Microsoft Office Project 2003
Microsoft Solution for Enterprise Project Management
Fact Sheet:Project Manager
June 2003
Abstract
This Microsoft® Office Project 2003 fact sheet provides anoverall view of the Microsoft solution for enterprise project management. It includes a brief summary of some of the solution’s key features and benefits and describes new and improved features for the project manager in greater depth.
The Microsoft solution for EPM is composed of Microsoft Project Professional 2003, Microsoft Project Web Access and Microsoft Project Server 2003.
This paper outlines the design goals and provides the product family feature categories for easy reference. In addition, information regarding availability, system requirements,and contact and press agency details is provided.
Positioning
The Microsoft solution for enterprise project managementenables organizations to align their project portfolios withtheir corporate goals to succeed. It also provides a suite of project management support tools to help ensure optimum project delivery and comprehensive portfolio management.
EPM brings together client and server technology to enable an entire organization, department or team to collaborate in managing projects. EPM is a business solution designed to maximize an organization’s ability to integrate functionally disparate groups to ensure better project collaboration, optimize resourcing, and achieve executive control and understanding of project portfolios.
The EPM solutionis composed of the following Microsoft Office Project 2003 products:
Microsoft OfficeProjectProfessional2003
This offers additional functionality over Project Standard 2003 for project portfolio management, executive reporting, enterprise resource management, and collaboration and communication.Microsoft Project Professional 2003 is the desktop enterprise project management program that is used with MicrosoftProject Web Access and MicrosoftProject Server 2003. MicrosoftProject Professional provides all the core scheduling tools in MicrosoftProject Standard, plus powerful portfolio and resource management capabilities when connected to MicrosoftProject Server 2003. MicrosoftProject Professional is used by project managers who need to schedule projects, assign team members from a central resource pool to project tasks, and save their information centrally to the Project Server to share with others.
Microsoft Office Project Web Access
The need for a flexible set of tools to manage projects based on accessing information with Microsoft Internet Explorer is provided for within the EPM solution. Microsoft Office Project Web Access facilitates a method for dispersed project teams to workon projects for which the full functionality of Microsoft Project Professional is not constantly required by the team members or project manager. Project Web Access is the Web portal that enables people to connect to the project and resource information in Project Server. Team members, executives and resource managers use Project Web Access through a Web browser to view and update information.[1]
Microsoft Project 2003 Enterprise Project Management: Project ManagerPage 1
Microsoft Office Project Server 2003
Project Server 2003 is an extensible development platform that supports the project, resource management and collaboration capabilities of Microsoft’s EPM solution. The server software component of the EPM solution is required by MicrosoftProject Professional 2003 and MicrosoftProject Web Access. It provides the means by which all project data is stored and made available to users. In addition, Microsoft Project Server provides mechanisms to support data security and compile consolidated data analysis repositories (OLAP cubes), and offers a programmatic interface that can be used to extend the functionality of the EPM solution. In essence, it is the server element in the EPM solution.[2]
Microsoft Project 2003 Enterprise Project Management: Project ManagerPage 1
Positioning in Detail
Enterpriseproject management depends on effective information management; the better project teams communicate, collaborate, understand and manage their information, the more effective they are in using this asset to drive project success.
EPM has been developed to accommodate fiveoverall design objectives that exemplify key success factors for all organizations.
Efficient work management
Business insight
Effective collaboration
Ease of use
Extensible platform
TheEPM solution makes crucial project data visible and provides robust mechanisms to support communicationof accurate, reliable and up-to-date information across a department or the entire organization. These benefits are essential for effective decision-making; as a result, the EPM solution can form part of an overall work management strategy for the organization. Using standardized project management frameworks, templates and automated scheduling, the solution delivers greater levels ofproject management control,resulting in greater business efficiencies.
Scorecards enable project managers and executive management to monitor project portfolio performance against a consistent set of business metrics, providing valuable insight into their operational impact on the business.By modeling project performance over time,the EPM solution provides a visible and accurate method for determining how changes to the portfolio can be used to deliver a competitive advantage or support value-based management decisions.
The Microsoft solution for EPM supports participation in the project management process even across geographical boundaries. Web-based tools facilitate collaboration and provide support for accurate communication. Better document-, issues- and risk-management systems ensure faster and more-effective project delivery. Resource planning and optimization tools also ensure maximum utilization of human and material resources.
Familiarity with the family of Microsoft Office products,combined with features designed toguide them through setting up project plans and using practice methodologies, allows new and experienced project managers to effectively use the software.
The EPM ease of use is a significant design goal that facilitates participation by all users regardless of their level of expertise with the toolset. The new Office 2003 interface accelerates the transition from nonappropriate tools to a comprehensive toolset designed specifically for project work. With smart tags and an improved Project Guide to assist with the details of the project management process, productivity is increased while the cost of training is reduced.
By providing an extensible platform for developing flexible custom business solutions, EPM offers a means to align the software solution with existing business processes or problems. By using industry-standard Extensible Markup Language (XML) and an extensive application programming interface, it is possible to integrate the Microsoft solution for EPM with other operationally critical line-of-business systems.
Audience Category: Project Manager
Marketing for Microsoft’s solution for enterprise project management is aimed at five broad categories of users.Five documents are available, each targeted at a particular audience category andillustrating the new and improved features of Microsoft Project 2003 most appropriate to that audience.
- Business decision-maker(BDM)
- Resource manager(RM)
- Project manager (PM)
- Team member (TM)
- IT professional(IT)
The categories have been chosen to reflect the roles each user plays in an organization as well as which component of the EPM solution the user will normally be expected to use.
This document deals with the new and improved features of Project 2003 that are important to the project manager. Features relevant to the other four user categories are covered in separate documents in the series.
Project manager. Theproject manager has overall responsibility for the planning, managing and tracking of projects as well as the management of project teams. In addition, the project manager may be responsible for other aspects of project control in the organization, such as resource and programmanagement.This audience would interact with the EPM solution using both Project Web Access and Project 2003 Professional.
Benefits of the Microsoft Solution for EPM for Project Managers
The Microsoft solution for EPM is a comprehensive family of tools developed to support project managers in planning, managing and controlling projects, programs and project portfolios. It is designed to be implemented across organizations to enable fast and accurate communication, to facilitate collaboration among project stakeholders and information workers, and to aid in the management and control of all projects.
The solution provides a comprehensive set of features to help the project manager track projects and manage teams in ways that engage all users. By letting each worker choose the tool he or she is most comfortable with to report status information, such as Microsoft Outlook®, the solution helps to overcome barriers to use while ensuring that the project managermaintains greater levels of control and that project information is accurate.
The flexibility for successful delivery management is enhanced by Project Web Access tools;theseprovide a set of comprehensive features thatallowusers to work wherever and whenever it is most appropriate. Project Web Access removes the constraint of working in fixed locations and opens up the possibility of managing projects in a way that can deliver faster and more-accurate project management control. By removing the need to note project data while away from the office and update it later,Project Web Access ensures faster data throughput, accurate reporting and support for the most-complex project management scenarios.
Real-time project and resource data is made available in the solution,which means that all critical project management decisions can be based upon an accurate and reliable picture of the current state of the organization’s delivery management capability.When subjectivity is removed from project management, organizations can make more objective, rational business decisions.
The previous version of Microsoft Project EPM included many features that aided project management processes. Many of these features have been enhancedin the current versionto provide greater business benefits.
Valuable features such as project guides and wizards have been enhanced to reduce the time and complexity of setting up projects, managing projects, and producing reports and analyses. Implementing best practicesfor project processes and management across the organization is made easier with a comprehensive, scalable platform.
Adopting the Microsoft solution for EPM accelerates the likelihood that an organizationwill improve its project delivery capability. Processes and project management practices do not need to be overhauled or re-engineered to implement Project 2003, which enables organizationsto retain their existing investment.
Feature Categories
The Microsoft solution for enterprise project management has been developed to facilitate fundamental business management aims; these design goals ensure that the software provides the necessary functionality to support those aims. The design goals that have most impact and interest for project managers are work management, collaboration and business insight.
The following categories have been used to organize the features of the EPM solution for easy reference.
Portfolio management
Resource management
Project data security
Project process administration
Timesheet
Issues, risk and document management
Project reporting
Programmability
Help and assistance
Project 2003 EPM Solution:Key Features and Benefits
The crucial work of the project manager is facilitated by the new and improved features of Project 2003. The features cover all areas of project management including project control, project communication and team management, project reporting and analysis, project resourcing, issues, risk and document management, and project modeling and planning. It is a comprehensive project management solution, and the easy-to-use features ensure that the software is of immediate benefit to new and experienced project managers. Software features includethe following:
Portfolio Management
New!
Enterprise file Open dialog box.The Open dialog box allows usersopening a project from a project server to group projects to more easily find the project they are looking for.
Improved!
Portfolio Modeler. This feature allows a user to refresh the project and resource definitions of a model from the Portfolio Modeler page. Previously the user had to go back through all of the modeler wizard pages to reconstruct the model. Now a Refresh button on the page allowsusers to refresh the model with the latest resource information.
Resource Management
New!
Proposed booking of resources.This feature provides a method for reserving named resources for future projects. The reservation of resources does not commit the named resource to the project,but it provides a way of analyzing future project scenarios in project programs and portfolios.
Enterprise resource multivalued fields. This provides a mechanism to group resource skills under one enterprise code and uses this code for analyzing resource views, building project teams and modeling portfolios.
Improved!
Resource Substitution Wizard.This feature enables resource managers to allocate proposed resources to a project.
Team Builder Lite. Resource managers can staff projects with enterprise resources in Project Web Access using the Team Builder Lite feature.
Windows SharePoint Services integration. Microsoft Office Project 2003 now integrates with Windows® SharePoint™ Services, providing enhanced risk tracking and document management features.
Project Reporting
New!
Copy Picture to Microsoft Office. This new feature wizard helps userseasily create new presentations of Project data in Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint® and Microsoft Visio®.
Project Guide printing wizard.The new Project Guide has a Print Current View as a Report wizard to print what users see.
.
Improved!
Project Web Access grid reporting. This improves timesheets and ProjectCenter and ResourceCenter views in Microsoft Project Web Access. Previously the report printing relied on the browser to print a picture.Microsoft Project Web Access allows users to create printable reports in selected views that have a grid.
Issues, Risk and Document
Management
New!
Document versions. Document libraries give users the ability to store multiple versions of a document for comparison or archiving purposes. When checked-out documents are added to the library, a copy of the previous document is automatically created and saved as a version.
Document check-in/check-out. Complete document management capabilities are available through integration with Windows SharePoint Services. Document check-in/check-out functionality is included to allow locking of documents.
Shared Workspace. With Windows SharePoint Services, users can centrally store project files and other documents. The Shared Workspace feature allows users to viewone another’s documents, listsandteam member names, all from a Task Pane in Project 2003. Documents also can be checked in or out from the workspace.
Risk management. Microsoft Office Project 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services provide the ability to record and escalate risks for mitigation.
The risk tracking feature helps project managers manage risk. It enables project managers to record, share, update and analyze project risks, and customize risk tracking for a specific project or the entire organization.
Improved!
Windows SharePoint Services integration. Project 2003 is now integrated with Windows SharePoint Services. The enhancements enable better risk tracking, and document check-out/check-in.
Project Accounting and Timesheet
New!
Pick lists and lookup tables in enterprise custom fields. Filling out custom fields can be cumbersome; users have to guess or use other sources to determine what the defined values for a custom field are and then enter these values manually into the timesheet. When they update timesheets, project managers often have to deal with incorrect values for custom fields or outline codes, reject timesheets, and send them back to team members with appropriate instructions. To make gathering information from resources easier and more accurate, the Microsoft Project Web Access 2003 Timesheet provides users with pick lists and lookup tables in enterprise custom fields and outline codes of tasks.
Multiple timesheet approvers. In the past, only the Project Manager had the ability to approve timesheets. With Project 2003, other Project Web Access users can approve timesheets. Each reviewer is notified when a timesheet needs approval, either via e-mail or the Project Web Access home page. Each reviewer can accept or reject a timesheet. The project manager maintains the ability to update the project at any time, but all other approvers will know when this has been done.
Timesheet lockdowns.Microsoft Project 2003 allows administrators to lock specific periods in the Microsoft Project Web Access timesheet to prevent team members from reporting hours for any period other than the current one. This feature ensures the project’s accuracy.
Improved!
Ability to report nonworking time. Nonworking or nonproject time now is reported against administrative projects. This means that a team member’s nonworking time is factored into his or her availability.
Project Administration
New!
Microsoft Outlook integration.Project 2003 is now integrated with Microsoft Outlook to allow project tasks to appear in Outlook Calendars alongside appointments. Users can update progress on Calendar entries and reporttheir status back to Microsoft Project Server from Microsoft Outlook. Team members who use Microsoft Project Web Accesscan keep track of tasks in their Outlook Calendar.[3]
Ability to adjust locked-down actual work.Occasionally,there are important reasons to make adjustments to actual work that is in a locked-down period, for example when a team member is traveling and needs to report upon return what work was completed. Authorized users who have Adjust Actuals permission can make these changes, which are then recorded in an audit log. The audit log maintains all adjustments to actual work in locked-down periods,so project managers can determine who has made changes and on what dates.
Value list in filters.When creating filters in Microsoft Project,users can choose values from a pick list in the Values field.