Project Server Implementation Options

[Mike Kleiman]

Our company has over 6k resources spread across the country and we are
considering using Project Server for our enterprise Project Management
solution. We have a business units using various time keeping and project
management tools and rolling the results up to a corporate repository. The
plan is for Project Server to replace all of this as a centrally supported
solution but we have we have a couple concerns to address.
1. Can Project Server readily handle 6k resources and a few hundred project
managers spread across the country?
2. Does Project Server support server farms? Can the servers be distributed
throughout the country?
3. Can we have totally separate local Project server implementations that
somehow rollup to a centralized corporate one?

I understand Project Server has a robust api which means virtually anything
is possible; I’m more interested in knowing which of these options are
“Natural†–vs- “Unnatural†for Project Server and which are just bad ideas
for it.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Paul Conroy]

I'm aware of one company with 40k resources so 6k shouldn't cause performance
problems providing you spec your farm suitably. You may encoutner functional
problems with this volume of users, so I strongly suggest that you use the
security model to segragate the resources available to PMs/RMs.

All servers in the farm need to be in a single domain and ideally on the
same subnet. You could have multiple farms and report up through portfolio
server, but you can't share resources across farms. There's been a lot of
effort improving WAN performance in 2007, and over reasonable comms links you
shouldn't have too many issues with a centralised farm.

I'd strongly recommend that you engage with either Microsoft or a qualified
EPM partner to help you architect this solution.


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[Gary L. Chefetz [MVP]]

Mike:

I'll take a stab at these, see my comments inline:

1. Can Project Server readily handle 6k resources and a few hundred
project
managers spread across the country?

Yes, it can with the proper physical and logical configurations

2. Does Project Server support server farms? Can the servers be
distributed
throughout the country?

Project Server will live on any supported SharePoint farm configuration.

3. Can we have totally separate local Project server implementations that
somehow rollup to a centralized corporate one?

Yes, however the federation of data is not an "out of the box" capability.
There are ISV solutions available or you can build this yourself.

You should engage a Project Partner for an implementation of this scale. I
also recommend a pilot in the crawl, walk, run spirit. You will need to
carefully consider your timekeeping needs during the process. These may
drive you to a third-party solution rather than Project Server timesheets.

--

Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
MSProjectExperts
For Project Server Consulting: http://www.msprojectexperts.com
For Project Server FAQS: http://www.projectserverexperts.com

 

[Mike Kleiman]

Thanks Paul. We will work with a professional outfit.. just testing some
brain-storm options.

I appreciate your input.

Mike

 

[Mike Kleiman]

Gary,
thanks for your help. Do you have a recommended or preferred third party
timekeeping solution.

Also, I would love to get my hands on a summary of "why" an enterprise might
need to consider a third-party timekeeping solution. I have looked enough
into Project Server to have a stong-gut but without the actual experience,
it's difficult to provide substance up-the-line.

Thanks again.

Mike

 

[Gary L. Chefetz [MVP]]

Mike:

The answer depends totally on your requirements. Keep in mind that Project
Server's timesheet solution is a first cut. While it works for its intended
purpose, some people have higher expectations. Complex payroll requirements,
for instance, would be a top-of-the-list reason for considering a
third-party solution.

--

Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
MSProjectExperts
For Project Server Consulting: http://www.msprojectexperts.com
For Project Server FAQS: http://www.projectserverexperts.com