PDWare's ResourceFirst is enterprise software for a problem most PMOs know too well: your organization has approved more projects than your people can actually deliver, and nobody can see the gap until it's a missed deadline. ResourceFirst is built to make capacity versus demand visible — who is over-allocated, which skills are the bottleneck, and what happens to the portfolio if you add or cut a project.
It's a focused, unglamorous tool aimed squarely at mid-to-large organizations running dozens or hundreds of concurrent projects. Here's what it does well and where it fits.
Bottom line: A deep, spreadsheet-friendly resource-and-capacity planning tool that solves a real enterprise pain — and is overkill, and priced out of reach, for small teams.
Best for: Mid-to-large PMOs and IT organizations managing large, resource-constrained project portfolios.
Price: Enterprise; custom quote only (no public pricing).
Rating:
What ResourceFirst does
ResourceFirst centers on resource capacity planning: modeling the demand from your project portfolio against the real capacity of your teams and skills. It handles resource allocation, forecasting, and — the part practitioners value most — scenario or what-if planning, so you can test the impact of adding, delaying, or cancelling a project before you commit people to it. That's the difference between a deliberate deferral made up front and a failure discovered six months into delivery.
Crucially, the interface is spreadsheet-like. For PMOs that have run capacity planning in Excel for years, that familiarity lowers the adoption barrier substantially — you get the power of a purpose-built system without forcing your planners to abandon the mental model they already use. It integrates with common PPM and project tools so it can layer on top of an existing stack rather than replacing everything.
Where it fits — and where it doesn't
ResourceFirst is built for scale and complexity. If your PMO juggles dozens or hundreds of active projects across multiple business units and constantly fights over shared, specialized resources, this is the kind of tool that earns its cost by preventing overcommitment. The capacity-versus-demand gap analysis it produces is exactly the lens that turns portfolio decisions from politics into math — the same discipline we walk through in capacity vs demand gap analysis and FTE planning for IT projects.
What it isn't: a lightweight, pretty, self-serve tool. Small teams running a handful of projects don't have the complexity to justify it, and the interface, while functional and familiar, is more workhorse than showpiece. This is enterprise software that trades polish for depth.
PDWare pricing
PDWare doesn't publish pricing. Clicking through to pricing takes you to a contact form for a custom quote, which is standard for enterprise resource-management software where cost depends on user count, deployment model, and implementation scope. Expect an enterprise price point and an implementation effort to match — this is a considered purchase with onboarding, not a swipe-a-card SaaS signup. Budget for the rollout, not just the license.
Pros
- Deep resource capacity and demand planning
- Scenario / what-if modeling before committing resources
- Handles large, complex, multi-unit portfolios
- Familiar spreadsheet-style interface eases adoption
- Integrates with existing PPM and project tools
Cons
- Enterprise-only, quote-based pricing (no transparency)
- Overkill for small teams and simple portfolios
- Interface is functional rather than modern or polished
- Implementation takes real time and effort
- Narrow focus — it's a planning tool, not a full PPM suite
Is PDWare worth it?
For a mid-to-large PMO or IT organization that genuinely struggles to match project demand to available capacity, ResourceFirst solves a costly, hard problem and does it with a familiar spreadsheet paradigm that teams actually adopt. For small teams or simple portfolios, it's more system than the problem warrants. If capacity planning is your pain point, ground the decision in how to score and prioritize projects and how to run a portfolio review that changes decisions first — the tool amplifies a good process, it doesn't replace one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PDWare ResourceFirst?
PDWare ResourceFirst is enterprise resource and portfolio management software. It helps PMOs and IT organizations model project demand against team capacity, allocate resources, forecast, and run what-if scenarios, so they can see and fix overcommitment before it becomes a missed deadline. Its interface is deliberately spreadsheet-like to ease adoption.
How much does PDWare cost?
PDWare does not publish pricing. It's enterprise software quoted per organization based on user count, deployment model, and implementation scope, so you request a custom quote through a contact form. Expect an enterprise price point plus an implementation effort rather than an instant, self-serve subscription.
Who is PDWare for?
PDWare is built for mid-to-large PMOs and IT organizations that manage dozens or hundreds of concurrent projects and regularly contend for shared, specialized resources. It's overkill for small teams running only a handful of projects, where a simpler tool or spreadsheet is sufficient.
What does PDWare do?
PDWare provides resource capacity planning, resource allocation, portfolio forecasting, and scenario (what-if) analysis. Its core value is showing the gap between the work an organization has committed to and the capacity it actually has, so leaders can defer or reprioritize projects deliberately before delivery problems appear.