Capacity

Intro

Capacity is the amount of work a team, process, or system can handle in a time period. In EA, it supports planning, scaling, and service levels.

Key points:

• Helps match demand with available resources
• Improves predictability and prioritization
• Used in process design, infrastructure sizing, and release planning
• Pitfall: ignoring variability and bottlenecks when estimating

Examples:

• Contact centre capacity model for peak season
• ETL pipeline throughput measured in records per hour
• Scrum team capacity based on average completed story points

In practice:

Measure actual throughput and adjust forecasts; build buffers for peak loads.

Related terms: Throughput; Bottleneck; Lead Time

FAQs:

Q: Is capacity the same as utilisation?
A: No, capacity is potential output; utilisation is how much you use.

Q: How often should capacity be reviewed?
Regularly, and whenever demand patterns change.

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