Resource permissions to deny PMs to see hourly rates

[Pete Nathan, PMP]

Does anyone know of a way to set up a combo of permissions for groups and
categories so that PMs using Project Pro 2003 can build a team from the
Project Server 2003 enterprise resource pool without having the rate columns
available for the PMs to see? This appears to be an issue in how Project Pro
2003 (as a client) handles security from Project Server.

The goal is to allow a PM using Project Pro to:
1. load resources from the enterprise resource pool,
2. deny the PM the ability to see hourly rates for the resource (Resource
Sheet view & Resource info dialog box),
3. permit the calc of summary cost data and EVM for reporting.

In Project Pro 2003, I can hide the Std. Rate and Ovt. Rate columns on the
resource sheet view in the global enterprise template. However, if a PM just
clicks on a resource name, he’ll bring up the enterprise Resource Information
dialog box and have access to rates. Or, if he right mouse clicks, he can
insert the Std. Rate column back into the view. Is there such a security
lockout option available in the Enterprise Global template at the column or
table level? Would deleting the Resource Cost Table in Organizer and in the
Enterprise Global template be an acceptable work around? Do I have to alter
the Global.mpt on each PM’s Project Pro? Do I have to do something like
setting SQL Server column level permissions in MSP_WEB_RESOURCES to deny PMs
from viewing the Standard Rate column?

The two other work around that I’ve tried that are acceptable is to make the
Std Cost column either $1 and use this as an additional hour field, or to
establish an organizational-wide standard rate that is a ballpark rate.
Using this approach, we’d get the EVM and cost trends, but not actuals. In
either case using this scenario, we’d have to give the actual hours (burn
rate) to a financial analyst to determine actual project costs for reporting
to execs.

Thanks in advance,

Pete Nathan, PMP
Author, PMP Certification For Dummies

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Peter --

You cannot permanently hide the Std. Rate and Overtime Rate fields from
anyone who uses Microsoft Project Professional. None of the approaches you
have tried or have described will help you with this issue. As you have
already surmised, even if you hide the columns, anyone with a little
knowledge can easily reinsert the missing columns in any resource view.

The source of your problem is not how Microsoft Project or Project Server
work. The problem is with your methodology of placing the salaries of each
resource in your Enterprise Resource Pool. If this is what you are doing,
you are creating several problems for your company, inlcuding potential
legal problems for your HR department, and morale issues with your project
managers.

Instead of placing actual salaries in the Std. Rate field, I recommend that
you use a blended rate that averages salaries plus benefits across groups of
people in your organization, such as teams, departments, business units, or
even the entire corporation. Using a blended rate approach "blurs" the
salary information for each resource so that no one can determine how much
anyone is paid. One company I worked with with used a blended rate for
every resource in the entire IT department calculated by summing the total
cost for salaries, benefits, equipment, and utilities for everyone and then
dividing this number by the 3,450 people in the IT department. The result
was a Std. Rate value of $92.50 for everyone in the Enterprise Resource
Pool.

Just some thoughts. Hope this helps.