What's the main difference between resource Confirmation and Allocation now?

[Uncle Rob]

I know what the doctrinal differences are:  Confirmations being soft commitments, and allocations being hard commitments, BUT...

Over the years the allocations on Resource Management have been getting more and more flexible (in how you're able to edit them). At this point I'm having trouble distinguishing what, if any, difference there is between confirming or allocating? Does the distinction allow / prevent any kind of transaction?

[Mike_R]

I don't recall, but does a confirmation impact their availability/allocated hours? I think the distinction might really just be for reporting purposes.

[Namita Mishra]

Hi @Uncle Rob  / @Mike_R ,

Great question... and below is the response...

	Confirmed	Allocated
Meaning	Resources are soft booked	Resources are hard booked
Soft booked vs Hard Booked	Soft booking the resources - In this case resource manager puts these resources as a placeholder on the project but it is an indication to the project manager that if need be these resources will be shifted to another project	Hard booking the resources - In this case resource manager allocates these resources on the project & it is an indication to the project manager that these resources will work on her project.
Availability	After confirming the RPLNs, soft booked resources availability is impacted as hours are consumed for soft booking.	Likewise - After allocating the RPLNs, hard booked resources availability is impacted as hours are consumed for hard booking.
Posting Time	Soft booked resource cannot post time for the project.	Only hard booked resources can post time on the project.

Please mark this as correct / helpful answer if this answered your query.

Thanks,

Namita Mishra

[Uncle Rob]

So in terms of pure mechanics, the only difference between a confirmation and an allocation is that only allocated resources can post time on the project (or project task if the project preferences say so?)

If resources are confirmed, can they still be assigned to Project Tasks if the Project Preference is set to Restrict Assigned to Resources in Resource Plans?

[GPW1]

Good morning Robert - there are both the process considerations between Confirmed and Allocated and the technical considerations.  From a process, I tend to consult our clients to align the Resource life cycle with the Demand life cycle [e.g., Resource Requested when Demand moves to Screening, Resources need to be Confirmed before a Demand can be Approved, Resources are allocated when the Project is created).  This has a business logic such as requesting resources only after the Demand has been fleshed out and quality checked and only approving the Demand after the resources have been confirmed to be available.

In regard to technical, certain ties to Time keeping and Expense are only available on an Allocated resource plan.  For example, you can only associate a time card to an allocated resource plan.  There are other similar rules.  Let me know if you want to discuss.