# Resource Requirements
## Purpose
Define comprehensive resource requirements including team composition, skills, budget, tools, and infrastructure needed to successfully deliver the product. This section ensures adequate resources are planned and allocated.
## Prerequisites
- All functional and technical requirements defined
- Timeline and roadmap established
- Risk mitigation strategies identified
- Success metrics and validation approach clear
## Section Structure & Requirements
### 1. Team Composition and Roles
**Objective**: Define required team structure and roles
**Required Elements:**
- **Core Team Structure**: Essential roles and responsibilities
- **Team Size Requirements**: Number of people needed in each role
- **Skill Requirements**: Specific skills and experience needed
- **Team Timeline**: When different roles are needed throughout project
- **Team Dependencies**: How team members depend on each other
- **Reporting Structure**: How team is organized and managed
**Quality Criteria:**
- Team structure supports all project requirements
- Skill requirements are specific and realistic
- Team size is appropriate for scope and timeline
- Dependencies are clearly identified
**Template:**
## Team Composition and Roles
### Core Team Structure
**Product Management**
- **Product Manager**: [Responsibilities and requirements]
- **Product Owner**: [Responsibilities and requirements]
**Engineering**
- **Technical Lead**: [Responsibilities and requirements]
- **Frontend Developers**: [Number needed, responsibilities, requirements]
- **Backend Developers**: [Number needed, responsibilities, requirements]
- **DevOps Engineer**: [Responsibilities and requirements]
**Design**
- **UX Designer**: [Responsibilities and requirements]
- **UI Designer**: [Responsibilities and requirements]
**Quality Assurance**
- **QA Lead**: [Responsibilities and requirements]
- **QA Engineers**: [Number needed, responsibilities, requirements]
**Other Roles**
- **[Role Name]**: [Responsibilities and requirements]
### Skill Requirements
[Detailed skill requirements for each role]
### Team Timeline
[When different roles are needed throughout project]
### Team Dependencies
[How team members depend on each other]
### Reporting Structure
[How team is organized and managed]
### 2. Budget Requirements
**Objective**: Define comprehensive budget needs
**Required Elements:**
- **Personnel Costs**: Salaries, benefits, contractor costs
- **Technology Costs**: Software licenses, cloud services, tools
- **Infrastructure Costs**: Hosting, hardware, networking
- **Marketing Costs**: Launch, promotion, user acquisition
- **Operational Costs**: Support, maintenance, ongoing operations
- **Contingency Budget**: Buffer for unexpected costs
**Quality Criteria:**
- Budget is comprehensive and realistic
- All cost categories are included
- Estimates are based on market rates and actual quotes
- Contingency is appropriate for project risk level
**Template:**
## Budget Requirements
### Personnel Costs
- **Salaries**: [Annual salary costs by role]
- **Benefits**: [Benefits costs - typically 20-30% of salaries]
- **Contractors**: [External contractor costs]
- **Total Personnel**: [Total annual personnel costs]
### Technology Costs
- **Software Licenses**: [Development tools, productivity software]
- **Cloud Services**: [AWS, Azure, GCP costs]
- **Third-party APIs**: [External service costs]
- **Development Tools**: [IDEs, testing tools, monitoring]
- **Total Technology**: [Total annual technology costs]
### Infrastructure Costs
- **Hosting**: [Production hosting costs]
- **CDN**: [Content delivery network costs]
- **Security**: [Security tools and services]
- **Monitoring**: [Application and infrastructure monitoring]
- **Total Infrastructure**: [Total annual infrastructure costs]
### Marketing Costs
- **Launch Campaign**: [Product launch marketing]
- **User Acquisition**: [Paid acquisition channels]
- **Content Creation**: [Marketing content and materials]
- **Events**: [Conferences, trade shows, events]
- **Total Marketing**: [Total annual marketing costs]
### Operational Costs
- **Customer Support**: [Support team and tools]
- **Legal**: [Legal review, compliance, contracts]
- **Accounting**: [Financial management and reporting]
- **Insurance**: [Professional liability, cyber insurance]
- **Total Operational**: [Total annual operational costs]
### Contingency Budget
- **Risk Buffer**: [10-20% buffer for unexpected costs]
- **Scope Changes**: [Buffer for scope expansion]
### Total Budget Summary
[Total annual budget across all categories]
### 3. Technology and Tools
**Objective**: Define required technology stack and tools
**Required Elements:**
- **Development Tools**: IDEs, frameworks, libraries
- **Collaboration Tools**: Communication, project management, documentation
- **Testing Tools**: Automated testing, performance testing, security testing
- **Deployment Tools**: CI/CD, infrastructure as code, monitoring
- **Analytics Tools**: User analytics, business intelligence, reporting
- **Security Tools**: Security scanning, monitoring, compliance
**Template:**
## Technology and Tools
### Development Tools
- **IDEs**: [Integrated development environments]
- **Frameworks**: [Frontend and backend frameworks]
- **Libraries**: [Key libraries and dependencies]
- **Version Control**: [Git hosting and management]
### Collaboration Tools
- **Communication**: [Slack, Teams, etc.]
- **Project Management**: [Jira, Asana, etc.]
- **Documentation**: [Confluence, Notion, etc.]
- **Design**: [Figma, Sketch, etc.]
### Testing Tools
- **Unit Testing**: [Testing frameworks and tools]
- **Integration Testing**: [API and integration testing tools]
- **Performance Testing**: [Load and performance testing tools]
- **Security Testing**: [Security scanning and testing tools]
### Deployment Tools
- **CI/CD**: [Continuous integration and deployment]
- **Infrastructure**: [Infrastructure as code tools]
- **Monitoring**: [Application and infrastructure monitoring]
- **Logging**: [Centralized logging and analysis]
### Analytics Tools
- **User Analytics**: [Google Analytics, Mixpanel, etc.]
- **Business Intelligence**: [Tableau, Looker, etc.]
- **A/B Testing**: [Experimentation platforms]
### Security Tools
- **Code Scanning**: [Static and dynamic code analysis]
- **Vulnerability Management**: [Security monitoring and alerts]
- **Compliance**: [Compliance monitoring and reporting]
### 4. Infrastructure Requirements
**Objective**: Define infrastructure and hosting needs
**Required Elements:**
- **Hosting Strategy**: Cloud, on-premise, or hybrid approach
- **Scalability Requirements**: How infrastructure scales with growth
- **Performance Requirements**: Infrastructure performance needs
- **Security Requirements**: Infrastructure security and compliance
- **Backup and Recovery**: Data backup and disaster recovery
- **Monitoring and Alerting**: Infrastructure monitoring needs
### 5. External Resources and Vendors
**Objective**: Identify external resources and vendor needs
**Required Elements:**
- **Consulting Services**: External expertise and consulting needs
- **Vendor Services**: Third-party services and APIs
- **Legal Services**: Legal review, contracts, compliance
- **Marketing Services**: External marketing and PR support
- **Support Services**: Customer support and success services
**Template:**
## External Resources and Vendors
### Consulting Services
- **Technical Consulting**: [Specialized technical expertise]
- **Design Consulting**: [UX/UI design expertise]
- **Business Consulting**: [Strategy and market expertise]
### Vendor Services
- **Payment Processing**: [Stripe, PayPal, etc.]
- **Email Services**: [SendGrid, Mailchimp, etc.]
- **SMS Services**: [Twilio, etc.]
- **Analytics Services**: [Third-party analytics and data]
### Legal Services
- **Contract Review**: [Legal review of vendor contracts]
- **Compliance**: [Regulatory compliance support]
- **Intellectual Property**: [Patent and trademark support]
### Marketing Services
- **PR Agency**: [Public relations and media]
- **Content Creation**: [Marketing content and copywriting]
- **SEO/SEM**: [Search engine optimization and marketing]
### Support Services
- **Customer Success**: [Customer onboarding and success]
- **Technical Support**: [Customer technical support]
- **Training**: [User training and documentation]
### 6. Resource Timeline and Allocation
**Objective**: Define when resources are needed throughout project
**Required Elements:**
- **Resource Ramp-up Plan**: How team grows over time
- **Resource Allocation by Phase**: Resources needed in each project phase
- **Peak Resource Requirements**: Maximum resource needs
- **Resource Dependencies**: How resource needs depend on each other
- **Resource Optimization**: Strategies for efficient resource use
## Information Gathering Requirements
### Resource Context Needed:
- Current team capabilities and availability
- Market rates for required skills and roles
- Technology and tool costs and licensing
- Infrastructure requirements and costs
- External vendor capabilities and costs
### Validation Requirements:
- Team capability assessment and gap analysis
- Budget approval and funding confirmation
- Vendor evaluation and selection
- Infrastructure capacity planning
- Resource availability confirmation
## Cross-Reference Requirements
### Must Reference:
- Functional and technical requirements scope
- Timeline and roadmap requirements
- Risk mitigation resource needs
- Success metrics and measurement requirements
### Must Support:
- Project planning and execution
- Budget planning and approval
- Team hiring and onboarding
- Vendor selection and management
## Common Pitfalls to Avoid
### Team Planning Pitfalls:
- **Skill gaps**: Not identifying required skills accurately
- **Team size errors**: Under or over-estimating team size needs
- **Timing misalignment**: Not planning when different skills are needed
- **Communication overhead**: Not accounting for team communication costs
### Budget Pitfalls:
- **Hidden costs**: Missing important cost categories
- **Unrealistic estimates**: Using outdated or inaccurate cost estimates
- **No contingency**: Not planning for unexpected costs
- **Scope creep**: Not accounting for potential scope expansion
### Technology Pitfalls:
- **Tool proliferation**: Selecting too many overlapping tools
- **Vendor lock-in**: Not considering long-term vendor relationships
- **Integration complexity**: Not accounting for tool integration costs
- **Licensing confusion**: Misunderstanding software licensing terms
## Edge Case Considerations
### When Budget is Constrained:
- Prioritize essential resources and defer nice-to-haves
- Consider alternative sourcing strategies (contractors, offshore)
- Plan phased resource acquisition
- Identify cost optimization opportunities
### When Skills are Scarce:
- Plan longer lead times for hiring
- Consider training existing team members
- Evaluate external consulting options
- Plan knowledge transfer and documentation
### When Timeline is Aggressive:
- Consider parallel work streams with more resources
- Evaluate contractor and consulting augmentation
- Plan for potential resource conflicts and dependencies
- Build in resource buffers for critical path items
## Validation Checkpoints
### Before Finalizing Section:
- [ ] Team composition supports all project requirements
- [ ] Budget is comprehensive and realistic
- [ ] Technology and tool selections are appropriate
- [ ] Infrastructure requirements support scalability needs
- [ ] External resource needs are identified and planned
### Cross-Section Validation:
- [ ] Resources align with timeline and roadmap
- [ ] Budget supports success metric achievement
- [ ] Team capabilities match technical requirements
- [ ] Resource allocation supports risk mitigation
- [ ] Infrastructure supports performance requirements
## Output Quality Standards
- Resource requirements are comprehensive and detailed
- Budget estimates are realistic and well-supported
- Team composition is appropriate for project scope
- Technology selections are well-justified
- Resource timeline aligns with project needs