MPA Blog

My Blog has Moved!! Please re-link...

Bill Raymond — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:22:00 GMT

Hello All,

Happy New Year! There have been many issues with SPAM on this blog site. We always intended for this to be a test and although the software is real nice, it is just not secure enough so the Blog's [hopefully] new permanent home is on Live.com.

Here is my new link: http://projectnation.spaces.live.com

For some period of time, we will keep the old blog running. You can look up old articles there because they will not be moved to Live.com. Here is a direct link to my OLD blog site: http://blogs.lv0.net/mpatest/

See you there! -Bill

Top 10 List of new Project "12" Features

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 05:51:00 GMT

I just returned from the Project Conference held in Seattle last week. Microsoft put on a great event that was filled with very informative information on the next release of the product. Please keep an eye on the BLOG as I will be posting more specifics over the coming months.

First, Project “12“ will be released in the so-called Office “12“ wave, meaning Office and Project are included in the same marketing blitz we should expect toward the end of this year. Another key element, which will be released at the same time is SharePoint “v3“, along with the Windows Workflow Foundation.

Here are the Top 10 New Features for Project “12“:

Client - Project Professional has some nice scheduling enhancements, but the client will remain mostly the same as Project 2003.
Performance - A new 'caching' engine will allow the P12 client (Project Professional) and the server to share only differences in changes to a schedule, which should mean a drastic performance improvement when opening/saving projects.
SharePoint - Project Web Access (PWA) will be completely based on SharePoint. Anytime you access PWA, you are basically accessing a SharePoint site.
Best-met Expectation - There is now a server-side scheduling engine. This is not a feature-complete engine, but will allow you to do things like create small project schedules on the web, publish project updates without the client and even update the schedule based on timesheet entries without the client.
Database - For those of you familiar with the current version of Project 2003, you are basically working with one database, with the option to split out the “views“ tables. Now, there are four distinct databases (not including SharePoint). These are:

Published (for the most up-to-date version of your project)
Draft (for making updates to your plan before 'publishing' them)
Archive (for keeping backups of schedules)
Reporting (a 'flattened' database that makes it real easy to build reports from the Project Server database)
Note: There is still an OLAP cube, it is still built in a scheduled fashion and it will add many of the fields and data elements that currently require you to write custom code to add to the cube.

Developer - If you are a developer, say “goodbye“ to the PDS and say “Hello“ to the PSI. This is a full-featured, typed, API for Project Server. Microsoft claims they will not publically publish the database schema for the Project Server database because the PSI will [hopefully] perform all the functions you may need it to. There is no migration path for PDS calls, so if you use PDS or even write datbase-direct calls to do customizations now, then chances are, you will need to re-write this code.
Integration - Expect lots of integration tools for external financial applications, including Microsoft Dynamcs and SAP.
Timesheets - Will be somewhat (not sure of the official story on this one yet) de-coupled from the Project schedule. This is a good thing, because there are too many scenarios for timesheets whereby you may want timesheets de-coupled from the plan, but still allow you to track actuals and perform reporting on utilization.
Platform Support - P12 was built for, and has had more testing time on, SQL Server 2000 and Analysis Services 2000. SQL Server 2005 will be a supported platform and Microsoft has built-in some “value added“ features when you use the SQL 2005 platform.
Reporting - With the new Reporting database and SQL Analysis Services 2005 (if you use it), there are going to be many options to build your own reports. Microsoft clearly is leaning toward opening up the data so you can build more of your own, as opposed to relying on their farily basic “views“. Plan on using SQL Reporting Services, Business Scorecard Manager and Excel Server as your base reporting platform.

-Bill

Notes on using the EditSite Utility

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 12:06:00 GMT

Hello All,

This is an exciting week, because the Project Conference is going on. Please keep an eye here for the latest information on the next version of Project, or “P12” as it is being called right now. If you are going to the conference, look me up.

If you are a Project Server 2002 or 2003 administrator, then you know there is no built-in functionality to create new MS Project sites on the same computer. Having this capability is extremely helpful for any number of reasons. Maybe you want a copy of your production site for training, another for development and even another for testing out new ideas.

Depending on your needs (and your budget), it may not make sense to install the same Project Server softare on three servers. This is where a free utility from Microsoft comes in handy. It is called the “EditSite” utility. It allows you to provision a new Project Server site on the same machine Project Server's default installation is located.

To cover all the ins-and-outs of EditSite here on the BLOG would be difficult. Instead, I am going to share with you some tips that cover common issues around using EditSite:

1) Service Packs: EditSite will work with the latest service packs for Project Server. However, the tool is basically creating a new website and linking to a database. It is not creating a whole new copy of Project Server and all the support files (like DLL's, etc.) Therefore, if you install a new service pack on the Project Server box where you have multiple sites, then Project Server's base files will all use the new Service Pack.

So far, all the Service Packs for Project Server have a database script component. Therefore, you will need to upgrade all your databases for the Service Pack to be complete.
Because of the above issue, be sure to plan out this process, because you usually have to upgrade Project Professional to a new service pack so it supports the current version of Project Server.

2) EditSite does not support PDS: If you or someone on your team is doing development work and needs access to Project Server database information, there is a good chance the developer will be using the PDS (or Project Data Services). This is a rich set of Application Programming Interfaces (API's) that allow the developer to get at Project Server information while maintaining Project Server's inherent business logic and security model.

The PDS is based on an Internet standard called “SOAP“. You need to make the new Project Server website SOAP-aware. Go to the Internet Services Manager and open the properties for your new Project Server Virtual Directory. From the Virtual Directory tab, click on the Configuration button. In the Mappings tab, enter the following information:

Executable (include the quotes): "c:\Program Files\Common Files\MSSOAP\BINARIES\SOAPIS30.dll"
Extension: WSDL
Verbs: All Verbs (You could type “GET, POST“... this time without the quotes)
Script Engine: Yes
Verify That File Exists: Yes
Save your changes. You no longer need to be in the Internet Services Manager.

Your new website is now configured for SOAP support. However, the developer will still not be able to access Project Server. This is because PDS SOAP calls use a WSDL file that defines the location of the Project Server. Go to the “IIS Virtual Root“ folder for Project Server. In this example, we are renaming the files for a training environment. How you name the file is less important than making sure the WSDL/WSML files are named exactly the same and you tell the Developer to reference the file.

Copy/paste PDS.WSDL and PDS.WSML. Call the new files “PDSTraining.WSDL“ and “PDSTraining.WSML“.
You only need to edit the WSDL file. Open it in Notepad. Find the “<soap:address...“ line (usually line 36).
Your original line should look like this: <soap:address location="http://myserver/projectserver/PDS.WSDL"/>
Edit this line to point to the new virtual directory, like this: <soap:address location="http://myserver/msptraining/PDSTraining.WSDL"/>
Save the PDSTraining.WSDL file.
There is another way to use PDS and your developers may make use of this model. Follow the same steps for copying/pasting the files called “pdsbiz.wsdl“ and “pdsbiz.wsml“ (i.e. make the files “PDSBIZTraining.wsdl“ and “PDSBIZTraining.wsml“ and edit the WSDL file.
Your developers should now be able to access the PDS, which will communicate with your training database.
FYI: If the developers are using the PDSTest.NET tool or have their own code that 'hardcodes' the PDS.WSDL file, then they will need to edit the code and re-compile to support the new PDSTraining.WSDL file.

3) If you are using EditSite with a backup of another Project Server database, it does not automatically update the settings in the database. Let's say you restored your Production database to a new Development database. Once you used EditSite to link a new Virtual Directory to the Dev database, login to Project Server. Go to the Admin tab, and determine if you need to change any of the following settings:

Server Configuration->Features: Change the Internet and Intranet settings at the bottom of the page.
Server configuration->Menus: If you are using custom menus, modify the links if needed.
Manage Windows SharePoint Services->Connect to SharePoint Server: Modify with the new SharePoint site related to this Project Server environment (note: you do not have to use SharePoint, unless there is a requirement to do so, but you definately should not have more than one Project Server talking to a single SharePoint site).
Manage Windows SharePoint Services->Manage SharePoint Sites: Choose “Edit Site Address“ and use the Remove URL option (note: do not use the delete option because you might accidentally delete SharePoint sites owned by another Project Server environmnent).
Manage Windows SharePoint Services->Connect to SharePoint Portal: Modify if needed.
Manage Enterprise Features->Update Resource Tables and OLAP Cube: I recommend creating a new cube just for this instance (i.e. MSPS_DEV).
Manage Views: If you are using custom views or have Portfolio Analyzer views, the links to the appropriate reports and/or OLAP cube (respectively) may need to be changed.
Make any other configuration changes you feel are applicable, but the ones I listed above are the critical ones to allowing the environment to work properly.

4) EditSite does not create a link on the Project Professional client. With EditSite configured on the server, you now need to think about the client machines. Firstly, Project Professional will not be 'aware' of the new instance.

In Project Professional, go to Tools->Enterprise Options->Microsoft Office Project Server Accounts: In the very first screen, make sure the “Manual“ option is selected, so Project Professional asks the user what environment to connect to. Add a new site and enter the appropriate information (name it something like “Dev Environment“. Note: you will need to exit Project Professional and go back again to see the new server. Another note: These settings are in the client computer's registry, so your IT department may be able to 'rollout' the new settings to the desktop with the right tools.
As you know, client computers cannot truly access Project Server until the site is configured as Trusted in Internet Explorer. If the Project Server instance is using a new DNS name or is located on a new server that is not trusted on the client machine, be sure to set that up as well. Note: This is a policy setting that your IT Department may be able to 'rollout' as well.

Other than that, make sure you read the EditSite instructions carefully before using it and test, test, test that new environment before releasing it to the user community.

-Bill

Happy New Year!

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 12:41:00 GMT

Welcome to 2006! Well, the last month has been pretty hectic and taking some time off to enjoy time with the family provided some much-needed relaxation.

So what's new? Well, you might have seen that Microsoft is planning to by a new company called UMT. Although there is no official word on this buyout, I am hopeful this will be added to the Microsoft Project platform, making MS Project a serious contentender in spaces such as IT Portfolio Planning. This is important to those of you who are trying to make decisions on what projects should get the green light as opposed to the projects that need future consideration.

UMT Website: www.umt.com

From the website: UMT drives customer value by providing project and application portfolio managemet software solutions that prioritize, optimize, and overcome constraints all within a best-in-class governance workflow framework. That's why more Global 500 companies rely on Portfolio Manager(TM) software and UMT Consulting methodologies than any other portfolio management solution.

Buyout News Story on Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/prnewswire/feeds/prnewswire/2005/12/16/prnewswire200512160001PR_NEWS_B_NWT_SF_SFF010.html

Oh, and how about a restaurant recommendation to start out the new year? If you know me, you know I enjoy dining at the bar for that extra bit of care and attention, not to mention the chance to chat it up with some new people that may become long-time friends or colleagues. So, here area two great restaurant's and bartenders to look out for if you are in New York City.

La Dolce Vita: Amazing italian food at rock-bottom prices. This is one of those hole-in-the-wall restaurants with 1,000 things on the menu and each one is better than the next. See if you can get them to make you a special family recipe and you will wish your stomach was that much bigger. They take credit cards, but cash is prefered. Although they have two locations, you get the address for the location I visited. The bartenders will be a blast and the characters at the bar are just that.

Appetizers: Steamed Artichoke, Mussells (a small is large enough for 2 people)

Drinks: Take what they give you :)

Entrees: The family special (the thinnest hand-rolled raviolis, stuffed with meet, then topped with a rich tomato sauce).

195 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013
(212) 431-1315

Beacon: Fine dining in a casual atmosphere. Open fire-cooking at its best here. In my humble opinion, Beacon has one of the better wine lists in NYC and the staff are experts at pairing the perfect vino with your dining selection. Go hear to impress or before you take in a show and don't want to deal with the frustrations of the 'show crowd' going to Bubba Gump Shrimp company in Times Square :-)

Appetizers: Beacon is all about cooking in an open fire, so go for the Wood Fired Oysters or the Grilled Mushroom Flatbread.

Drinks: Wine is the way to go hear, but if you are into a good cocktail, ask the bar staff to surprise you. One of the best kept secrets of this restaurant is the inventiveness and freedom the bartenders have to create for you. Ask for Somer, who will take good care of you while at the bar.

Entrees: If you are like me, you will load up on a few appetizers and never make it to the dinner menu :-) However, I always go for the specials (rabbit and quail have appeared a few times, which is great). A business colleague ordered the plank-cooked salmon and I think he was ready to order 2 more.

25 West 56 Street, Between 5th & 6th
New York, NY 10019
(212) 332-0500

Running Project Server 2003 with SQL Server 2005

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 11:40:00 GMT

Warning: This post assumes you know SQL commands and are looking to test Project Server 2003 running in SQL Server 2005. This is not yet supported by Microsoft, so I do not recommend you perform these actions in a production environment.

So, you might have learned that the long-awaited SQL Server 2005 product has been released. If you own a copy (or are patiently awaiting the DVD's arrival), you no doubt are interested in using SQL Server 2005 as a testbed for Project Server 2003. Although it is not supported and MS Project does not set up properly with it, you can indeed get it running. Now, I've been testing for only a two days now, but it seems pretty stable. I have not yet tried creating an OLAP cube or installing the demo database.

Here are the steps I followed. You will find some good tips on the SQL statements that need to be edited on the Microsoft Newsgroups, but these are the definitive steps to getting Project Server set up and configured. As always, make sure the database server, SharePoint, etc. are already installed and configured (so far SharePoint seems to work fine with SQL Server 2005, but again, I haven't done much testing on that).

Rather than running Project Server setup, copy the following folder to your hard drive from the Project Server CD: Support\Database.
Using Notepad, open the file called WEBSPS.SQL. Change the following line numbers (CTRL-G) will get you to the appropriate line number. Add the text in bold.

Line 8781: select WASSN_ID from MSP_WEB_ASSIGNMENTS WAT2 WITH (index...
Line 19456: select WASSN_ID from MSP_WEB_ASSIGNMENTS WA WITH (index ...
Line 26315: select WASSN_ID from MSP_WEB_ASSIGNMENTS WAT2 WITH (index...

Save the file and go to a command prompt. Go to the DATABASE folder you copied earlier that contains the file you just edited. We are going to create a new Project Server database instead of having Project Server setup create it. Type the following command (this will take awhile). Replace “LOCALHOST“ with the SQL Server name. Replace “sapassword“ with the password for the SQL Server administrator.

E:\Programs\Project Server 2003\SUPPORT\DATABASE FOR SQL 2005>SETUPDB.CMD LOCALHOST ProjectServer sa sapassword

Connect to the SQL Enterprise Manager (or the SQL Server Management Studio, as it is now called). If they do not exist, create two SQL Server Security Login accounts. If the users were created, edit the accounts and make the same changes as listed below:

MSProjectServerUser - Type a password you will remember; Set the default database to “ProjectServer“; User Mapping = ProjectServer, MSProjectServerRole.
MSProjectUser - Type a password you will remember; Set the default database to “ProjectServer“; User Mapping = ProjectServer, MSProjectRole.

Run Project Server setup and follow the appropriate steps, selecting the option to connect to an existing database.
Once setup is complete, you should be able to access Project Server.

If you encounter any problems or have other thoughts, please reply to this post so we can share experiences.

-Bill

Scheduling Options in the Project Client

Mon, 14 Nov 2005 07:33:00 GMT

While spending some time at a few client sites recently, I learned many people are taking issue with how MS Project automatically changes the duration of tasks “for” them. This is because when you install MS Project out-of-box, it uses a feature called Effort Driven. This means MS Project will reduce the work effort required to complete an activity based on the number of users you add.

This is a great feature if you are doing certain activities where the work effort will definately change by adding more resources. For example, if you created a task to clean a field, then it would make sense that adding 2 people instead of 1 will cut the work effort by approximately 50%. Although a good feature, most people want to figure out the work effort themselves, instead of the scheduling tool doing that for them. If this is the case for you, there is a two-step process for turning the feature off:

Open the MS Project file and go to Tools->Options. In the Schedule tab, un-check the “New Tasks are Effort Driven“ feature (you can also click the Set as Default button for any new projects). Click OK.
So far, MS Project thinks you only want new tasks to be affected by the change. Therefore, if you already have tasks displayed in MS Project and no longer want them to be Effort Driven, select them individually or select all tasks (by clicking on the gray box at the top-left-hand corner of the data entry area). Go to the Project menu and choose Task Information. Then, click on the Advanced tab and un-check Effort Driven.

As you schedule your tasks, note that the duration is no longer reduced just by adding new resource assignments to your tasks.

-Bill

The gift of another person's presence

Thu, 20 Oct 2005 21:46:00 GMT

Well, you haven't heard from me in a while because I had my appendix removed. No, not the residual thoughts you toss into the end of your Word document because you know it will never be read. It was an actual surgery with real people.

When the pain came on, I was at a client site. I worked for most of the day thinking it was nothing, but it wasn't and I couldn't hold back anymore. Off to the hospital I went and into a rolling bed and catscan machine they pushed me.

Traveling at the time, I had no friends or family to stand by me and I have to say it is a real odd and lonely feeling. As nurses and other practioners were plugging me into machines, taking blood pressure, asking me “does it hurt here“ and generally putting me into a panic, a wonderful thing happened. My client showed up. She stood by me and supported me. Then, she came and visited me in the morning before I went into the operating room.

This was a great thing and I can't thank her enough for what she did. She is a great client and now she is a great friend. She stayed in touch with family and friends and made sure I was comfortable. Thinking back on previous experiences when clients or business partners were in the hospital, I sent cards or called to wish them well, but always thought I would feel uncomfortable doing this. Feeling alone and suddenly having someone by my side was very special. If you are ever in a position to visit a friend or colleague in the hospital and thought it might be uncomfortable, just keep in mind they might need you more than you think.

Thank you to Becky (you know who you are)!

-Bill

About the ProjDateAdd Function

Mon, 10 Oct 2005 11:11:00 GMT

Recently, a request came in to my BLOG to discuss the use of the ProjDateAdd function and I noticed online that many people seem to have lots of problems with it, so figured it might be worthwhile to provide some detail on this function.

The ProjDateAdd function is probably not the best description, but it's purpose is to take a Date and add a duration to come up with the new date. For example, if you add 5D to 10/10/2005, the result from this function would be “10/14/2005“.

Since this is a Custom Field, you might wonder why someone would want to use such a function. Naturally, you might just use this function to get a date that will then be further calculated. However, the ProjDateAdd function can use the calendar function, which could actually be a reason to use it, so here are some examples I thought might be helpful. Before we begin, here is the Function itself (add this as a formula to a custom Date field):

ProjDateAdd( date, duration, calendar )
Date: The date you want to add a duration to.
Duration: Add this to the date you specify.
Calendar: The calendar to use when calculating the resulting date.
NOTE: To get the name of the calendar, go to “Tools->Organizer“ and select the “Calendar“ tab. This is where the exact name is that you need to type in the Calendar setting.

This example adds 5 Days to the Finish date of a task using the “Standard“ calendar:
ProjDateAdd(Finish,"5D","Standard")

Example #1: Test a new calendar before applying it

Let's say you are using the standard calendar (8 hours a day, 1 hour break, holidays) and a need arises to consider changing to a new calendar. Simply making this change would re-calulate your entire project with results that you may not have expected. By using the ProjDateAdd function, you could find out what the new finish date of every task would be prior to applying the new calendar. For purposes of this example, let's say you wish to modify your project to the “24 Hour“ shift calendar, but want to understand what the outcome of this change would be to your plan. Create a new Custom Date field called “New Finish Date“ and add this formula:

ProjDateAdd(Finish,Duration,"24 Hours")
Finish: Uses the Finish date of the task.
Duration: Uses the Duration of the task and adds it to the finish date.
24 Hours: Uses the 24 Hour calendar in MS Project to determine what the New Finish Date is.

Example #2: Calculate a second finish dates for a task

In a perfect world, all estimates are perfect and resources are always available to perform what they must. This perfect world would assume no issues occur and you did so much up-front planning that no issue or risk will go unresolved and life is beautiful. Right :-)

In this example, you are the Project Manager and performed a study that shows most of your company's projects are about 25% over schedule. Taking this into consideration, you create a project with your team that is the most realistic plan you can all come up with. However, when reporting to management, you want to show the 25% schedule. Rather than creating two different project plans, you simply create one and use the ProjDateAdd function to add 25% more time to every task:

ProjDateAdd(Finish,((Duration*0.25)+Duration),"Standard")
Finish: Uses the Finish date of the task.
((Duration*0.25)+Duration): This formula calculates what 25% more Duration to the task will be.
“Standard“: Uses the Standard calendar in MS Project.

Hope this was helpful!

-Bill

With all this project management, who has time to eat?

Mon, 03 Oct 2005 19:43:00 GMT

Visiting Seattle for the last two weeks re-opened my eyes to what makes this little city standout. Try out these great restaurants on your next trip to Seattle. If you live there already and haven't eaten at these restaurants, shame on you :-)

For a great Steak, head to my fave. El Gaucho will leave you rubbing the Buddha’s belly. And before you ask, the answer is “yes“. They do have Ostrich steaks.

http://www.elgaucho.com/elgaucho/

Now Brasa claims to be a Portuguese restaurant, but think Mediterranean-sheik. I went with a group of friends and not a plate went un-licked.

http://www.brasa.com

Thank you to Jack Dahlgren for reminding me I was shirking my responsibilities by giving out some good restaurant recommendations. Visit this MS Project MVP's blog at: http://project.zo-d.com/.

-Bill

Some Office 12 Notes

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 23:41:00 GMT

For the last two weeks I have been completely immersed in Microsoft briefing meetings. I've learned about so much, it is hard to remember it all. There is Office 12, Project 12, SharePoint, SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and so much more.

For now, I cannot talk about Project 12, but what I can tell you is this product is nearly 100% customer focused. Microsoft has addressed some of the most basic -- to some very advanced -- requests that we have all looked for. Microsoft really listened to developers as well. P12 will provide a real platform for developing rich, integrated solutions. As more information is released from Microsoft, I will try to give links and more detail when possible.

For those that know me, I love trying new technology, even when it might be counter-intuitive. See, if someone goes and develops a really new or unique interface, I want to try it and embrace it. Clippy was a good example. I tried it, embraced it and removed it in 24 hours.

So when I saw a fantastic presentation from Jensen Harris (http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/default.aspx) today and saw the new “Ribbon“ technology in Microsoft Office, I was skeptical. Microsoft has tried to move from the standard “menu & icon“ approach to using Office for some time, but the real productivity gains (from my perspective) were minimal. The ribbon ROCKS. You need to see it live and you need to keep watch on Jensen's blog to learn more.

When Office 2003 came out, I wanted Outlook 2003 for the vertical reading pane and greatly improved interface. I also wanted Office 2003 for OneNote. Both proved to be incredible in how I managed my time and meetings. The rest of the Office suite really did not excite me that much because the productivity gains were not a major leap forward.

The Ribbon changes everything. Frankly, after you see a demonstration (screen captures are okay, but seeing a demo is the best), there is no way you will want to use another application. Of course, I will want this feature in all MS application and in the base version of Windows. When this happens, I'm not sure, but this is truly a breakthru in user interfaces and I believe hours will be saved every week in accomplishing even mundane tasks like formatting tables and enhancing your document for a more professional look (think 2-3 clicks over 20 clicks and lots of dialog boxes).

Here is a starter on this new technology:

http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/09/14/467126.aspx

-Bill