What is the recommended best practice for tracking planned Operations & Maintenance (O&M) costs after project closure?
My initial thought was to use Operational Resource Plans/Assignments. However, the client would like a more holistic view of funding and costs that includes:
- New funding requests associated with Demands and Projects (via Project Change Requests)
- Planned costs incurred during the Demand/Project lifecycle
- Anticipated out-year O&M costs that continue after project closure
The goal is to provide decision-makers with a complete view of expected costs when prioritizing work, rather than relying solely on scoring. They want to consider both project-period costs and future operational costs as part of the prioritization process.
My concern is that Operational Resource Plans are not tied directly to tasks, which may make it difficult to include them in a consolidated Demand/Project funding and cost view.
Has anyone implemented a solution for this scenario? If so:
- How did you capture post-project O&M costs?
- Were those costs tied back to the originating Demand or Project?
- What approach provided the necessary visibility while minimizing customization?
I would appreciate any recommendations or lessons learned.
