Project and Project Server 2010
<just coffee> So here I am, sitting Pheonix, AZ at the Project Conference 2010. I’ve been working with Project 2010 for a while now, but under NDA, so I’ve not been able to blog about it, but as I type, it’s being demo’d publically for the 1st time, so the NDA has been “lifted”. You’ll […]
Project Professional Crashes on connection to Project Server
<Sauvignon Blanc Semillon> Several weeks ago a customer of mine was getting a fatal error with Project Professional 2007 when connecting to the server. This was only happening on a single machine, and the usual re-installs/repairs didn’t fix a thing. It so happened that the security settings where set to Very High (tools|macro|security), and resetting […]
MVP
<home made banana milkshake> Just found out Microsoft have awarded me MVP (Most Valuable Professional) for Project – nice one! https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/communities/mvp.aspx?name=ben+howard Cheers, Ben.
SQL Server Native Client – 64 bit – Failed to build the OLAP cubes
<dry – watching Wimbledon> Just a quick reminder that if you’re struggling with getting Analysis Services to build successfully one of the errors you might see is …. Failed to build the OLAP cubes. Error: Analysis Services session failed with the following error: Failed to connect to the Analysis Services server BenHowardSQL08. Error: Cannot connect […]
Task Alerts and Reminders
The following blog details the settings and email formats behind the task alerts and reminders page. I originally wrote this in word using lots of tables and it hasn’t transferred very well to the web, apologies for that! Setting Up Task Alerts Each resource is able to configure the frequency of email alerts and reminders […]
MPUG events
Just to let you know there are two MPUG events happening in the UK. The first is in London, and the second Manchester. Details are below… Tuesday 28th April MPUG London Presents: Networking and Best Practice Presentation Members and non members are welcome at this event!! 3:00PM: Welcome and Networking 3:30PM: “Best Practices” 5:30PM: Close […]
Milestones – done or not?
<Wolf Blass & Baileys!> Every now and then something nice happens in EPM, something that makes life simpler! This happened to me before Christmas (where did the last 8 weeks go to?) so figured I’d blog this now…, however, to get this to work I have to break one of my golden rules of not […]
Cannot overwrite an OLAP database created outside of Project Server or by another Project Server Site.
<coffee> *** Update *** I came across this blog recently – this is a much better way forward. Thank you Martin – http://www.kulov.net/blogs/martin/2009/08/overwrite-olap-database-problem.html *** End of Update *** Generally I don’t blog technical issues as there are lots of good technical blogs out there, but as no-one else seemed to have blogged this I thought […]
Microsoft Project Server 2007 Training
<Brakspear Oxford Gold> If you’ve been looking out for training for Project Server or Portfolio Server training, there are now a few options… 1. Enterprise Project Management University – This has been running since Project Server 2003, and since that time has evolved from being a set of slide ware (though with lots of screen […]
Problems with Status Reports
<dry again> Status reports have been around since Project Server 2003 (or even in 2002? – I can’t remember), but I do know that I’ve had various problems with them in 2007, but haven’t been able to specifically reproduce them in order to get a bug raised with Microsoft. My specific scenario was that when […]
How to set up permissions so that Project Managers can Save their own projects, and open all others in Read Only mode
This question comes up again and again, and I can’t remember where I found this information from all those years ago (it applied to Project 2003), but I wrote it down and seem to use it for most clients. It’s easily adaptable for Project Server 2007 – one day I’ll write it properly and update […]
Changing the Project Manager
During the lifetime of a project it is sometimes necessary to change the Project Manager (due to a leave of absence). The process to do this has changed between 2003 and 2007. There are three areas to be concerned with 1. Changing the Project Manager; Changing the status manager; replacing any PM resources. Before you […]
How to move a sub Project Workspace to another programme site.
Introduction This blog details how to move the WSS workspace between sub-sites. This may occur if a project is moved between programmes (setting up a programme is discussed in this blog here http://appleparkltd.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!EB0688A7A6F04E1D!307.entry Process Overview By default, Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007 creates a project workspace site on Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 when it publishes […]
Creating the Perfect Plan
Introduction Okay, so there is no such thing as the perfect schedule, but there are good and bad practices for creating a schedule using Microsoft Project. Some other tools don’t allow some of these bad practices, but Project just goes ahead and lets you do it – this allows lots of flexibility but if you’re […]
Fun with Analysis Services!
<dry – again!> Gee’d on by too many nights in hotels, I started briefly messing around with Analysis Services, and I started thinking that there must be so much you can do with this tool than the basics that you get out of the box. My main reason for this was that I wanted to get […]
Deliverables
<budvar> Moving back to the scenarios, I wanted to give a rounded overview of Deliverables. Historical implementation of deliverables. A deliverable is a tangible and measurable result, outcome, or item that must be produced to complete a project or part of a project. Typically, the project team and project stakeholders agree on project deliverables before the […]
Migrating from MSDE to SQL2005
<black sheep> This blog is a move away from the scenario based blogs on PS2007 that I’ve been writing, instead it’s an overview of a situation that I think will become more common as organisations upgrade their project server databases (and WSS2.0) to SQL2005 (either from SQL2000, or in some cases there is a requirment […]
Timesheets – What are they, what do they do?
<Oyster Bay Merlot, NZ> Introduction Timesheets are a completely new area for PS2007. Okay, so PS2002/3 had a button labelled “Timehseets”, but the main function was task statusing, rather than a true timesheet system. So, Microsoft have invested a whole lot of time in this functionality, but the Timesheet functionality is therefore a v1.0 release, […]
Team Assignments
<London Pride> One of the really neat features that will solve lots of business issues is the new team assignment feature. Team assignments are a very easy concept to get your head around, but not particularly intuitive to set up. Once set up though they really work well, just follow a few basic principles and you’ll […]
Resource Plans – How to use them with a rolling project plan
<dry> As discussed in my previous post EPM2007 allows for some new scenarios regarding resource management. This blog discusses using a resource plan in conjunction with a full blown project plan (termed an Enterprise Project), which enables us to perform rolling plan management. For the purposes of this blog I have defined an Enterprise Project […]
How to plan and track operational resources and time
Resource Scenarios – How to plan and track operational resources and time (café latte) EPM2007 allows for some new scenarios regarding resource management, specifically regarding assigning resources to operational plans (and of course activity plans). Microsoft have a specific type of project plan called an Activity Plan which can easily be is used for operational […]
Oh no, not another project server blog…
(Leffe Brune…) Oh no, not another project server blog… or maybe, yippee, perhaps this blog will provide some answers? It depends on where you are coming from and what you are looking for, but if, like me, you are thinking that the whole MS EPM 2007 solution is now very big compared with 2003 and […]