From Scramble to Streamlined: How Codal Nearly Doubled Billable Utilization with Kantata
Industry
Company
Headquarters
What Kantata Replaced
The Challenge
Codal had an opportunity to improve its growing operations, particularly when it came to resource allocation and visibility into project statuses. As Erin Keeley, Global Operations Manager at Codal, explained, “We were looking for a way to improve our process for determining who would be working on which projects. And we knew we needed one consolidated system.”
To support the company’s rapid growth, Codal’s leadership team aimed to implement a cohesive system that would provide precise knowledge about resource allocation to product managers, ensuring an optimal utilization of resources, and no end-of-month surprises in financials.
“Key information was buried in spreadsheets, and the budget for a project would look fine in one and be over-budget in another, for example,” says Keeley. “When we won a new deal and it didn’t look like someone was available, we would go out and hire somebody, resulting in additional costs and underutilized staff.”
Codal’s initial attempt to break the organization’s reliance on spreadsheets involved in-house developers trying to build their own professional services automation (PSA) solution. However, this approach proved to be complex and time-consuming, diverting valuable resources from their core business activities. Keeley noted, “Our developers are extremely talented people, but they aren’t specialized in building PSA software, and we realized there are too many aspects of developing software like this that major players in the PSA market like Kantata have already figured out.”
Codal is an award-winning design and development consultancy that helps enterprise organizations across industries solve complex problems and accelerate growth through cutting-edge, data-driven digital solutions.
Benefits
- Improved resource allocation process eliminates costly staffing oversights
- Increased visibility of critical project metrics reduces budget overruns and month-end surprises
- Streamlined and automated time tracking and invoicing processes
increase in employee billable utilization
reduction in time needed to generate invoices each month
“In the eyes of our CEO, the ROI of Kantata is clear – it’s saving us so much money by streamlining how we manage our pipeline and resource allocations and eliminating surprises from staffing all the way to month end.”
Global Operations Manager, Codal
The Solution
Implementing Kantata provided Codal with a robust solution to these challenges. The platform’s flexibility and integration capabilities were key factors in their choice. Keeley noted, “The reason we chose Kantata was because it gave us flexibility that many ERPs we evaluated couldn’t provide. Where those involved the business going ‘all in”, Kantata was adaptable and could work alongside key tools we were using.” Kantata integrated seamlessly with their existing tools like Salesforce, JIRA, and QuickBooks, centralizing project and resource management. The implementation allowed Codal to consolidate its systems, improve configuration, and provide better visibility across projects.
Introducing Kantata has not only streamlined Codal’s processes but also provided real-time data and analytics, which were crucial for decision-making and forecasting. “Within a year of adopting it, it’s become such a centralized aspect of every management meeting,” says Keeley. “Everyone is already seeing the true value of moving from multiple systems to Kantata.”
“When we have resourcing meetings or escalation meetings, we’re able to pull up Kantata and show who is available, where there’s over- or under-utilization; it’s hard to argue with the facts being shown right there on the screen.”
Global Operations Manager, Codal
The Results
Increased Billable Utilization
Kantata has provided Codal with the visibility needed to monitor and manage employee utilization effectively. Since adopting Kantata, Codal has reduced non-billable hours by 25% and nearly doubled employee billable utilization.
“Kantata has given us increased visibility into our employees’ current and future availability. We meet weekly to review underutilized employees and it’s extremely satisfying to see the number of available employees continue to decrease week to week”
Improved Resource Management Discipline
With Kantata, Codal no longer rushes to upskill or hire a resource when a qualified resource is actually available. The visibility provided by Kantata has enabled Codal’s resource manager to make informed decisions about allocations, ensuring that resources are used efficiently.
“Kantata’s robust resource management tools are helping Codal become a more allocation-focused organization.Kantata is delivering great ROI by helping us understand what resources we’re going to need when.”
Visibility Drives Alignment
Transitioning from managing project information in spreadsheets to the centralized reporting provided by Kantata has been transformative for Codal. Now, everyone at Codal has access to the same key project information, significantly improving efficiency and collaboration across the team.
“It’s been so nice going from managing project information in Excel to the centralized reporting we get in Kantata, where everybody has access to the same critical project data, from budget to resource allocations, at their fingertips.”
Streamlined Project Management
Kantata has streamlined project management at Codal by making critical project information easily accessible. Project managers can now quickly check invoicing, budget status, contract value, and other key metrics, empowering them to prevent risks from turning into issues.
“Kantata has streamlined project management at Codal by making critical project information easily accessible. Project managers can now quickly check invoicing, budget status, contract value, and other key metrics, reducing surprises and enhancing project oversight.”
Accurate Budget Tracking
Before implementing Kantata, Codal often faced unexpected budget overruns. With 95% timesheet compliance since rolling out weekly timesheets in Kantata, Codal is able to accurately track project progress and budget, improving financial planning and stability.
“After rolling out weekly timesheets in Kantata, we’ve been able to better track resource allocation, eliminating the risk of going over a client’s monthly budget. Kantata allows our CEO and COO to hone in on project profitability and ROI while also focusing on other aspects of the business.”
Reduced Friction at Month End
Dispatching invoices at the end of each month used to be a source of stress at Codal. Kantata has reduced the time to generate invoices each month by 90%, and the invoices Codal generates are much more accurate leading to a more efficient financial workflow and better client relationships.
“My least favorite day used to be after we would send out the invoices because I would wake up with an inbox full of client questions. Now, with Kantata, it’s slim to none.”
Forecasting and Strategic Planning
With Kantata, Codal’s executive leaders have the clarity they need to analyze performance across projects and forecast revenue with confidence.
“By looking at the project portfolio and real-time analytics in Kantata, our CEO and COO can see what’s happening across all our projects and can forecast revenue ahead of time. Our CEO particularly enjoys the out-of-the-box report that shows what’s allocated and forecasts out future costs.”
“The level of visibility we have with Kantata ensures everyone understands clearly what they need to do. It almost feels like a completely different company.”
Global Operations Manager, Codal