What does time to float mean in It?

In project management, float or slack is the amount of time that a task in a project network can be delayed without causing a delay to:

• subsequent tasks ("free float")
• project completion date ("total float").

Total float is associated with the path. If a project network chart/diagram has 4 non-critical paths then that project would have 4 total float values. The total float of a path is the combined free float values of all activities in a path.

The total float represents the schedule flexibility and can also be measured by subtracting early start dates from late start dates of path completion.[1] Float is core to critical path method, with the total floats of noncritical activities key to computing the critical path drag of an activity, i.e., the amount of time it is adding to the project's duration.[2]

Example[edit]

Consider the process of replacing a broken pane of glass in the window of your home. There are various component activities involved in the project as a whole; obtaining the glass and putty, installing the new glass, choosing the paint, obtaining a tin once it has set, wiping the new glass free of finger smears etc.

Some of these activities can run concurrently e.g. obtaining the glass, obtaining the putty, choosing the paint etc., while others are consecutive e.g. the paint cannot be bought until it has been chosen, the new window cannot be painted until the window is installed and the new putty has set. Delaying the acquisition of the glass is likely to delay the entire project - this activity will be on the critical path and have no float, of any sort, attached to it and hence it is a 'critical activity'. A relatively short delay in the purchase of the paint may not automatically hold up the entire project as there is still some waiting time for the new putty to dry before it can be painted anyway - there will be some 'free float' attached to the activity of purchasing the paint and hence it is not a critical activity. However, a delay in choosing the paint, in turn, inevitably delays buying the paint which, although it may not subsequently mean any delay to the entire project, does mean that choosing the paint has no 'free float' attached to it - despite having no free float of its own, the choosing of the paint is involved with a path through the network which does have 'total float'.

Unless you’re actually hiring a deadly clown from outer space to be your IT engineer, you should be able to have a safe sleep at night, and you can walk past any sewer drain without worrying too much about taking your legs home with you. However, there are some nightmares out there that you still might want to avoid. You might still care about building a healthy IT department within your organisation that helps realise strategic business goals. You want to make your IT specialists happier, which will typically lead to better productivity and more innovation. You want to avoid spending more of your budget staying where you are rather than evolving and transforming the business. But first, what’s challenging about the IT operations in many organisations?

Well, imagine buying a Ferrari and taking it to a no-speed-limit highway. What do you do next? You throttle the fierce engine, and you ramp up to 60 mph, aaaand… that’s it! That thing goes 200 mph, you’re missing out the best part about driving a Ferrari. If you’re not going to drive any faster, then maybe you just want to enjoy personally owning an exotic. In business, it’s a different world. If 60 mph is your speed limit, then you should invest in no more than an 80 mph capable vehicle. 

It works the same way for your employees. IT specialists are a great asset for every organisation, and spending their time reactively handling issues is not a great utilisation of their skills and capabilities. You’ve hired great people, and they enjoy it when they are driving 200 mph everyday. They want to do all the proactive work, digital transformation, improving IT processes and exploring new technologies. They need more room to focus on these activities to achieve business goals and prepare for the future. Handling reactive firefighting issues diverts them away from their main goals and typically consumes most of their time. 

Finding the right balance for IT

Surprisingly, 55% of IT budgets are spent on operations according to a recent Deloitte report. In other words, organisations are spending over half of their annual budgets staying where they are! So how can decision makers gain more control over their IT budgets? If you think about it, operations are operations, they cannot be disregarded, deprioritised or eliminated. Some tools and solutions might make things better, but how can we figure out the general rule that applies for most cases. How much value would it add to your organisation if you were capable of directing half of your operational budget into R&D? 

First, you need to categorise your daily IT activities on an importance urgency matrix. Impact always comes from the important non-urgent tasks, ones that can change your business to a better form or structure. Any urgent activity is a reactive one, and as agreed reactive tasks do not better position your organisation, even if they are as important as resolving a major outage. They have to be done, but you’re not gaining a competitive advantage by completing them. These specific activities are usually better outsourced for many reasons and benefits. First, it creates room for your IT specialists to run full-throttle on strategy and innovation, the place where all the improvements originate. Also, it offloads repetitive operational tasks to expert service providers running 24 x7 at a much lower cost. A full guide to categorising your activities and building a business-centric IT could be found in this whitepaper. 

This way, you end up cutting operational costs, sharing risks, and encouraging more innovation within your organisation. And most importantly, you end up with happy IT engineers who aren’t going to chase you or probably haunt you in your sleep!

If you’re not having enough sleep… 

Check our whitepaper “Managed IT Services: Overcoming CIOs biggest challenges”
Visit our Managed IT Services website to learn more, or ask us any questions here

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