Update Anomalies: How to get yourself into and out of trouble with resources in a Project Server World

Mark Read

Agenda

The Second Law of ThermodynamicsProject and Process ManagementExamples of Data Challenges in Project ServerIntroduction to Sequence AdvisorsQuestions

The Second Law of Thermodynamicsstates that all work processes tend towards a

greater entropy (disorder/lower energy density) over time.

Project Management: Order out of Chaos

OrderChaos

Thermodynamics

Project Management

Process Development: Order out of Chaos

SolutionProblem

Feedback

Process

Project Server: Order out of Chaos

Project ManagerUsers

Tasks

Actuals

Common Resource Naming IssuesSame Resource, Different Resource NamesHand Typing ResourcesProject Managers not used to a resource pool

Duration with Multiple AssignmentsThe Gantt chart view won’t help you understand

what part of a task with multiple assignments is causing your duration to be longer than anticipated.

The task usage view, when coupled with the Assignment Units column, can help sort out which assignment is pushing the duration.

When editing tasks, they help remember the rubberband (duration/work/units relationship)

They are only effective during the editing of a task. If you edit another task, they are gone

Can help you wrestle with the scheduling engine.

Smart Tags

Resource Usage Summaries

Include work for all plans, not just the plan you’re looking at.

Use the Project Team Members filter, but remember that the summary task still includes everyone’s time for all tasks.

Complex Rollups

Used to be there were regular calculation errors on multiple group bys, but Microsoft has fixed some of these in SP1.

Needless to say, they are hard to read.

Multi Value Fields

1. Great for skills, not for costs

2. Two Different Groupings with Outline Code 20 and MV 20

3. Flat or Hierarchical with OK rollups

4. Group takes first data instance only, filter for others

Data Levels

Enterprise

Project

Resource

Task or Assignment

Resources are the only level have multi-value fields

Any multi-value data that needs to be rolled up or down should be stored at the assignment level

Assignment level fields are hard to get compliance on because there are so many of them…

Maximum work per day

The PWA timesheet will warn about a single cell being over the predefined limit, but it won’t warn about someone working more than 24 hours a day over a group of tasks.

Published Fields in PWAYou can add fields to your

plan and to the PWA timesheet

You must set them to be Published fields (Tools>Customize>Published Fields)

You can make them user settable, or NOT

May need VBA on client or SQL on the server to populate formula based fields

Portfolio Analyzer

Great multiple filter capability.

The largest challenge is readability

Permissions

Resources inherit rights from their (multiple) group membership(s) and selectively use the RBS

This comes in handy with complex permission requirements

Use View Effective Rights to diagnose issues

Summary

There is a whole lot of functionality in the base product.

With great power comes great responsibilityThe key is to focus on getting the users trained

to get the numbers rightDon’t Panic…there is help out there…

Introduction to Sequence Advisors• Focus on Microsoft Project Management and

Knowledge Management Solutions • Expertise in MS Project, Project Server and

Office Products including Sharepoint products and MapPoint

• Background in Financial Services, Information Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Professional Services, Consulting, Startups, Telecommunications, Construction

• Microsoft Certified Partner with Information Worker Competency

Team Members – Skill Matrix

Mark Read – Principal

Pablo Aguilar - Director of Technology, MCSE

Jean Thompson - Senior Consultant

David Luper - Senior Consultant

Lisa Leung - Senior Consultant

Angel Lance – Consultant, PMP

Dyelan Grace - Senior Software Engineer, MCSE

What do we do?

• Project and portfolio management consulting • Installation and configuration services (Server

products including Project Server, Sharepoint)• Custom development and integration

services (.net, c#, VB)• Infrastructure assistance (Exchange, domain

admin, backups, SUS, etc)• Training, Training, Training• Long-term support

What don’t we do?

We don’t provide or license MS software

We don’t sell hardware

Quantitative Evaluation – 30 Plans

SQL Reporting Services

ID: Description: Priority: Assigned Individual:

2. High 07/20/2005 08/19/2005

2. High 07/20/2005 08/19/2005

2. High 07/20/2005 08/19/2005

XID: Description: Priority: Assigned Individual:

2. High 02/27/2005 08/18/2005

2. High 07/27/2005 08/25/2005

2. High 05/17/2005 08/26/2005

2. High 06/27/2005 08/25/2005

2. High 08/02/2005 08/18/2005

2. High 07/22/2005 08/25/2005

2. High 08/08/2005 08/25/2005

2. High 08/08/2005 08/18/2005IVR In Progress None

EDI Estimates In Progress None

Non-resources In Progress None

Training Environment (Data) In Progress None

LDL Deliveries In Progress None

IVR and SoftPhone Changes In Progress None

RED SOX issue around servers and software In Progress None

How will we manage freezing regulatory changes and SRs? In Progress None

Assigned Estimated Resolution Date:

Date Originated:Status: Escalate: Assigned Initiative Team:

Initiative Name

How is work referenced within document prior to the end-state customer being defined in document In Progress None

When cost goes into service, where is maintenance plan defined and stored? In Progress None

Need to define source of record for information In Progress None

Issues Impacting, but not assigned to Customer Estimated Resolution Date:

Date Originated:Status: Escalate: Assigned Initiative Team:

Customer

Issues (Summary) Date: 09/01/2005

Workstream: Customer

Initiative: ALL

Priority: Critical or High

Recent Projects

Utilities• Project Server 2003 for major reengineering effort (25 PMs and 500 users) at large

utility. 15 SQL Reporting Services reports covering issue, risk, variance and milestone reports.

Insurance• Project Server 2003 and Project Professional 2003 for 400 people at insurance provider

in San Francisco. Financial integration, posting, audit and specialized permissions.Financial

• Project Server and Project Professional 2002 for 220 people at a large financial company in southern California. Integration with Project Request system. Upgrade to 2003 this week.

Medical Products• Project Server 2003 and Project Professional 2003 for 80 person Research &

Development division for company in Sunnyvale.Government

• Conversion of legacy data in eLabor system to Project Server 2003 for 80 users in state agency, including conversion of Crystal Reports to Microsoft Reporting Services.

Manufacturing• Project Server 2003 for a waste water control system manufacturer field service in the

North Bay.Network Services

• Project Server 2003 and Sharepoint Services for 150 people at a leading broadband services provider.

Consulting• Project Server, Sharepoint Services for a sales program company in the North Bay for

5 Project Managers and 40 Team Members at different IT vendors. We manage their network, servers and desktops as well.

Last but not least…

We are part of the Project 12 Technology Adoption Program and will be involved in the beta process for the next version.

We think Project 12 rocks, and will have some major functionality enhancements that you will get excited about.

Contact Information

Contact us at:Sequence Advisors1512 La Loma AveBerkeley CA 94708510 406-4645 mark@sequenceadvisors.com