New install do's and dont's

B

Bradley

We are about to take the plunge into server. Before we do I’d like to know
if there are any absolutely do or absolutely do not do items.

We are a residential development and construction firm and we have been
using project stand alone and now wish to integrate our projects and
resources as best we can. One of the features I would most like to implement
is the issue manager. Does this link to specific tasks or is it just the
SharePoint issue manager. I.e. is it linked to the project and does it have
more/better web parts than the vanilla SharePoint version? I’m also
expecting integration with Outlook insofar as sending tasks and receiving
back status reports/updates.

Here are the sorts of projects we work on:

Government approvals. In addition to keeping track of all the things we
need to submit, deadlines and hearing dates, we are looking forward to some
of the SharePoint functionality for keeping track of various versions of
agreements, HOA docs, etc.

Design projects. This includes civil and architectural and the need to
manage several outside engineering firms. We are hoping to have tight
integration with these firms and have them report and update their tasks
directly through the web portal. In addition the version control of AutoCad
drawings and revision logs are critical. I’ll be posting to the sharepoint
group about how to deal with AutoCad drawings but if anybody here has a
comment I’d like to hear it.

Construction projects. Here we want to be able to assign work to our
subcontractors and have them report back by directly updating info—if
possible. We have always had our PM’s collecting and updating the project
info so I’m not sure at this point how the web portal works and if it is even
realistic to have third parties update info. This is the area I’d really
like to know what I can realistically expect. Is it easy for third parties
to use and update project data? It would also be nice if we could send out
automated reminders everyday if an update is due but not yet received.

Sales and marketing projects.

General and administrative internal projects.

We are a relatively small firm that has to get a lot of work done with a few
good people. My hope is project server will help us to better understand the
interrelationship of our resources across all of our projects and who has to
get what critical task done on which project and when. Is this a realistic
expectation? How long should we expect it to take to see results if we are
very committed? Any other musings anyone might have would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks.

Bradley
 
R

Raymond Chiu (gatorback

EPM is non-trivial and should be implemented by someone that has experience.
If you understand your needs and objectives up front, you will be much
better off.
 

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