Convert 2003 project files to 2007 Project Server

[RandyK]

Greetings!

Does anyone know if there is documentation or "tips and tricks" for
converting project files that were created in MS Project 2003 (standard
and/or professional) to Project Server 2007?

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Randy --

You should definitely experiment with this one, but I would recommend you
save each 2003 enterprise project as an XML file, then reopen it from XML
and save it as an MPP file. I think you will find that if you simply save
the 2003 files as MPP files and then import them into your Project Server
2007, the files will drag along with them the values in the 2003 custom
enterprise custom Project fields and outline codes. Just a thought.
Perhaps the others will want to offer their advice as well.

 

[RandyK]

What if they were not enterpirse files to beign with - but rather simple
project schedules that were created outside of MSPS (i.e. MS Project
Standard)? Would those migrate a little easier given the absense of
enterprise codes?


--
Thanks much!
Randy

Randy --

You should definitely experiment with this one, but I would recommend you
save each 2003 enterprise project as an XML file, then reopen it from XML
and save it as an MPP file. I think you will find that if you simply save
the 2003 files as MPP files and then import them into your Project Server
2007, the files will drag along with them the values in the 2003 custom
enterprise custom Project fields and outline codes. Just a thought.
Perhaps the others will want to offer their advice as well.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

RandyK --

Yes, that would make the process immensely simpler. If they are local
projects that were never saved in Project Server 2003, then you can simply
import them into Project Server 2007 directly without going the XML route.
Hope this helps.

What if they were not enterpirse files to beign with - but rather simple
project schedules that were created outside of MSPS (i.e. MS Project
Standard)? Would those migrate a little easier given the absense of
enterprise codes?

 

[RandyK]

Hi Dale,

Another quick question about converting 2003 Local files to 2007 MSPS files.
We will need to convert the local resources over to the Enterprise
resources. Is there a documented set of steps for this process? I know
you need to first do the conversion, but then don't we need to set remaining
hours for the local resources to zero - or will that autiomatically happen
upon conversion? Any other hints for this conversion process?

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

RandyK --

Before you import the projects containing the local resources, your Project
Server administrator should open each project, apply the Resource Sheet
view, and then standardize the naming convention for each resource. This
will make resource names consistent. Afterwards, he/she should close all
projects and then use the Import Resources Wizard to import the resources in
each project using Tools - Enterprise Options - Import Resources to
Enterprise. By doing this, he/she will import each of the resources into
the Enterprise Resource Pool. He/she may also need to go into PWA and add
the newly-imported resources into the correct security Groups, such as the
Project Managers or Team Members group. Finally, once he/she has done all
of this, your PMs or the Project Server administrator can import each
project using the Import Project Wizard. The first dialog in the Wizard
will attempt to match local resources in the project with enterprise
resources in the Enterprise Resource Pool. If the local resource exactly
matches the name of the enterprise resource, the system does an automatic
match between them, thus expediting the process. Hope this helps.

 

[Renee H]

Will the migration tool from Microsoft keep this from happening (2003 outline
codes copying over)? I have over 100 plans that I need to migrate from a
2003 server to a 2007 server. I am trying to determine if I should just do
it all manually. Oh, and we are not migrating over any fo the customizations
(rbs, custom fields, views, groups, etc.).

Randy --

You should definitely experiment with this one, but I would recommend you
save each 2003 enterprise project as an XML file, then reopen it from XML
and save it as an MPP file. I think you will find that if you simply save
the 2003 files as MPP files and then import them into your Project Server
2007, the files will drag along with them the values in the 2003 custom
enterprise custom Project fields and outline codes. Just a thought.
Perhaps the others will want to offer their advice as well.

 

[James Fraser]

Will the migration tool from Microsoft keep this from happening (2003 outline
codes copying over)?  I have over 100 plans that I need to migrate froma
2003 server to a 2007 server.  I am trying to determine if I should just do
it all manually.  Oh, and we are not migrating over any fo the customizations
(rbs, custom fields, views, groups, etc.).

The migration tool makes sure the Enterprise Custom fields do make the
transition to 2007. Sound like the opposite of what you want.


James Fraser

 

[MarkC]

At some stage we will convert our MSP 2003 files to MSP2007 and then finally
to 2007 Project Server. Now I wanted clarification about the way our projects
are setup before moving to the server version. Usually one project is in its
own MPP file. However, in some cases we have multiple projects in one mpp
file. Is this going to be a problem when we go down the enterprise route?
Should we change our process now? Or can we wait until rollout of EPM before
breaking the projects out?

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Mark C --

When you say you have multiple projects in one MPP file, do you mean you are
using master projects? If so, when you move to Project Server 2007, you can
import the individual MPP files, but you cannot import the master projects.
This means that if you have set cross-project links in any of the
subprojects, you will need to create a log file, such as in Word, that lists
each task in each project that has an external predecessor and successor,
and then break those cross-project links. After importing the projects into
Project Server 2007, use your log file information to manually recreate the
cross-project links. Hope this helps.

 

[MarkC]

We do use Master Projects and your answer helps but I was talking about
multiple projects within one MPP file, ie totally different projects which
will need to broken down into their individual projects once using MSP 2007
EPM. Am I better off doing this now? Or when imported into EPM?

I don't think I have made myself any clearer but I hope you can understand
on 2nd reading.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

MarkC --

I get it. Since you have multiple projects included in a single project
file, but not as a master project, I would recommend you break up each of
those bigger projects right before you cut over to Project Server 2007. The
result will be multiple projects that will probably need you to set
cross-project dependencies on them after you import them into Project Server
2007. You can create master projects to include those projects as
subprojects and then set the cross-project dependencies in the master
project. Hope this helps.