Skill Outline Codes v RBS?

[Steve Scott]

I am working on a non-Project server implementation of MS project using a
traditional resource pool however I want to future proof my configuration as
much as possible becuase I know the client is interested in adopting Project
Server next year.

I need to know what the Primary, secondary and indeed tertiary skills
individual resources have - should these aspects be set up seperately as eg 3
different Outline Codes or should they be configured in 1 x Outline Code
which would effectively become the RBS at a later date? My gut feel is that
the role of RBS in Project Server is somewhat different from that of
selecting and reporting of skill types so would I be safe to keep them
seperate?

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Steve --

Excellent thinking. I applaud you for thinking about setting up your
standalone Microsoft Project usage to prepare for the rollout of Project
Server next year. If you want to set up two or three skills for each
resource in your resource pool, in Project Server 2007 you could create one
single custom enterprise Resource field and make it a multi-value (MV) field
in which you could select one or more values. However, in a standalone
environment, you do not have the option to make a field an MV field.
Therefore, I would suggest you set up three different Skills fields, each of
which is attached to the same Lookup Table that lists all of the skills.
For each resource in the shared resource pool file, you can select a primary
skill in the first field, a secondary skill in the second field, and a
tertiary skill in the third field. At least this will allow you to track
and manage skills. Later, when you import your resources into Project
Server 2007, you can use the three Skills fields to guide you in populating
one single enterprise MV Skills field for your resources. Hope this helps.

 

[Steve Scott]

Thanks Dale and by the way I am currently working through your book -
Implementing PS2007 and am finding it very easy to use and understand versus
some of the other EPM training courses that I have been on to date. I am
very positive that it will give me the skills and confidence to carry out a
full end-end implementation. Thanks Steve

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Steve --

Thank you for your kind comments about our books.