Implementing Microsoft Project 2003 with MS Project Server

[Brett Smith]

I am going to install MS Project 2003 Professional, MS Project Server and MS
Project Web Access at work on several computers. At my former job, I was the
only administrator or Project Admin that would oversee MS Project
Professional. I made all of the changes, updates and edits that were needed
for the company. From my understanding, you can only use one MS Project
Professional on my desktop to connect to the WebAccess and Project Server.
Recently I have been asked by a manager how this is done. Now, I know how
to do the basic setup with 1 MS Project. My manager wants to instlal several
MS Project Professionals on several computers here because she wants many
people to edit and see everything that is going on. Is this possible? Is it
possible to have several MS Project Professionals to oversee the projects we
are having without there being a problem? All of these people that are going
to have Project installed are going to be collaborating and publishing the
changes and will be making edits.

 

[eswb10]

Brett, if all of those people are going to have Project installed and
will have free range to open and save any project, I think you will end
up with a nightmare.

The basic set up is: Windows 2K03 Server - Project Server - SQL Server
on the server side. On the client side, Project Professional 2003 for
people who need create and manage project schedules and resources and
Project Web Access for people who need to get assignments, report
progress, see analyzer views etc.

The way we are organized here is that we have several executives, some
PMO people, and about 8 project managers who use Project Professional.
Then we have about 100 resources who do the work, plus some Resource
Managers, who use PWA.

Hope this helps.
Mark S. Everett | PMP
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Brett --

Yes, you can install Microsoft Project Professional on the PC's of other
people who will manage projects. Before you do so, you should add these
people to the Enterprise Resource Pool (if you have not already done so),
and then add them to the Project Managers group in PWA. After this, you can
install the software on each user's PC and then you will need to create a
login account on each user's Microsoft Project Professional (Tools -
Enterprise Options - Microsoft Office Project Server Accounts). You will
also need a software license for each of these Microsoft Project users.
Hope this helps.

 

[eswb10]

Brett, if all of those people are going to have Project installed and
will have free range to open and save any project, I think you will end
up with a nightmare.

The basic set up is: Windows 2K03 Server - Project Server - SQL Server
on the server side. On the client side, Project Professional 2003 for
people who need create and manage project schedules and resources and
Project Web Access for people who need to get assignments, report
progress, see analyzer views etc.

The way we are organized here is that we have several executives, some
PMO people, and about 8 project managers who use Project Professional.
Then we have about 100 resources who do the work, plus some Resource
Managers, who use PWA.

Hope this helps.
Mark S. Everett | PMP
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Brett Smith]

Hello Mark,

On a side note, thanks for your input...it is much appreciated. Yeah,
that's the same way I knew it was set up. Thank God I knew. So, I
understand that the client can't edit their tasks, just the status of the
tasks.
I know you say it's going to be like a nightmare, but what if I did add
Project Professional 2003 on manager desktops? Will it have many cases of
conflict where each person is sending their tasks to the server to
collaborate and it will probably freeze and crash? Or even worse there will
be duplicate tasks? Is this what you are talking about?
I spoke to my department head and he told me that he needs more than one
person accessing MS Project, and being able to edit, and update.

Brett

 

[Brett Smith]

I thank you both for your help. I am so happy that I am getting such a
timely response on an important matter to me. I really appreciate both of
your help. But my only question is, given my situation, what would be the
best way to go about doing this project? The basic way, which is install MS
Project on one computer, web access on the client(users) and connect to
Project Server will not make my manager happy. They want to be able to see,
edit and do stuff with project. What should I do? I understand that having
an open door policy to everybody to run free on Project will have a
catastrophic effect. But, what would be the best way to create documentation
and form a proposal for this type of project?

Brett

 

[John]

If you want to create a proposal, you must start your proposal from aspect
of where you are now and where you want to be (in terms of your project
environment). To bridge that gap, is MS Project Server (miraculous, isn't
it?). Your proposal must explain what the problems are with your
environment today. It must also explain the inherent problems of creating
an environment that they are proposing (i.e. record-locking or file sharing
, resource pool problems, network bandwidth issues, and most importantly
data integrity issues that result from too many hands in the cookie jar (or
too many people trying to touch the same records at one time)). To resolve
many of these problems, and more, is MS Project Server. Depending on the
audience this will be read by, I might also add two different scenarios -
one using the way they are recommending, and the other using MS Project
Server. To get help with creating the scenarios, you might look at the
Microsoft marketing literature on their web site.

Also, keep in mind that with MS Project Server you can have more than 1 user
with MS Project Professional. So, potentially, all of those managers could
have Project Professional on their desktop and edit the projects. What you
are doing is throwing a server (and database) in the middle to resolve some
inherent problems with that type of environment.

 

[Brett Smith]

Dale,
Would installing Ms Project on more than one computer in order to
update/edit tasks cause the projects to create duplicates and inaccurate
results as to what is going on? What is stopping one Project Manager from
overwriting another Project Managers task descriptions or updates as he edits
the Project document? Is this a bad idea? Would you recommend it or would
you just go with 1 sole Project Manager to administer the Project document
and have everybody else use the Project Web Access?

Brett

 

[Brett Smith]

Thanks John. So you are saying that more than one Project can edit and
update with Web Access/Project Server/Sql Server. Project Server will be
able to figure out who to take updates from at what time and somehow be able
to bring simplicity to all the chaos..am I correct? At my previous
employment, they knew not to have more than one project, so I was the project
administrator. Everybody else had Web Access. If you wanted tasks to be
changed, you had to go through me. We did have problems here and there, but
mostly scheduling issues and dates sometimes falling out. What would be the
outcome if I had more than one person editing Project at one time? I
definitely wouldn't want them to collaborate and publish at the same time, I
think this would be detrimental and crash everything. But, I think if one
person collaborates and publishes at one time, i don't think it will be that
bad. In fact it might be good. Now, my proposal is due in less than 2
weeks, so I have to buckle down and get this done. But before I do all of
that, I must have a strategy in place so I can document exactly what I am
going to do, and how much money they will need.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Brett --

If you install Microsoft Project Professional on each project managers PC,
this would not create duplicates and inaccurate results. If you leave the
default Project Server security settings, the system will allow each project
manager to open his/her own projects, but will not allow him/her to open any
other project manager's projects.

I'm trying to understand what kind of environment you folks are running in
your company. Why isn't each project manager already managing his/her own
projects? Or are you running one large project and each manager needs to
manage his/her own parts of the project? I would really need to know more
about your situation before I could render a sensible judgment on what is
best for your company. Let us know.

 

[Dead J. Dona]

well afaik only one person can edit single project at one time.
if somebody try to open the project already opened by somebody, server
allow to open it in read-only mode.

 

[John]

That is correct. Only one person can open the project in MS Project Pro at
any given time. If someone else opens up the project, it is in read-only
mode.

 

[John]

My answers will be spread throughout your message.

Thanks John. So you are saying that more than one Project can edit and
update with Web Access/Project Server/Sql Server. Project Server will be
able to figure out who to take updates from at what time and somehow be
able
to bring simplicity to all the chaos..am I correct?

Web Access simply allows a person to make changes to the actual start times
and actual hours worked without opening up the entire plan in Project Pro.
Once a person makes that update (it is treated like a request), the project
manager can approve those changes. Once this happens, the software will
make the changes. In effect, the PM is keeping control of the project plan,
but making life easier for resources as well.

At my previous
employment, they knew not to have more than one project, so I was the
project
administrator. Everybody else had Web Access. If you wanted tasks to be
changed, you had to go through me. We did have problems here and there,
but
mostly scheduling issues and dates sometimes falling out. What would be
the
outcome if I had more than one person editing Project at one time?

This cannot happen because the records are in a database. Only one person
can edit the record at a time.

I
definitely wouldn't want them to collaborate and publish at the same time,
I
think this would be detrimental and crash everything. But, I think if one
person collaborates and publishes at one time, i don't think it will be
that
bad. In fact it might be good. Now, my proposal is due in less than 2
weeks, so I have to buckle down and get this done. But before I do all of
that, I must have a strategy in place so I can document exactly what I am
going to do, and how much money they will need.

The bulk of the budget (split into time, labor and money) will be as follows
(Dale and Gary can correct me if I'm wrong):
Most of the money will be spent in labor and software costs, unless you use
a consultant (then add their cost). Because this seems like a culture
change for your organization, allow for more time and labor. This is not
something you implement in a week. Microsoft recommends you allow three to
six months to fully implement the system. With guidance and time, that is
doable. Otherwise I would allow more time. You will need time to test this
in a test environment, get feedback, and then move to full production.

I would recommend you order Dale and Gary's book(s), get started on an
overall proposal while you wait for them to be delivered, then read the
first couple of chapters on how to plan for this type of implementation.
After this, finish your proposal.
If you read the book(s), and determine that this may be more than you
bargained for (believe me, it is for some organizations), you will simply
have lost the cost of the books.

 

[Brett Smith]

John,
Thanks for your answers. So, I totally understand that only one person at a
time can open MS Project. If somebody else tries to open Project and connect
to the server then it will not be editable, they will only be able to read
what is going on..."read only". This totally makes sense and the light is
clearer at the end of the tunnel.
So, I guess if somebody wants to see all the Projects going on in our
enterprise project planning, they will have to open Project just to view it
and that will be it. Any changes will I guess have to be sent to me.
One thing I was thinking about was to create a backup everynight for MS
Project and have it stored in a centralized location. Everybody will have
access to this project and will be able to "View" not edit what is going on.
If they want an updated version of MS Project, changes for that day, they
will have to wait until the end of the day. Only my Project will connect to
the Server and everybody else that wants to view the whole project will have
to be local to their own machine. Does this make sense what I am planning
out? This is not a finalized plan, just thinking out loud. What do you guys
think?

 

[Earl Lewis]

Brett,

I don't think you "totally understand" quite yet. More than one person can open MS Project Professional at one time. It's just that the first one that opens the project in read-write mode can "checked-out" the project. This ensures the data integrity of the project in the database. If a project is checked out for editing by someone then anyone else that tries to open it only gets the option to open the project read-only.

The beauty of the project server is that it allows project mangers (many project managers - not just you) to open, create and update project plans and stores them all in a central database. If you're talking about opening an individual project file (.mpp) then we're talking about a whole different ball game.

Of course, if they're local files then there's no way for anyone to get a big picture view of all the projects that are going on out there - because the files can't easily be aggegated into a single portfolio view. However, if they're stored on MS Project Server (really MS SQL server with MS Internet Information Server helping out) then you suddenly have the ability for a wide variety of people to see the entire project portfolio (i.e. many projects) and team members get the added bonus of being able to update their working time via the web, using Internet Explorer.

You should really do a little reading on the subject of managing projects with MS Project Server. There are several good books written by Gary Chefetz and Dale Howard, both of whom are frequent posters to this newsgroup. Check out their books @ www.msprojectexperts.com

Earl
John,
Thanks for your answers. So, I totally understand that only one person at a
time can open MS Project. If somebody else tries to open Project and connect
to the server then it will not be editable, they will only be able to read
what is going on..."read only". This totally makes sense and the light is
clearer at the end of the tunnel.
So, I guess if somebody wants to see all the Projects going on in our
enterprise project planning, they will have to open Project just to view it
and that will be it. Any changes will I guess have to be sent to me.
One thing I was thinking about was to create a backup everynight for MS
Project and have it stored in a centralized location. Everybody will have
access to this project and will be able to "View" not edit what is going on.
If they want an updated version of MS Project, changes for that day, they
will have to wait until the end of the day. Only my Project will connect to
the Server and everybody else that wants to view the whole project will have
to be local to their own machine. Does this make sense what I am planning
out? This is not a finalized plan, just thinking out loud. What do you guys
think?