment dates and cost fields in BigTime.
Employee Cost Rates: These rates are pulled from the staff profile in BigTime. If a staff member has no cost rate set, the contract will default to a zero (0.00) cost rate in Resource Management.
Contract Period: The start and end dates of contracts are derived from the staffer’s employment dates.
Capacity: Staff capacity (e.g., 160 hours per month) is automatically calculated based on the standard 8 hours daily, 5 days a week. After the initial sync, contract, and capacity management moves to Resource Management, where changes can be made directly.
In the picture below, you can find the Contracts section in BigTime Resource Management:
After the integration, Resource Management becomes the central source for contract details. A new Manage Contract button will appear under the Capacity and Cost Rates sections of each staffer’s profile in BigTime, allowing direct access to their Resource Management contract for updates.
Changes in Staffers' Profiles
Although the staffer profile in BigTime remains unchanged mainly, Resource Management enhances it by adding additional details, such as contract information and skills. Any staff-related costs and capacities will be managed exclusively in Resource Management.
User Permissions
With Resource Management enabled, new user permissions are added under the BigTime Resource Management section in the user rights window. By default, these permissions are disabled for all users except system administrators. Managers and higher-level users will have more extensive access compared to regular staff.
Skills Management
Skills management is now fully handled within Resource Management, and the Skills option will be removed from the My Company dropdown menu in BigTime. Skills from BigTime do not automatically transfer into Resource Management, so technical support is required to import any existing skills data.
Time and Expense Tab
In Resource Management, managers and administrators gain new capabilities within the Time and Expense tab, including approving or rejecting time-off requests. Staff can manage their personal time-off submissions through the My Time Off tab.
The integration of BigTime Resource Management introduces significant changes aimed at enhancing the efficiency of resource, time, and cost management. By centralizing project teams, contracts, and skills management within Resource Management, firms can achieve better visibility into workload distribution, resource planning, and overall project profitability.