Project 2007 - Multiple Projects into One?

[Guest]

Can MS Project 2007 be broken into separate files and still report to one
main project. For example can UserA have a file for ProductA, UserB have a
file for ProductB, and those files report to the main company ProductMaster
file?

Right now we have 20 separate MS Project files and we want to have them all
roll-up onto one for "total project status". Is there something else we
need?

I hope I explained this well enough.

 

[Andrew Lavinsky]

There're all sorts of nuances involved in creating master projects, but essentially,
just open a new shell project and use Insert > Project to insert your subprojects.

Or select all of the projects in the Project Server Project Center view and
select Edit above. That will open an ad hoc master project.


- Andrew Lavinsky
Blog: http://blogs.catapultsystems.com/epm

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

No Spam --

Yes, you can create a master project containing each of the 20 projects as
sub-projects. To create a master project, launch Project Professional 2007
and connect to Project Server. In the new blank project that appears
automatically, click Insert - Project. Select the first sub-project and
insert it, but DO NOT expand the project yet. Repeat this process 19 more
times until you have inserted all 20 projects. Then expand the projects
from the bottom of the list to the top. You can then save this project in
the Project Server database, if desired. Also, when inserting the 20
sub-projects, you also have the option to insert each one Read-Only, which
would probably be the best option for reporting. This is because when you
have the master project open, the system checks out all 20 of its
subprojects, which means that your PMs cannot work on them until you close
and check in the master project. Hope this helps.

 

[Jonathan Sofer [MVP]]

Are you using Project Server 2007 or just the client version?

If you are using server, you could use Project Center (in PWA) to view the
high level information for the 20 separate projects in a consolidated view.

If that isn't enough and you need to see the detailed task information in a
consolidated view then you can create a master schedule that has the 20
schedules embedded in it. You can have this master schedule saved to the
server if you are using server version but you could also keep it offline as
an mpp to keep things simple.

Jonathan

 

[Guest]

Thank you everyone for our responses. We only have the "Client Version" of
Project 2007. To do the sub-projects, does that require the Project
Server?

Thanks

 

[Jonathan Sofer [MVP]]

No, you can create a master schedule by inserting the other 20 mpp files
into it. But the master schedule will expect to see those schedules located
in the same file location the next time you open the master. So you might
want to store them in a central location (shared drive possibly) if you need
multiple people to view the master.

When you insert the projects into the master initially you have to decide if
you want the sub projects to be embedded as read only or R/W. I would embed
them R/W if you want to be able to edit the subproject details from the
master but otherwise insert them at Read-Only. You could also do one master
read only and one master R/W depending on the audience.

Jonathan

 

[Guest]

Great, thank you very much for this help.

No, you can create a master schedule by inserting the other 20 mpp files
into it. But the master schedule will expect to see those schedules
located in the same file location the next time you open the master. So
you might want to store them in a central location (shared drive possibly)
if you need multiple people to view the master.

When you insert the projects into the master initially you have to decide
if you want the sub projects to be embedded as read only or R/W. I would
embed them R/W if you want to be able to edit the subproject details from
the master but otherwise insert them at Read-Only. You could also do one
master read only and one master R/W depending on the audience.

Jonathan