RMI Market Research

RMI Market Research for Resource Management

The Resource Management Institute conducts a series of research studies to help professionals compare and contrast their Resource Management operations to their peer groups. Participants who complete these short surveys will receive the consolidated data back after the survey closes. This unique and resource management specific research information targets project-based industries including professional and consulting services, marketing agencies, accounting, audit, tax, and advisory firms, legal firms, engineering, enterprise/IT organizations, and product development teams. Each survey in the series explores various aspects of running Resource Management operations.

Current Studies

RM Governance

Strong governance is the foundation of effective resource management, enabling organizations to make better decisions, improve accountability, and align workforce capacity with business objectives. This study examines how organizations establish and manage resource management governance, including organizational structures, decision-making authority, performance measurement, compliance monitoring, reporting practices, stakeholder communication, and continuous improvement efforts.

By participating, organizations will contribute to a comprehensive industry study that highlights current governance practices, emerging trends, and areas of maturity across the resource management profession. The findings will help organizations compare their governance approaches against peers, identify strengths and gaps within their own processes, and uncover opportunities to enhance transparency, consistency, operational effectiveness, and business outcomes through stronger governance.

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The Expertise Paradox: Understanding the Evolving Talent Economy

Sponsored by:

In partnership with Kantata, this study looks at how Resource Management leaders are balancing short-term delivery demands with the need to build long-term organizational capability. It explores expertise concentration, talent development, workforce planning, and the impact of AI on the evolving talent economy.

By participating, organizations will contribute to a comprehensive industry study that highlights current practices, emerging trends, and areas of maturity across the resource management profession. The findings will help organizations compare their approaches against peers, identify strengths and gaps within their own processes, and uncover opportunities to improve.

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Latest Research Report

Emergence of AI in Resource Management

Artificial intelligence is rapidly emerging as a significant area of interest across Resource Management, creating new opportunities to improve workforce planning, resource allocation, forecasting, decision-making, and operational execution. As organizations explore the potential of AI-enabled capabilities, they are evaluating a wide range of applications, technologies, investment strategies, and adoption approaches to support evolving business needs. This study examines how organizations are approaching AI within Resource Management today, including current adoption patterns, areas of application, organizational readiness, perceived barriers, and future priorities. It also explores how organizations define intelligent Resource Management and what outcomes they hope to achieve through AI-enabled capabilities. This benchmark enables organizations to assess their position relative to peers, better understand emerging trends in AI adoption, and identify opportunities to advance their Resource Management capabilities.

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Completed Research Reports

The below surveys have closed. Thank you to everyone who participated. RMI members can click on the survey name to view the research report. Not an RMI member?

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  • Q2 2026 — Resource management is widely established across organizations, yet its economic value remains uneven and often underrealized. This study examines how RM capabilities are currently being applied across strategy, financial decision-making, and delivery, and where gaps are limiting business impact. While organizations continue to see benefits in areas such as utilization, staffing efficiency, and delivery performance, the findings reveal a consistent pattern: RM provides strong visibility into operations but has limited influence on strategic and financial outcomes. This benchmark enables organizations to assess the maturity of their RM capabilities, identify where value is being constrained, and prioritize actions to elevate RM as a true driver of business performance. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q4 2024 — The RMI and Dayshape collaborated on this survey to conduct a deeper dive into the role of resource management on project profitability and revenue. This survey will help us understand the reach of resource management and its impact on the financial levers of the delivery organization. It will also help connect us with the capabilities necessary to provide the right visibility so we can respond before it’s too late.  This research report provides good benchmark data for firms trying to tackle this essential process element. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q3 2026 — Artificial intelligence is rapidly emerging as a significant area of interest across Resource Management, creating new opportunities to improve workforce planning, resource allocation, forecasting, decision-making, and operational execution. As organizations explore the potential of AI-enabled capabilities, they are evaluating a wide range of applications, technologies, investment strategies, and adoption approaches to support evolving business needs. This study examines how organizations are approaching AI within Resource Management today, including current adoption patterns, areas of application, organizational readiness, perceived barriers, and future priorities. It also explores how organizations define intelligent Resource Management and what outcomes they hope to achieve through AI-enabled capabilities. This benchmark enables organizations to assess their position relative to peers, better understand emerging trends in AI adoption, and identify opportunities to advance their Resource Management capabilities. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q2 2024 — Resource forecasting continues to be the #1 inhibitor to effective resource management. As a follow-on to our first survey on this topic, this research report provides good benchmark data for firms trying to tackle this essential process element. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q3 2022 — The RMI’s first research survey on Forecasting with plans to conduct future follow-on research as forecasting continues to be a common point of failure for many firms. The RMI wants to provide more benchmark data to help the membership with finding better solutions to effective forecasting and demand planning. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q3 2025 — In an increasingly complex operating environment, professional services leaders are focusing on growth, but with so many moving parts – talent, technology, delivery models, and market dynamics – it’s not always clear where the true blockers or opportunities lie.  In this collaborative survey between the RMI and Dayshape we explored how resource managers and leaders are navigating these challenges: where they’re investing, what’s holding them back, what they’re prioritizing, and what might help unlock the next phase of sustainable growth. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q1 2026 — This marked the 5th edition of our ongoing research into inhibitors to effective resource management, conducted in the first quarter of 2026.  The intent of the study was to dive into the people, process, and technology challenges that continue to hold companies back from achieving stronger outcomes from Resource Management. This edition expanded the scope to gain insight into AI usage and adoption to help identify emerging trends, barriers, and opportunities for leveraging AI responsibly in Resource Management. Input into this study was provided from 81 different companies, by services executives, resource and project managers, production managers, and resource management office leadership. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q1 2024 — This was the fourth survey on resource management inhibitors and was expanded to include seven different project-based domains. Input was provided from 60 different companies, by services executives, resource and project managers, production managers, and resource management office leadership. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q1 2022 — This was the third survey on resource management inhibitors and was expanded to include five different project-based domains. Professional/Consulting services and Enterprise/IT services made up 83% of the respondents. Recently added to the Survey Series is input from Accounting, Audit, Tax and Advisory organizations. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q1 2020 — This was the second survey on RM inhibitors and was expanded to now include four different project-based domains. Input was provided from 68 different companies, by PS/EIT/PD/MA services executives, resource and project managers, production managers, and resource management office leadership. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q1 2018 — Research collected from this survey focused on the largest inhibitors respondents have to effective resource management, process support for resource management, current inhibitors in respondents automation support for resource management, and what current automation deficiencies respondents plan on addressing. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q4 2025 — As organizations strive for greater agility and efficiency, the role of resource management is evolving rapidly. This collaborative survey between the RMI and ProServe Metrics explores the future of resource management solutions—how technology, data, and strategy are converging to shape next-generation practices. Insights collected as part of this study will help define what’s next for the discipline and guide innovation across industries. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q2 2025 — This was the RMI’s fourth survey on the Profession of Being an RM/RMO Leader. RMO leaders, Resource Managers, PMO leaders, operations managers, delivery managers, and services/business unit executives from 143 different companies across Professional/Consulting Services; Enterprise/IT; Product Development; Marketing Agencies; Accounting, Audit, Tax, and Advisory; Law Firms; and Engineering Firms. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q2 2023 — This is the third trends survey on the profession of the Resource Manager/RMO leader. Input was provided from 66 different companies service entities including Professional Services, Enterprise/IT, Product Development teams, Marketing Agencies, Accounting, Audit, Tax and Advisory, and Law firms and their services executives, resource and project managers, production managers, and resource management office leadership. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q4 2021 — This is the second trends survey on the profession of the Resource Manager/RMO leader. Input was provided from 45 different companies service entities including Professional Services, Enterprise/IT, Product Development teams, Marketing Agencies, and Accounting, Audit, Tax and Advisory firms and their services executives, resource and project managers, production managers, and resource management office leadership. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q2 2018 — Research collected from this survey focused on many dimensions of the RM/RMO leader’s role including how many resource managers are in the respondent’s organizations and how many resources those RMs manage, organizational reporting, training, career planning, compensation and more. This first of its kind survey provides valuable benchmark information for services teams focused on resource management initiatives. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q4 2025 — The RMI’s latest survey on digital Resource Management automation tools builds on previous research into how organizations are leveraging technology to automate RM practices. This survey explores satisfaction with current PSA, PPM, or RPM solutions, the functionalities being used, and how effectively these tools support Resource and Workforce Management. It also examines prioritized needs, continued reliance on spreadsheets, and other critical aspects of automation strategies. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q4 2023 — This was the fifth survey on resource management automation and was expanded to include seven different project-based domains. Input was provided from 57 different companies, by services executives, resource and project managers, production managers, and resource management office leadership. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q2 2022 — This was the fourth survey on resource management automation and was expanded to include five different project-based domains. Input was provided from 47 different companies, by services executives, resource and project managers, production managers, and resource management office leadership. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q4 2020 — The industry’s most in-depth look yet into the role of Automation tools for Resource Management in four different project-based domains. Good trending data now available from the last time we surveyed RM Automation tools in 2017 and again in 2019. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q2 2019 — This report examines the role of automation tools for Resource Management in three different project-based domains and gathered data from 60 different companies including IT services, professional services and product development executives and managers, resource managers, and resource management office leadership. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q2 2017 — Research collected from this survey focused on how satisfied respondents are with their PSA/PPM tool, what functions they are using the tool for, how satisfied are they with the RM functionality of their tool, and if they are still maintaining the use of spreadsheets to assist with the management of resources. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q3 2023 — Governance of any enterprise-wide process is important and challenging.   There is no exception to this when it comes to managing today’s RMO.  This survey will help identify what companies are measuring, how they are measuring it, who is using the data, how the data is reported, who is involved in the governance process, cadence for governance processes and more.   This important data will be used by RMOs and their companies to benchmark their operations to their peer group. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q1 2026 — As part of our 2026 survey series, we partnered with Kantata to take a deeper look at Resource Management in the Age of AI. Your input will help reveal how Resource Management is adapting and what support the profession needs to thrive in this new era.

    Professional Services is undergoing a period of significant transformation—driven by AI agents, evolving pricing models, and growing expectations to deliver outcomes rather than simply allocate hours. This survey explores how prepared resource managers feel to guide their organizations through this shift, the roles they anticipate playing in the future, and the challenges that may stand in their way. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q3 2024 — Resource utilization continues to be a focal point for project-based businesses, with emphasis on the fundamentals of better metrics, governance and management. The RMI’s fourth report on resource utilization continues the industry’s most in-depth look at this all-important metric, with input provided by 71 different companies across Professional/Consulting Services; Enterprise/IT; Product Development; Marketing Agencies; Accounting, Audit, Tax, and Advisory; and Engineering. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q3 2021 — This latest report on resource utilization continues the industry’s most in-depth look at utilization in four different project-based domains Professional Services, Enterprise IT, Marketing Agencies, and Product Development. Utilization continues to gain industry focus with important progress on the fundamentals of better metrics, governance, and management. However, many challenges remain in both process and technology used to manage this important element of a service business. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q3 2019 — Resource utilization continues to gain industry focus with project-based businesses, with important progress on the fundamentals of better metrics, governance and management. Survey input was provided from 56 different companies, by Professional Services, Enterprise IT, and Product Development executives, resource and project managers and resource management office leadership. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q3 2018 — Resource utilization has clearly hit the radar as more important than ever for project-based businesses. Research collected from this survey focused on how many resources organizations manage, standard hours used in utilization calculation, utilization targets, and automation tools used to measure and report utilization results. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q1 2024 — For this survey, we partnered with BigTime Software to conduct a deeper dive into RM automation capabilities.  This research explored many aspects of RM automation capabilities to help support resource and workforce management processes.  Armed with this important benchmark data companies can compare and contrast certain aspects of their current state vs. their peer group.  Input was provided by services executives, resource managers, project managers, and resource management office leaders from 47 different companies. Click here to login and view the research report.
  • Q1 2025 — Our fourth research report on the role of the Resource Management Office was expanded to include seven different project-based domains. For analysis purposes, responses to this research survey were organized into two segments: companies that serve external customers (Professional/Consulting Services; Marketing Agencies; Accounting, Audit, Tax, and Advisory; and Law Firms) and those that serve internal customers (Enterprise/IT Services, Product Development, and Engineering Firms). Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q1 2023 — Our third research report on the role of the Resource Management Office was expanded to include six different project-based domains. For analysis purposes, responses to this research survey were organized into two segments: companies that serve external customers (Professional/Consulting Services; Marketing Agencies; Accounting, Audit, Tax, and Advisory; and Law Firms) and those that serve internal customers (Enterprise/IT Services and Product Development). Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q1 2021 — This research report is the RMI’s second covering the role of the Resource Management Office in four different project-based domains with Professional/Consulting services and Enterprise/IT services making up 89% of the respondents. Input came from 47 different companies including IT services, professional services, marketing agencies and product development executives and managers, resource managers, and resource management office leadership. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q1 2019 — This survey focused on getting better data on typical RMO size, structure, spend, workload ratios, key success measures, and more. The report is the industry’s most in-depth look yet at the role of the Resource Management Office (RMO) in three different project-based domains. Professional/Consulting services and Enterprise/IT services made up 93% of the respondents. Recently added to the Survey Series is input from Product Development organizations representing 7% of respondents. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q3 2025 — This marks the fourth edition of our ongoing research into skills tracking and management, conducted in the third quarter of 2025. In previous survey cycles, we found that most organizations consistently view their capabilities in this area as needing improvement. While some progress has been made, challenges persist—not only in process maturity but also in the supporting technology. Despite advancements, many systems still lack the flexibility, actionable insights, and integration required to move beyond spreadsheets and disconnected tools. Leading practices have emerged around the creation, maintenance, and governance of skills databases, particularly those designed to support Just-in-Time Resourcing® strategies. This trends study focused specifically on the persistent gaps in skills tracking and management, identifying them as a critical area for industry-wide advancement. It also serves as a competitive benchmark for organizations aiming to elevate their resource management maturity.  Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q4 2022 — This third survey on Skills Tracking and Management was expanded to include six different project-based domains. Input was provided by services executives, resource managers and resource management office leadership, project managers, and production managers from different companies across Professional/Consulting Services; Enterprise/IT; Product Development; Marketing Agencies; Accounting, Audit, Tax, and Advisory; and Law Firms. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q3 2020 — This is our second research report on Skills Tracking and Management and was expanded to include four different project-based domains. Compared to the last time we surveyed on this topic, the majority of organizations feel their skills tracking and management capabilities are areas for improvement. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q4 2018 — The skills database is the backbone of a good resource management process. Coupled with a resource demand forecast, an effective skills database supports the provision of needed information regarding skills capacity, type, availability, proficiencies and more allowing service delivery teams to plan for and staff projects with the right people in the right place at the right time. This research survey explored both process and technology factors related to skills tracking and management. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q4 2024 — The task of sourcing human capital has changed as part of today’s economy.  With a large and growing percentage of the workforce shifting to a freelance model, managing a flex workforce is essential. This was the RMI’s third comprehensive industry study of sourcing strategies, and included trending data from 4Q/2019 and 2Q/2021. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q2 2021 — A comprehensive study of sourcing strategies for four different project-based domains including trending data from our 2019 survey. Incremental to our 2019 study was the addition of questions related to the impact and implications of the growing gig marketplace related to overall sourcing trends. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q4 2019 — An industry first study of sourcing strategies for four different project-based domains. Survey input was provided from 53 different companies, by Professional Services/Enterprise IT/Product Development/Marketing Agency services executives, resource and project managers, production managers, and resource management office leadership. Click here to login and view research report.
  • Q3 2024 — The RMI and Kantata collaborated on this survey to conduct a deeper dive into staffing to help us consider the perspectives of clients and resources involved in the staffing process and the outcomes that benefit both through effective staffing information.  Armed with this important benchmark data companies can compare and contrast certain aspects of their current state vs. their peer group.  Click here to login and view research report.

For questions about the RMI Survey Series please email info@resourcemanagementinstitute.com.