A resource breakdown structure (RBS) is a way of organizing resources as a hierarchy, often by team or by location. A resource breakdown structure is similar to a work breakdown structure (WBS).
- To provide the basis of security to view and manage resources.
- To provide a structure for views and reporting.
Any group of resources has some type of organization, whether it's a simple hierarchy of teams that is grouped in the same way as your organization or a more complex hierarchy that groups resources by costs, skills, and location. In many ways, a resource breakdown structure is best used as a way of defining the framework from which your organization assigns, allocates, and tracks how resources (both material and working) can affect values that are important to tasks and task plans, such as values related to time, effort, duration, or cost.
A resource breakdown structure (RBS) is a way of organizing resources as a hierarchy (often visually) that can take on characteristics similar to a work breakdown structure. For example, a simple RBS may have a a structure that organizes developers and testers as peers in the hieararchy:
Depending on the size of your organization and the amount of detail you want to track across projects, the complexity of the RBS can grow to include other options, such as by organization, by geographic location, by skill or role, or a combination of those (and other) options.