Selecting the Right PSA Solution for Skills Tracking

Selecting a PSA (Professional Services Automation) solution is not an easy task. The market can appear fragmented and the approaches of the various vendors often vary, making it difficult to compare apples to apples during the selection process. It is also difficult to separate an overall PSA selection, which can include project management, resource management, timesheet management and expense management, as well as project accounting and invoicing, from the needs specific to skills tracking. But because skills' tracking is vitally important and connected to many other aspects of the PSO, the advice provided will have many common threads.

Here are some thoughts on evaluating a Skills Tracking / PSA solution to make the process easier:

- Define business requirements up front – involve PS, HR, and IT (at a minimum) in this process. - Look for flexibility in configurability and assigning custom fields / names. - Evaluate integration possibilities /capabilities with existing back-end systems for HR applications. This will help save time and expense for data entry and maintenance. HR systems often serve multiple needs (Payroll, benefits, skills profiles, etc.) and are not likely to be completely replaced by a PSA solution. - Look for ease of data entry and maintenance – if you make this easy, end users will provide more timely data enabling more real-time decision making. PSA mobile applications are growing in capability and convenience. - Evaluate query and reportingcapabilities including standard reports. - Review typical software solution needs such as scalability, performance, and support.