EPM, Microsoft Project and You

BY: Collin Quiring

Our book has been published!  It is titled “Mastering Resource Management: Using Microsoft Project and Project Server 2010″ and was written by Tanya Foster and Collin Quiring.  It was written to be an effective tool for Project Managers and Resource Managers who use Microsoft Project (whether Standard or Professional) and for the Project Managers and Resource Managers that use Microsoft Project Server.

It can be found at www.Amazon.com, www.BN.com (Barnes and Noble), www.jrosspub.com (J Ross Publishing) and other book selling sites.

Here is the high level summary about the book:

In the new economy, organizations in a myriad of sizes and industries are now more than ever seeking a better understanding of how to best utilize and manage the scarce resources devoted to their project portfolios. Microsoft® Project and Project Server are the most widely used and one of the top-rated enterprise project management software packages in the marketplace today and understanding how to properly use it allows an organization to cut costs, share information, and increase efficiency and effectiveness. However, due to the size and complexity of the software, covering all the numerous features, within a single text, may not meet the needs of those specifically involved with resource management.

Mastering Resource Management Using Microsoft® Project and Project Server 2010 provides the guidance needed to master resource management and exploit the full potential of Microsoft® Project and Project Server as it pertains to this critical function. It will also serve as a great companion to practical guides demonstrating the breadth of features and functionality available in this software.

Key Features:

• Presents step-by-step illustrated instructions on using Microsoft Project with Project Server 2010 as well as stand-alone Project Professional to best utilize and manage scarce resources devoted to project portfolios
• Explains the philosophy and methodology the software tool uses “behind the scenes” which will enable you to use it with confidence and clarity, become an expert user, and better manage your project portfolios and business
• Provides practical insights into how to maximize the resource management capabilities of Microsoft Project to obtain better information on resource usage, costs, and future needs, and in turn, gain better planning, scheduling, awareness and control of your scarce resources
• Highlights the things a manager must remember to do daily, weekly, monthly and annually to keep the system in place and working as expected

By Tanya Foster and Collin Quiring

How can you classify your Resources so that they can be grouped in some way for security, sorting and comparing to each other?   How do you classify some type of reporting structure or chain of command for your Resources?  One built in method for this in Project Server 2010 is the Resource Breakdown Structure, or RBS.

According to the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) guide the Resource Breakdown Structure is defined as “is a hierarchical list of resources related by function and resource type that is used to facilitate planning and controlling of project work.” (Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) – Fourth Edition, page 145. Project Management Institute, 2008.)

According to Microsoft in the world of Project Server 2010, “the Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) is a hierarchical security structure typically based on the management reporting structure of your organization, although it can also be structured in other ways. The RBS can be an important element in your Project Server security model when it is used to define the reporting relationships among users and projects in your organization. When you specify an RBS value for each Project Server user, you can take advantage of the dynamic security options that can be defined for each security category.”  (Guide for IT Pros for Project Server 2010, page 46, Microsoft, June 2010)

Before you can use the RBS as an effective tool for your organization, you need to know how to set it up.  Therefore, we have created a new document and posted it in the White Papers section of our website – http://www.pmpspecialists.com/WhitePapers.html .  The document is under the heading of “Sample RBS File – Setting up the RBS Custom Field”.  The purpose of this document is to help explain how to set up a Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) for your organization with Microsoft Project Server 2010.

I have the privilege of giving a couple webinars in the MPUG (Microsoft Project Users Group) Certificate Series for Microsoft Project 2010.  There will be nine separate one hour webinars.  This is a great way to learn more about Microsoft Project (and bits of Project Server 2010) in easy to manage chunks.  Here is the listing of webinars with the dates that they will be given:

• Fluent User Interface, 12 May 2010
• Timeline view, 23 June 2010
• Creating and Managing views, tables, sorting, and grouping, 7 July 2010
• Macros, 14 July 2010
• Compatibility, 21 July 2010
• Multiple Version Installation, 28 July 2010
• Manually Scheduled Tasks, 4 August 2010
• SharePoint Integration with Project, 11 August 2010
• Resource Management, 18 August 2010

 The list of instructors for the webinars is impressive and I am glad to be in the same grouping as them. 

 Directly from the MPUG site, here is some overview information:

Synopsis:
Microsoft Project Essentials Certificate series delivered via the web

 Overview:
Are you ready to start using Microsoft Project 2010? This certificate course is for users of Microsoft Project who need to plan projects, track projects, and communicate effectively with the latest version of Microsoft Project 2010. Each session of the series is taught by an MPUG expert presenter as ranked by our community members. The series will cover the new and improved features in Microsoft Project 2010 by reviewing and demonstrating how to do tasks with each. Tasks introduced through the series will also be supported by community dialog, articles and blog posts.

 See more details about the series:

http://www.mpug.com/Pages/MPUGCertificate.aspx

 See the short biographies of the instructors:

http://www.mpug.com/Pages/MPUGCertificateInstructors.aspx

By: Tanya Foster

I have had several people ask me about Project Portfolio Server, so it seems that this may be a good time to start blogging about the subject.  Let’s start with Microsoft TechNet.  You can find documentation and How To info on just about anything you want (Microsoft related of course).  Here’s the link in case you want to visit the site http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/projportserver/default.aspx

One of the main things that I like about Portfolio Server is that it can be tightly integrated with Microsoft Project 2007.  Let’s start there and talk about how it all works together.  Portfolio Server has a Project Server Gateway.  This gateway provides a link to Project Server 2007 so that you can import, export, and synchronize information between the two environments.  Information such as schedule phases, milestones, resource requirement info, resource availability, and even enterprise fields.    It also meshes with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 for document storage.

Now that we have our information in Portfolio Server from Project Server, we can begin to look at our portfolio of projects and determine which ones are viable and which ones can be put on the back burner or canceled all together.  Now this blog entry is all about the high level stuff.  The next few blog entries will be diving a little deeper into the Portfolio Server subject…. So stay tuned!