PSG Blog

Why Upgrade to Microsoft Project 2007?

by George Borhegyi

Ease of Use & Productivity

Microsoft Project Server 2007 is the first major release of Microsoft Project Server in several years.  Project Solutions Group was chosen as a Beta partner for P2007 and we are happy to announce that there are significant improvements in the applications features and performance. 

The newest version of Project Server interface is extremely user friendly and intuitive.  Layouts are easier to read and functions are easy to find and execute.  Users will find that in the 2007 version, Project Server’s functionality allows them be more productive while using more advanced capabilities within the application. 

Some of the new features:

• Multi-level undo
• Change highlighting as task fields are updated
• 10 times better performance (especially over networks)
• Basic workflow and core proposal to project creation capabilities
• Timesheet improvements:
  • functioning independent projects
  • better admin time reporting
  • deleted tasks can now be permanently removed
  • better audit logging
  • update preview on server before changes are finalized

Business Intelligence and Reporting

Project Server 2007 allows for more custom configuration allowing your business to better meet their reporting and business intelligence needs.  Reports are more detailed and are easier to develop; providing more detailed data to help you manage your business.  In addition, because 2007 has improved programmability on the back-end, it allows for better integration with other line of business systems.

Some of the new features:

• New reporting database
• Analysis report access directly from the user’s desktop client
• Real-time continuous data publishing
• Unlimited customizable fields and outline codes, with all data type features for all fields, including multi-value
• KPIs (available with SQL 2005 update)

Operational Cost Savings

With all of improvements inherent in Project Server 2007, your company can see a generous cost savings in their day to day business.  How?

• Performance improvements of approximately 10x can reduce the need for Citrix or Remote Desktop connections for WAN-based deployments
• Server-based calculations also reduce traffic, bandwidth, and network costs between the server and desktop users and it improves performance for the end-user..  Additionally, overall administration and maintenance costs are greatly reduced.
• Scalability to any size enterprise is integrated and consistent with the largest SharePoint server farms, reducing management costs and allowing for better centralized management and efficient use of infrastructures.
• Improved error messages and reporting for debugging and maintenance help reduce technical maintenance costs and increase the effectiveness of the support team.
• Administrative functions are more clearly organized, grouped, and more powerful, improving the productivity and responsiveness of application administrators and reducing training and maintenance costs.

So the real question isn’t “Why Upgrade to Microsoft Project Server 2007?”, but “Why NOT Upgrade?”

PSG is currently running a webcast series on Microsoft Project 2007 including a live demonstration of the software.  To find out dates and times, please visit our website at www.psgus.com/events.

How EPM Can Help Your Organization Balance Demand and Capacity

by Kristen Huang

Many organizations struggle with the challenge of balancing the demand for a limited set of human and material resources.

Project planning without resource planning often causes pain for companies. Project managers spend hours updating and revising their schedules to properly allocate resources within plans, only to find their project behind schedule because resources on the critical path have been diverted to other, higher priority projects.

Functional managers are often equally frustrated with the lack of visibility into project schedules and demands. They are surprised to find their resources spending time on unauthorized work for projects that are not in line with company or departmental objectives.

The root cause lies with a lack of visibility into enterprise wide data. This “silo” mentality inhibits resource allocation planning at an enterprise level.  As a result, Functional Managers know what percentage of time their resources are allocated to a particular project, but have no view into what percentage of time their resources are expected on or across particular projects. Project Managers know what percentage of time resources are allocated to a project and even know how much time resources spend working on a project, but they don’t have visibility into availability for a project. Is the 25% that a critical resource has been allocated to my project realistic? Is that resource simultaneously allocated to three other projects as well, for a total of 120%?

There are three key questions that need answers:

1. How do we understand the demand for resources across our organization?

First, EPM provides for a centralized repository where 100% of a resource’s time can be captured, allowing for enterprise project planning which takes into account day-to-day operations work as well as items like vacation and sick leave. Secondly, an Enterprise Resource Pool promotes time-phased visibility into the allocation of specific resources or groups of resources at both an organization and individual level.

1. How can we forecast demand with constantly changing priorities and plans?

With plans and resources stored in a central repository, project and operations time tracking in the EPM application allows you to update schedules programmatically and report on changes to demand in real-time. As priorities change, work can be prioritized and re-scheduled in advance based on the currently forecasted demand for the same resources across the organization.

1. How do we fulfill high priority requests without overburdening our resources?

The inverse of allocation is availability. That data is now readily accessible to identify which resources are overloaded and which resources have capacity. A growing store of historical information can now be used to estimate work and resource allocation more accurately for future projects and operations work.

                

Additionally, the use of generic resources allows department managers to forecast demand for future staffing needs.

With EPM, an organization can take advantage of a central repository where forecasted demand, actual resource usage and changing project priorities work in concert with each other toward efficiently obtaining strategic corporate objectives.