Patent ID: 8392234

Claim:
A method for optimizing resource allocation, wherein the method comprises: identifying one or more communication needs for each of one or more communications needed for execution of a global service project, wherein the one or more communication needs comprise communication frequency, skill level requirement and language requirement, said identifying carried out via a distinct software module executing on a hardware processor; identifying one or more members of each of the one or more communications and member information for each of the one or more members, wherein the member information comprises physical location of the member, member skill level and language capabilities of the member, said identifying carried out via a distinct software module executing on a hardware processor; using the one or more communication needs and member information to estimate one or more communication costs for each of the one or more communications needed for execution of the global service project, said using carried out via a distinct software module executing on a hardware processor, and wherein said estimating comprises solving C t =λC p , wherein: C t is communication cost wherein members are in different time zones; λ is a combined cost factor and expressed as λ = 1 α ⁢ ( ∑ i = 1 m ⁢ ξ i ω i ) ≥ 1 , wherein α is a parameter reflecting channel capacity reduction, m is a number of members in a communication, ξ i is a percentage of information contributed by member i, and ω is a coefficient representing member information; and C p is expressed as I yI u , wherein I is a total amount of information in a communication, I u , is transmitted information per time unit, and γ is a coefficient discounting unit transferred information; comparing the one or more communication costs for each of the one or more communications to determine a resource allocation for executing the global service project that is lowest in terms of cost of the project and/or execution time of the project, wherein resource allocation comprises member staffing and communication scheduling, said comparing carried out via a distinct software module executing on a hardware processor; and allocating resources for execution of the global service project in accordance with the resource allocation derived from said comparing, said allocating carried out via a distinct software module executing on a hardware processor.