EPM, Microsoft Project and You

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.

BY: Collin Quiring

With the Project Server 2010 SP1 release (expected in June) one of the new capabilities of Project Server 2010 will be the ability to update Timesheets and Task Status using browsers other than Internet Explorer.  This is one of those things that many people will probably not get too excited about and will consider a “minor” update and may not affect them.  However, I think this is one of those updates that is huge and extremely important to those customers that need this type of capability!

As somebody that has worked with clients in environments that didn’t require IE or in MAC-centric environments this is a huge step forward in my mind.  Having the ability to access any screen directly from a MAC is an important update and will relieve some IT shops from having to jump through hoops to configure MAC’s to work with Project Web App just so that a user can update their time.

Now, before we get too excited that this will solve all of our problems, only the Project Web App main default page and the MY WORK pages (Tasks, Timesheet and Issues and Risks) will work with the other browsers.  I have absolutely no inside knowledge but perhaps this is the initial movement toward making all of Project Web App pages work with other browsers!

From Microsoft’s information about SP1, the supported browsers are:

• Internet Explorer 9 (32-bit) on Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows 2008
• Internet Explorer 8 (32-bit) on Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows 2008
• Internet Explorer 7 (32-bit) on Windows Vista, Windows XP and Windows 2003
• Firefox 3.6.8+ on Mac OS X v10.6, Windows 7 (32-bit/64-bit), Windows Vista SP2, Windows XP SP3, Windows 2003 and UNIX/Linux,
• Google Chrome 6.0 on Windows 7
• Safari 5 on Mac OS X v10.6

Here is the link to Christophe Fiessinger’s blog with screenshots from the non-IE browsers:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/chrisfie/archive/2011/05/25/multi-browser-support-for-time-entry-in-project-server-2010.aspx

BY: Collin Quiring

For those that don’t know, there is a great organization out there called MPUG – the Microsoft Project User Group.  I just wrote a brief article for them in regards to the fact that there is no longer an Active X control in Project Server 2010.  This is one article in a series by various Project Server experts about some of the new features in the 2010 version.

View the article at:  http://www.mpug.com/News/Pages/MicrosoftProject2010FeatureRallyNoMoreActiveX.aspx , or, here is a copy of it:

Project Server 2010 has many new features, abilities and enhancements that make it a great product.  However, there is one modification to the 2010 version that will go unnoticed by new administrators and will hopefully soon be forgotten by administrators that have worked with previous versions.  I am referring to the fact that the ActiveX controls are no longer part of Project Server.  My non-technical explanation of what an ActiveX control does is that it adds functionality to Project.  In the case of Project Server, there are a number of places it is used but the most noticeable is that it allowed you to see the information within Project Center and Resource Center. 

 I can’t count the number of times I would have a user contact me and tell me that they were getting an error message that looked like this one:

The catch?  Well, if the person isn’t an administrator (or high level permissions) on their machine they can’t download the ActiveX control.  And, there are other settings that have to be configured in Internet Explorer as well.  If the client machines were “locked down” by a central IT group, then they had to administer the installation of these controls.  It isn’t always easy to get the controls pushed out from the central IT administration folks!  Then, when some system updates (Project or not) are done, the ActiveX controls have to be downloaded/pushed out again.  At one client of mine, this is a constant issue and there are always a handful of users that can’t access Project Server due to the hardware and software update cycles and I know for a fact that this has slowed the adoption of the tool overall.

With all of the improvements and new components of Project Server 2010 I hope this now defunct “feature” becomes one of those topics of conversation that “old” administrators tell each other about the “old days” and how much better it is now!  

The catch?  Well, if the person isn’t an administrator (or high level permissions) on their machine they can’t download the ActiveX control.  And, there are other settings that have to be configured in Internet Explorer as well.  If the client machines were “locked down” by a central IT group, then they had to administer the installation of these controls.  It isn’t always easy to get the controls pushed out from the central IT administration folks!  Then, when some system updates (Project or not) are done, the ActiveX controls have to be downloaded/pushed out again.  At one client of mine, this is a constant issue and there are always a handful of users that can’t access Project Server due to the hardware and software update cycles and I know for a fact that this has slowed the adoption of the tool overall.

With all of the improvements and new components of Project Server 2010 I hope this now defunct “feature” becomes one of those topics of conversation that “old” administrators tell each other about the “old days” and how much better it is now! 

BY:  Collin Quiring

I will be blogging about the Project Conference and Project 2010 in more detail in the next few days.  However, at the moment, this is a great “first look” press release.  There are a number of videos with some great initial information!

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/projectserver/videoGallery.aspx

By: Collin Quiring

I have a previous post about upgrading from Project Server 2003 to 2007 or waiting for 2010.  I mentioned some of the timing and costs associated with the two upgrades.  I recommend that you read that post, however, the Project Server 2010 Technical Review is released!  Microsoft has told me that I am the list of those that will get a chance to test it.  Of course, I will let you know what I think about it if and/or when I get a copy to test (within whatever confidentiality agreements!).

Here is what Microsoft has released about Project 2010 and I will start to upack some of these items in future posts:

Project 2010 builds on the Project 2007 foundation to provide an end-to-end work management platform. The key investment areas are targeted at letting you choose the right tools that can evolve with you:

• Enhance user experience and appeal
  • Fluent user interface
  • User controlled scheduling
  • Powerful new views
  • Web-based project editing
• Improve execution with effective collaboration
  • Integration with SharePoint Server 2010
  • Richer workgroup collaboration
  • Enhanced time/status tracking
• Unify project and portfolio management
  • Common user experience through full PPM lifecycle
  • Improved demand management
  • Better reporting and BI
• Simplify deployment and extend interoperability
  • Microsoft Exchange integration
  • 64-bit compatibility of client and server
  • No ActiveX dependency

By: Collin Quiring

I am being asked by customers about whether Project Server and upgrading.  Should they upgrade to Project Server 2007 now, or should they wait for 2010 to come out?

I know that in these tough economic times, there is a tendency to wait on upgrading and there is a temptation to “skip a release”.  In the short term, this might seem to be the prudent thing to do from a pure dollars and cents view.  However, I think that this ends up costing more in the long run.   I will summarize why at the end of this post.

My recommendation is to upgrade from 2003 to 2007.  And, while every customer sees specific benefits from an upgrade, I think that the following short list applies to many organizations.

Reasons to upgrade from 2003 to 2007 and not wait for 2010:

1.        Project Server 2003 is now 6 year old technology (which is probably 35 years in tech/dog years)

a.       It still is a great product, but, compatibility with other technology gets harder every year as other hardware and software is updated within the enterprise

b.      Users within organizations have become used to the concept of “most recent” – they have the latest iPhone’s and software programs that have standard features they have come to expect from their work software

2.       Project Server 2003 is no longer part of mainstream support from Microsoft

a.       April, 2009 was the retire date

b.      This means that fewer and fewer people (Microsoft or consultants) will have the expertise needed to help with any serious issues that may arise

3.       New Features of Project Server 2007

a.       I won’t go into the list here, but there are a number of features that make 2007 just a better product

b.      This means that you could be using these features now – improving productivity and reducing labor costs now

4.       Compatibility of 2007

a.       Some of the new features of 2007 only work with more recent technology – Office 2007, SQl 2005, etc.

5.       Project Server 20007 – knowns

a.       The ability, knowledge, documentation and experience to upgrade from 2003 to 2007 is available in the marketplace

b.      The hardware and software requirements are also known entities

c.       The database modifications from 2003 to 2007 are fairly significant but are also known entities

6.       Project Server 2010 – knowns and unknowns

a.       2010 uses 64 bit technology only

                                                               i.      This means that there will most likely be a need to purchase new hardware

                                                             ii.      Based on what I am being told by most customers, new hardware purchases are not at the top of the list

                                                            iii.      There are great new capabilities that 64 bit provides and there are benefits to customers with this technology so this shouldn’t be viewed as a negative

b.      2010 will be compatible with SharePoint 2010, SQL 2008, Windows Server 2008 and other new technology

                                                               i.      This indicates that an upgrade to Project 2010 should be accompanied with an upgrade of other technology

                                                             ii.      This could mean licensing issues as well

c.       Unknowns:

                                                               i.      I am hoping to be one of those that Microsoft deems worthy to be given an opportunity to test Project Server 2010 before RTM, but at this point, there are lots of unknowns

1.       How different is the user experience?

2.       What new features are available?

3.       Etc. Etc.

4.       Release Date – while the current date for release is early 2010, it could be mid to late 2010 before it is actually released

5.       Upgrade path – I have no idea about this but with some past releases you still had to upgrade to the previous version before going to the most recent version – which would mean making you go to 2007 anyway (if only for the conversion process itself)

In summary, I think that going to Project Server 2007 from Project Server 2003 now is important because waiting for Project Server 2010 will cost more in the long run.  If the release date is late 2010, and you have to buy the appropriate hardware, software and licensing, it could easily be 2011 before you implement.  That means that your Project Server 2003 implementation will be 8 years old (about 42 in technology dog years).  Some customers prefer to wait for SP1 to come out, that would be early 2010 or mid 2011 for Project Server 2010.  That would mean that your Project Server 2003 implementation would be 9 years old.  Productivity increases, newer software capability, support and expertise are all critical aspects that make Project Server 2007 less expensive now than waiting.

UPDATE:  As of today (September 1, 2009), it is my understanding that to get to Project Server 2010 from 2003 you will have to upgrade to 2007 first.  Now, before that causes too much consternation – there is also a path to do so that Microsoft is providing to some of the Certified Partners, like PMP Specialists, that will allow us to help customers go from 2003 to 2010 without having to purchase and implement 2007.  BUT, in my mind, this is another reason to go to 2007 now – because I wonder about the known/unknown data issues that each specific company has when going from 2003 to 2007, let alone from 2003 to 2007 to 2010.  Just more food for thought.