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1 Delta EPM Overview v 4.0 Smarter Project Management
©DMPC Ltd – 2016 All Rights Reserved
Smarter Project Management
2 Delta EPM Overview v 4.0 Smarter Project Management
©DMPC Ltd – 2016 All Rights Reserved
Contents Document Purpose ................................................................................................................................. 5
Background to Delta EPM ....................................................................................................................... 5
Delta EPM – Overview of the Solution .................................................................................................... 5
Delta EPM – Overview of a Typical Implementation .......................................................................... 6
PMO Site ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Programme Site .............................................................................................................................. 6
Project Site ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Yammer Integration – Programme / Project Social Engagement ................................................... 7
Delta EPM Online ................................................................................................................................ 8
Upgrade Path and Software Updates ............................................................................................. 8
Delta EPM Standard ............................................................................................................................ 9
Upgrade Path and Software Updates ............................................................................................. 9
Accessing the Solution ........................................................................................................................ 9
Browser Based Access ..................................................................................................................... 9
Access Devices ................................................................................................................................ 9
Components of the Solution ............................................................................................................. 10
Our Approach to Smarter Project Management using Delta EPM ....................................................... 10
The Delta EPM Vision ........................................................................................................................ 11
Design Approach ............................................................................................................................... 11
Delta EPM – Programme Template Capability Overview ..................................................................... 13
Programme Management Dashboards ............................................................................................. 13
Integration with Excel Web Services ............................................................................................. 13
Document Management ................................................................................................................... 14
Search................................................................................................................................................ 14
Programme Sites and Stakeholder Management Communications ................................................. 15
Vision and Desired Outcomes ....................................................................................................... 15
Delivery Roadmap ......................................................................................................................... 16
Programme Governance ............................................................................................................... 16
Team Structure and Roles and Responsibilities ............................................................................ 16
Benefits Overview ......................................................................................................................... 17
Programme Management Tools ....................................................................................................... 17
The Programme Plan ..................................................................................................................... 17
Programme Risks and Issues Management .................................................................................. 19
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Programme Action Management ................................................................................................. 19
Decision Management .................................................................................................................. 20
Yammer Integration ...................................................................................................................... 20
Delta EPM – Project Template Capability Overview ............................................................................. 21
Management Dashboards ................................................................................................................. 21
Integration with Excel Web Services ............................................................................................. 21
Document Management ................................................................................................................... 22
Search................................................................................................................................................ 22
Managing Projects – Phased Based Management ............................................................................ 22
Idea Phase ..................................................................................................................................... 22
Initiation and Planning Phase........................................................................................................ 23
Delivery Phase ............................................................................................................................... 25
Closure Phase ................................................................................................................................ 27
Delta EPM Tools ................................................................................................................................ 28
Accident Reporting List ................................................................................................................. 28
Authority to Proceed List .............................................................................................................. 29
Calendar ........................................................................................................................................ 30
Change Log .................................................................................................................................... 31
Project Contacts List...................................................................................................................... 33
Critical Success Factors (CSF’s) List ............................................................................................... 34
Decisions Log ................................................................................................................................. 35
Deliverables List (Project Plan) ..................................................................................................... 36
Exception Report ........................................................................................................................... 38
Highlight Report ............................................................................................................................ 39
Holiday Calendar ........................................................................................................................... 40
Issue Log ........................................................................................................................................ 41
Lessons Learned Log ..................................................................................................................... 42
Objectives Log ............................................................................................................................... 43
Project Status List .......................................................................................................................... 44
Project Managers Announcements .............................................................................................. 44
Quality Issue Log ........................................................................................................................... 45
Risk Log ......................................................................................................................................... 46
Stakeholder Log ............................................................................................................................ 48
Tasks .............................................................................................................................................. 49
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Timesheets .................................................................................................................................... 50
Status Reporting within Delta EPM ................................................................................................... 51
Example of Real Time Reporting ................................................................................................... 52
Status Reporting – Reported Elements ......................................................................................... 53
Resource Management within Delta EPM ........................................................................................ 57
Use of Resource Management Tools and Delta EPM Design Scope ............................................. 58
Resource Links ............................................................................................................................... 60
Project Governance .......................................................................................................................... 61
Delta EPM Development and Modification .......................................................................................... 64
Design & Development Services ....................................................................................................... 64
Requirements ................................................................................................................................ 64
Look and Feel Design .................................................................................................................... 64
Development ................................................................................................................................. 64
Deployment Service .............................................................................................................................. 64
Support Service ..................................................................................................................................... 65
Support Scope ................................................................................................................................... 65
Support Costs .................................................................................................................................... 65
License Costs for Delta EPM .................................................................................................................. 66
Delta EPM Online / Standard Licensing Model ................................................................................. 66
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Document Purpose The purpose of this document is to outline the functionality and general capabilities of the Delta
EPM PMO, Programme & Project Management Solution for Microsoft SharePoint / Office 365.
Background to Delta EPM Delta EPM has evolved over the last eleven years. It was originally developed by the founder of
DMPC Limited as a tool to support his work as a Programme Office Manager (PMO) at the Home
Office. He was working with SharePoint 2003 at the time, and felt that he could build a better
solution than the tool he had been given to work with. As a result of that effort, WMC’s SharePoint
Project Central was developed and marketed, with clients procuring that solution across a number of
sectors including Visit Britain and NHS based organizations.
Note - The overall justification for developing Delta EPM has always been to enable ‘Smarter Project
Management’, focused on having the right tools to hand, faster project initiation and consistent
levels of process. The concept to enable the successful integration of tools, process and templates
combined on an industry standard collaboration and document management platform.
Later versions of SharePoint (e.g. 2007) resulted in a move to the new software, a name change to
Delta EPM and further development of its capabilities to support programme management
environments (on a bespoke basis). This upgrade was developed in conjunction with the National
Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and their cooperation with the Department for Health.
Delta EPM Standard has now evolved using the later version of SharePoint provisioned within Office
365 – SharePoint Online.
An Example of a Delta EPM Project Landing Page
Delta EPM – Overview of the Solution The Delta EPM solution is based on Microsoft SharePoint and works either in the cloud on Office 365
(SharePoint Online) or on SharePoint locally installed at the clients data centre. Delta EPM uses a
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mix of templates and bespoke configured SharePoint sites to deliver a rich collaborative
environment for the management of a change portfolio.
The look and feel of the solution is slightly customized from that of SharePoint ‘out of the box’
however we recommend that clients avoid complex changes to the overall user interface in terms of
excessive branding and styling changes although this can be done within the boundaries of
Microsoft’s recommended approach for SharePoint Online.
Delta EPM – Overview of a Typical Implementation A typical implementation of the overall solution is based upon having the following key components:
PMO Site
The PMO site is a root site of the solution and is implemented at the initial stage of the deployment.
This site can be based upon a standard out of the box team site template or we can completely tailor
this component to have programme portfolio dashboards, template libraries and information on
programme / project delivery methodology.
The approach to deploying this site is ‘completely flexible’ and in all cases is designed to meet the
client’s requirements. Often, this site is focused on the foundations of their approach to the
implementation of a P30 environment within their organization.
Programme Site
The Programme Site is the home of a change programme, the main landing page for all programme
specific information which includes navigation to the various projects within its portfolio of delivery.
Based upon our standard Delta EPM Programme Site template, we usually design and build the
client a bespoke Programme Site template that meets the needs for programme management tools,
dashboards and stakeholder management information requirements.
In many deployment scenarios, clients choose to implement a Yammer group feed to encourage
social collaboration within the programme team and wider stakeholder environment.
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An example of a Delta EPM Programme Landing Page
Project Site
The Delta EPM Project Site template has significant customizations applied when compared to the
standard version supplied by Microsoft. Our template incorporates project management tools,
process and access to the centrally managed PMO templates.
The Project Site is focused on providing everything a Project Manager would need in terms of
management tools when initiating and managing the delivery of a project. The site comes with a
built in delivery process which can be adopted as is or designed to match any existing process within
the clients organization.
The delivery approach within the Project Site is aligned to Waterfall delivery methods but can easily
incorporate Agile based methodologies within the delivery phase. The site is packed full of useful
features, delivery dashboards for management information, integration with Excel Web Services and
also a focus on a ‘personalized’ view of the user’s involvement within the project lifecycle.
The Delta EPM Project Site incorporates workflow for its key toolsets (such as Risk and Issues) and
also provides a communications platform for those involved in the project as stakeholders and
governance representatives.
An example of a Delta EPM Information / Site Architecture
Yammer Integration – Programme / Project Social Engagement
We have integrated Delta EPM Online with Microsoft’s Enterprise Social platform called Yammer.
This can either be licensed free of charge (the non-enterprise version) of licensed through an Office
365 subscription.
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Yammer is an excellent solution for collaborative working and improving the overall virtual team
working environment for teams involved in change delivery. Integration with Delta EPM improves
the overall usability of the platform and encourages change team members involvement and
adoption of both solutions.
A Yammer Group Feed integration with a Project Site
Delta EPM Online Delta EPM Online is based upon Microsoft SharePoint Online (which is bundled as part of the Office
365 product). The solution is hosted in the Microsoft Cloud and adheres to all of the governing
principles and service levels provided under the Microsoft Office 365 Cloud Service.
To use Delta EPM Online, access to the Office 365 service is required as a pre-requisite (including
SharePoint Online) with access security provided as per the standard service e.g. Microsoft Online
Services accounts are required which are supplied on a monthly subscription basis. Delta EPM Online
is provisioned on a ‘per site’ basis based upon a fixed price for the solution package.
Note – DMPC Limited are an accredited Microsoft Online Service Provider so that if you need to
obtain access to Office 365 services prior to using Delta EPM Online we can supply these along with
the project management solution.
Upgrade Path and Software Updates
The Delta EPM Solution has its own upgrade Path along with adhering to the upgrade path for Office
365 to SharePoint Online. As your version of Office 365 is upgraded your version of Delta EPM will
also be upgraded to operate within that newer version of the host software.
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Delta EPM is frequently updated with additional capabilities and any known issues resolved. These
updates are supplied as a new solution (e.g. SharePoint WSP – solution package) however these
updates do not update existing installed Delta EPM sites. Newly created sites using the updated
solution will have any updates applied to them.
Delta EPM Standard Delta EPM standard is based upon a local ‘on premise’ hosted version of Microsoft SharePoint 2013.
The solution is provided as a solution package (SharePoint WSP) and installed by the client into their
Solution Store within a Site Collection of their choice. Note – the solution is not provided on a
subscription basis but is provided as a code delivered product for the exclusive right of use by the
purchasing organisation. The solution requires:
SharePoint 2013 installed on a suitable SharePoint Server (various farm configurations apply)
o Note – the standard Microsoft pre-requisites and server specifications apply
SharePoint site collection owner permissions to enable installation of the solution into the
SharePoint solution store
Upgrade Path and Software Updates
The Delta EPM Solution has its own upgrade Path along with adhering to the upgrade path for
SharePoint.
Delta EPM is frequently updated with additional capabilities and any known issues resolved. These
updates are supplied as a new solution (e.g. SharePoint WSP) however these updates do not update
existing installed Delta EPM sites. Newly created sites using the updated solution will have any
updates applied to them.
Accessing the Solution
Browser Based Access
Delta EPM is accessible via a web browser. Browser compatibility is based on Microsoft’s browser
compatibility standards for SharePoint / Office 365. However, the most up to date browsers from
Microsoft, Google, Safari and Firefox are all suitable but we would recommend the latest Microsoft
browser for the best all round experience.
Our recommended screen resolution for Delta EPM is 1920 x 1080.
Access Devices
The latest computer work stations and laptops are obviously suitable for accessing Delta EPM. We
would also recommend tablet devices for general usage (probably not at the administration level)
but we don’t at this stage recommend general access on mobiles due to the nature of the content
and the way that SharePoint sizes information in its lists etc.
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Delta EPM is accessible via Workstations, Laptops and Tablet Devices.
Components of the Solution Delta EPM (Online and Standard) uses core Microsoft SharePoint functionality and capabilities as its
technical and functional baseline.
The solution has been significantly configured to adapt existing out of the box tools to provide
project management focussed capabilities. In addition, we have enhanced core SharePoint
functionality and aligned that to support smarter project management within a typical Programme /
Project delivery environment.
It is important to note, that although the solution has taken a considerable time and man-day effort
to produce is does not contain customised code. All capabilities have been delivered through
configuration of the browser based design interface with a heavy use of Microsoft SharePoint
Designer. We have not adopted a custom development approach for this solution so that we can
more easily support Microsoft’s upgrade path to future versions of SharePoint.
Delta EPM is built upon the following:
Team Site Template with a customised theme and master page
Multiple use of customised SharePoint Lists
Use of multiple lookup configurations
Adaptation of existing out of the box web parts to enable a more useful Project
Management utilisation
Use of customised images to support the overall user interface
The overall solution is packaged into a SharePoint WSP and is then loaded into the Solutions Gallery
where it is then activated and made available to use within the appointed SharePoint Site Collection.
Delta EPM uploaded to a SharePoint Solutions Gallery within Central Administration
Our Approach to Smarter Project Management using Delta EPM Using tools to expedite and manage projects has been happening for a number of years. There are
many solutions on the market that claim to enable more effective project delivery. However, the
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reality in our view is that many of these tools are good providing functionality but they often lack the
required usability needed to encourage adoption and return on investment.
Delta EPM is different, it’s been designed and built by experienced PMO, Programme and Project
professionals who understand the needs of the sector.
The Delta EPM Vision The Delta EPM vision is to
‘Enable smarter project management through allowing for faster project initiation, more effective
delivery management and improved communications, focussed on the integration of tools, process
and templates’
Design Approach Delta EPM has been designed to be ‘simple’ and ‘easy to use’. Our approach has always been
focussed on:
Keeping it simple to use and adopt into an organisation
Giving the basic tools to users when they need them in a fast and consistent way
Providing practical support in terms of process and methodology
Improving visibility of project progress and delivery management issues
Providing the necessary support and interface for existing and well adopted tools that will
always be used in such environments e.g.
o Microsoft Office
o Exchange
o Microsoft Project
Delta EPM uses a flexible approach to managing phased based delivery from an Idea to Completion
There are two major design aspects within Delta EPM
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Phased Based Management (Delivery Process) – the solution supports the management of
delivery in phases, with delivery gates, tasks and process that can be aligned to your existing
way of managing project delivery
Tools and Templates – the solution provides a set of simple but effective tools and
templates to enable the effective management of a project. These directly support faster
project initiation and improved quality and consistency of delivery approach. Note – many
of the tools and templates are based loosely on PRINCE2 however they can be adapted to
suit the specific needs of the organisation as required.
The final key component of our design approach was to adopt the functionality and capability of
core SharePoint to enable smarter project management. In particular we have used document
management, workflow and search along with personalisation features to provide the basis of a
highly effective project management solution.
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Delta EPM – Programme Template Capability Overview In this section we have outlined the overall capabilities of the solution aligned to typical programme
management requirements and the pragmatic adoption of software within a change management
environment.
Programme Management Dashboards The overall solution is designed to be dashboard centric, providing an overall delivery dashboard
combined with personalised views of tasks, deliverables and key components such as risks, issues
and changes.
The Delta EPM Programme Site is a bespoke solution, which means that we utilise the power of
SharePoint to enable various levels of dashboards based upon the specific requirements of the
client. We typically ‘roll-up’ project level information to a bespoke programme dashboard,
demonstrating delivery management and financial information. These types of dashboards deliver
excellent management information, enabling key stakeholders to make more informed decisions
regarding the progression of the programme portfolio and highlights areas that are potential issues /
blockers to progress.
Note – All of this information is fed in real time from tools within the Programme Site and
information held at the project levels.
Programme Delivery Dashboard – Combines output from projects tools and Excel feeds
Integration with Excel Web Services
The programme level dashboards can be driven by both SharePoint lists and information captured
and managed within Excel. E.g. the financials dashboard can be automatically updated via the
updating of the budget spreadsheet linked to project level spreadsheets, all done in real time saving
time and effort in copying, pasting this data into other applications such as PowerPoint.
Note – our team can customise your dashboards to meet the management reporting needs of your
organisation as part of our initial setting up of the solution.
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The Programme Financial Dashboard can combine information from across the portfolio of projects
Document Management The Delta EPM Programme Site utilizes SharePoint’s excellent capabilities to manage electronic
based documentation. Document Management facilities within this site that are highly configurable
and able to effectively manage the security and integrity of the client’s programme level
documentation.
All Delta EPM Programme Sites have built in Document Management facilities, we enable version
control by default and also configure document libraries for ‘check in / check out’ so that document
integrity is maintained when collaborating in teams.
Document external sharing can be enabled so that documents can be securely shared with the
client’s delivery partners and external stakeholders. We use a simplified meta data tagging system
for the tagging of documentation so that we can more easily sign-post documentation to end users
and retrieve them via the built in search facility.
Search The ability to effectively search for documentation is vital when handling large amounts of
information in delivery portfolios. Delta EPM uses the power of SharePoint Search and its meta-
tagging design for document libraries to ensure that documents can easily be retrieved via searching
within Programme Sites.
The search facility also returns results of data stored in the important management tools (e.g. Risks
and Issue Logs) so that data within SharePoint lists can easily be found.
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Example of search results that also include visual clues as to the relevance of that content
Programme Sites and Stakeholder Management Communications One of the main benefits of using Delta EPM is that you are always offering visibility of the
Programme to your stakeholder community. Our approach to this is relatively simple in that we
offer communications tools for the following:
Vision and Desired Outcomes
There is an area at the Programme level for the Programme Manager to display the overall vision
statement and then list the proposed ‘desired outcomes’ of the programme. This is an excellent way
of setting the scene for the programme delivery and ensuring that stakeholders understand the
basics of what the programme is about.
Programme vision statement and access to the Desired Outcomes list
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Delivery Roadmap
Most stakeholders like to see a ‘plan on a page’ for the delivery of the programme, so within Delta
EPM we have included a page for the inclusion of the delivery roadmap, either done via PowerPoint
or using other tools such as Microsoft Visio.
Delivery Roadmap can be included as a plan on a page
Programme Governance
Users of Delta EPM at the programme level need to be clear on the programme governance
structure and the timings etc of key governance meetings. We have dedicated a page to the
explanation of the programme governance which includes being able to view governance meetings
that are scheduled and also review key decisions that have been made.
In addition, we have included a specific actions register for the Programme Board team that is uses
to keep track of actions coming out of this important meeting. Additional information is available on
governance team members and their contact information.
Team Structure and Roles and Responsibilities
A typical programme definition (aligned to methodologies such as MSP) requires the delivery team
to be well defined and understood along with a description of the associated roles and
responsibilities that are undertaken within the programme. Delta EPM provides a page for the
Programme Manager to update the stakeholders on this important aspect of programme definition.
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Team structure diagrams are an important step in gaining an understanding of the programme
Benefits Overview
As part of the overall definition of the programme, the Programme Manager needs to keep their
stakeholders informed as to the projected benefits, the plan for realisation and also the status of the
monitoring of their realisation during later phases of delivery.
Note – It would be useful to include Excel feeds that demonstrate the monitoring and realisation of
the benefits throughout the lifecycle of the programme. Delta EPM can easily accommodate this
within the user interface.
The Delta EPM Programme Site has a page for this purpose and can be used to offer stakeholders an
excellent high level view of the overall business case for the programme.
Programme Management Tools The Delta EPM Programme Site has a number of excellent tools designed for managing the
programme built into the SharePoint user interface.
The Programme Plan
Programme Managers can manage their high level delivery plan using the built in Programme
planning tool within Delta EPM. This is based upon a customised task list providing Gantt, Milestone
and personalised views of the plan.
The tool is very easy to use with the use having no requirement for Microsoft Project, however the
plan can be updated using this software if required. The plan demonstrates dependency and RAG
status. Visual representation using the ‘timeline’ feature of SharePoint is also an addition user
interface function that assists with the visibility of programme deliverables. Out from this tool is
shown on the overall delivery dashboard for the programme.
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An example of a high level programme plan with dependency and milestones
Extract of the Programme Dashboard – Showing milestone status driven directly from the Programme Plan
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Programme Risks and Issues Management
Delta EPM Programme Sites have built in risk and issue lists that are customised to enable the
programme team to document risks and issues aligned to the best practice approach for logging
them.
The tools are configured for basic approval workflow so that anyone within the team can add a risk
or an issue but these don’t appear on the reporting dashboards until they have been validated by
the Programme Manager. Typically, the Programme Manager would have an ‘alert’ set up on these
lists so when anyone adds one or modifies the details of the existing risk or issue they are notified
immediately.
Risks and Issues also have visual displays based upon the rating and impact etc.
Programme risk log with visual flags for rating categorisation
Programme Action Management
Delta EPM incorporates two key tools in action management at the programme level.
Programme Actions
This actions tracking tool is designed to capture general programme management actions that occur
during the day to day delivery management of the programme. Instead of producing meeting
minutes and then sending these out, the concept focusses on the team use of the actions tracking
functionality, avoiding duplication of effort and producing review dashboards so that everyone can
see their actions and status.
Note - The Programme Site landing page has a personalised view so that every user can see their
actions.
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Personalisation is used to keep track of the user’s actions
Programme Board Actions
This action tracking tool is specific to the main governance group (e.g. a Programme Board) and is
used to track the specific actions that come out of the key governance meeting that steers and
manages the programme.
Again, this can be used to collate all meeting actions and prevent the need for sending out separate
meeting minutes. Access to this tool is available to all board members and actions are listed on the
main governance page for the Programme Site.
Decision Management
A key requirement for every Programme Manager is document and ensure that all decisions are
visible to the team and wider stakeholders. Output from decision making governance meetings are
recorded within the Decisions Log and visible on the Programme Site Delivery Dashboard.
Decisions Log – output is visible on Delivery and Governance Dashboards within the Programme Site.
Yammer Integration
Our client’s typical wish to include a Yammer Group feed within the Programme Site template. This
is of course an option and we can locate this either on the landing page or create a specific page for
that purpose as per your requirement.
Note - By default, this isn’t included but can be provisioned on request.
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Delta EPM – Project Template Capability Overview In this section we have outlined the overall capabilities of the solution aligned to typical project
management requirements and pragmatic adoption of software within a change management
environment.
Management Dashboards The Delta EPM Project Site is designed to be dashboard centric, providing an overall delivery
dashboard combined with personalised views of tasks, deliverables and key components such as
risks, issues and changes.
Delta EPM is a bespoke solution, which means that we utilise the power of SharePoint to enable
various levels of dashboards based upon the specific requirements of the client. We typically ‘roll-
up’ project level information to a bespoke programme dashboard. This type of dashboard delivers
an excellent set of management information, enabling key stakeholders to make more informed
decisions regarding the progression of the programme portfolio and highlights areas that are
potential issues / blockers to progress.
The Delta EPM project level solution comes packaged with a customisable status report that has a
detailed dashboard view of the project delivery status. It also provides a phase specific view of
delivery and a personalised view of actions, deliverables as well as ownership of risks / issues etc.
Integration with Excel Web Services
The project level dashboards can be driven by both SharePoint lists and information captured and
managed within Excel. E.g. the financials dashboard can be automatically updated via the updating
of the budget spreadsheet, all done in real time saving time and effort in copying, pasting this data
into other applications such as PowerPoint.
Note – our team can customise your dashboards to meet the management reporting needs of your
organisation as part of our initial setting up of the solution.
A typical project financial dashboard displaying integrated Excel content within the SharePoint Project Site
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Document Management Delta EPM utilizes SharePoint’s excellent capabilities to manage electronic based documentation.
Document Management facilities within the solution that are highly configurable and able to
effectively manage the security and integrity of the client’s documentation.
All Delta EPM Sites have built in Document Management facilities, we enable version control by
default and also configure document libraries for ‘check in / check out’ so that document integrity is
maintained when collaborating in teams.
Document external sharing can be enabled so that documents can be securely shared with the
client’s delivery partners and external stakeholders. We use a simplified meta data tagging system
for the tagging of documentation so that we can more easily sign post that documentation to end
users and retrieve that document via the built in search facility.
Search The ability to effectively search for documentation is vital when handling large amounts of
information in delivery portfolios. Delta EPM uses the power of SharePoint Search and its meta-
tagging design for document libraries to ensure that documents can easily be retrieved via searching
within Programme and Project Sites.
The search facility also returns results of data stored in the important management tools (e.g. Risks
and Issue Logs) so that data within SharePoint lists can easily be found.
Managing Projects – Phased Based Management Within Delta EPM we have split the management of a project into four phases (a typical delivery
process):
Idea Phase
Initiation and Planning Phase
Delivery Phase
Closure Phase
Note – Organisations can adapt Delta EPM to accommodate more or less phases and name changes
if this is required.
Note - These phases can also be aligned to Waterfall or Agile delivery methodologies as required.
Idea Phase
The focus of the Idea (a typical project inception) Phase is to take the project forward from an initial
idea (it may be a conversation of more formal decision via a Project Mandate) through to a decision
to proceed to initiating the project and spending the time and effort required to plan for its
successfully delivery.
Within the Idea Phase, the Project Manager (PM) works with their sponsor to identify what the
project is about, what the criteria for success is and the specific objectives it has to achieve. Work is
done on the outline business case for the project and this is reviewed with key stakeholders.
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The solution provides a working environment to manage these activities, within the phase certain
tools are utilised (as they are throughout the project lifecycle) such as the Objectives List and the PM
starts to report (via the Status Report page) how the project is progressing.
Within the phase, the process allows for the identification of deliverables (Management and
Specialist) and tasks can be assigned to project team members (users of Delta EPM). Personalisation
features allow for easy access to your allocated tasks and other information such as risks and issues
that you may be assigned to the ownership of.
Idea Phase Home Page
Phase status is always available via the RAG status indicator on the phase home page (see Fig 4
above). Once the phase is nearing completion the phase based deliverables (these are pre-
populated project management deliverables) requires an Authority to Proceed (ATP) into the
Initiation and Planning Phase of the project lifecycle.
Initiation and Planning Phase
During this phase the PM has a documented activity flow and set of deliverables required in order to
take the project forward into delivery.
Initiation and Planning Phase Activity Flow within Delta EPM
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Faster project initiation is achieved using the built in tools provided as they do not have to be
designed and then subsequently developed by the PM or PMO. The fact that there is a suite of tools
available also drives consistency and overall management quality improvements within the project
management environment for the organisation concerned.
The objective within this phase is to develop the Project Initiation Document (PID) and obtain its
approval which in effect is the contract between the Project Board and the Project Manager for the
delivery of the project.
Project Milestones are captured as part of the planning process
Delta EPM directly supports the development of the PID with a pre-populated set of tasks and
management deliverables designed to achieve the necessary planning information needed for a PID
development. Tools are available to the PM to document risks, issues and project milestones.
The Deliverables List (Project Plan) is a key tool is fully utilised within this phase which effectively
forms a project plan. This plan can either be used in isolation or exported to Microsoft Project using
the exporting capabilities of Microsoft SharePoint.
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The Project Plan area of Delta EPM displays the Deliverables List in a Gantt chart format
The solution is also populated with template documents to support this important phase of the
project.
During this phase other areas of the solution are used for key management activities such as forming
the Project Governance, setting up the project communications, identifying Stakeholders and
producing Status Reports.
Throughout the phase, the user can easily access their specific tasks and note the progress of risks,
issues and changes that they have raised. The phase home page offers personalisation features and
obviously a RAG status for the phase delivery.
The built-in process moves the phase forward until an ATP is received via the formal governance
group (e.g. a Project Board). As with other phases, this is tracked formally and workflow can be used
to obtain a formal approval process for this key stage gate in the project lifecycle.
Note – For Agile projects, the project plan can be easily modified into a Product Catalogue and
managed as a toolset within the delivery phase using a plan based around sprints, show and tell
sessions and updates to the product backlog that can again be managed within the solution
Delivery Phase
This is the crucial phase where the specialist deliverables are produced and most of the project
objectives tend to be delivered.
Within Delta EPM, this phase is flexible as it operates on a loosely pre-designed set of activities that
would normally support project delivery at this point.
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Delivery Phase Home Page
The key emphasis of this phase is to effectively delivery manage the project outcomes and specialist
deliverables.
Allocation of project tasks will therefore be crucial as will the definition and allocation of work
packages to internal teams or suppliers. Process management is vital in ensuring that Risk, Issue,
Change and Quality Management is considered and managed appropriately. Delta EPM fully
supports all of the required processes needed to effectively manage the project through delivery.
Status Reporting During Delivery
Once the project has been committed to deliver it becomes even more vital to report project status
accurately and as often as stakeholders require.
Delta EPM supports ‘real time reporting’ with the reporting dashboards always available to project
stakeholders. These dashboards pull in data from many tools within the solution, providing a simple
graphical representation of project progress, process status and written reporting capability though
the built in Highlight Report.
Note - The Status Report page within Delta EPM provides the home for all status reporting during all
phases of the project. This has the flexibility to include the integration with Excel Web Services as
required.
Note - The Status Report page within Delta EPM provides the home for all status reporting during all
phases of the project.
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An example of a Status Report Home Page – combines Excel feeds with output from SharePoint lists
Once the project delivery has been completed, the project can then (via an ATP from the governance
group) be moved forward into formal Project Closure.
Closure Phase
The formal closure of projects is often overlooked within many organisations. However, it is
important to formally close a project in order to demonstrate what the project has achieved, report
on its delivery, benefit from lessons learned during the project and then subsequently archive the
project management deliverables appropriately.
Key activities are outlined within the Project Closure Phase with Delta EPM. Tools are used such as
the Lesson Learned Log to develop the End Project Report.
It is then possible to utilise the Delta EPM solution as a means of archiving the project and keeping a
permanent record of everything that went on in that project for future reference.
In particular the Decisions Log is a vital tool for keeping track of why and how the project progressed
in the way that it did and who made the associated decisions along the way.
Delta EPM sites that have closed projects can either remain in their native installation configuration
or they can be effectively be closed down through the appropriate use of security configuration
controls that exist for native SharePoint.
Note - Other archiving options can be used if the organisation has an existing archiving tool for
SharePoint
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Closure Phase Home Page
Delta EPM Tools Delta EPM has a rich set of tools that enable the effective initiation, planning and delivery
management of programmes and projects. These tools also drive real time reporting data via the
reporting dashboards in the Status Report area.
Note – All tools come as standard within Delta EPM and clients have the choice as to how they
choose to adopt them aligned to their approach to using Delta EPM in support of their overall
deployment.
Each of the tools is outlined in alphabetical order below:
Accident Reporting List
Although not considered as a primary tool within Delta EPM, this tool is used to manage any
accident reports that may need to be captured during the delivery of the project. Information is
then displayed on the Resources area home page along with the list itself.
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Accident Reporting Data Entry View
Authority to Proceed List
The purpose of this list is to document the required decisions needed in order to move between
phases of the project. This can be used to capture key Governance decisions.
This list uses workflow to set up a group of ‘approvers’ e.g. the Project Board who can approve the
ATP entry. The PM raises the ATP entries and initiates the workflow as a result of the raising a new
entry.
Note - security is normally restricted on this list so that the PM only has contributor level access.
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Authority to Proceed List Data Entry View
Calendar
This is effectively the Project Calendar for the project team to use to plan meetings and project
events.
It uses standard SharePoint Calendar capability and has extra columns of information around the
type of meeting / event that is taking place. This can be used to categories these events / meetings,
create custom views of that data (such as governance meeting on the Governance Home Page).
As with all SharePoint Calendars, they can be synchronised with Outlook so that you get a simpler
user experience when tracking project related events and meetings.
This has not been heavily customised within Delta EPM but could be further enhanced if required to
meet any specific and bespoke requirements.
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Project Calendar Data Entry View
Change Log
The Change Log is considered to be a primary tool within Delta EPM.
The tool is a heavily customised SharePoint list designed to capture information about changes to
the project scope and deliverables. It includes a visual status flag based upon the status of the
change that helps to identify how changes are being progressed within the project and are visibly in
the log and associated dashboards.
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Delta EPM Change Log
The Change Log uses lookups to other lists / logs within the solution to pull in a rich set of data in
support of the management of Change within Delta EPM.
As with most of the primary tools within Delta EPM, this tool uses approval workflow so that any
submitted changes are reviewed first before formal entry into the Log.
Management of Change within Delta EPM assumes that the organisation follows a formal change
process (e.g. ITIL) but as the tool is built in SharePoint it can easily be amended to reflect specific
management flows, data requirements and change status if required.
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Change Log Data Entry View
Project Contacts List
This list is a primary tool within Delta EPM for logging and managing project contact information.
The tool is based upon a standard contacts list web part but has some additional features to display
custom views of the information on other areas of the solution, e.g. the Governance Home Page for
Project Board Members.
As with most primary lists the list requires approval workflow, with the approver normally being
configured to the PM.
This list is extremely important in managing project team details and that of suppliers and other
people associated with the wider project stakeholder groups.
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Project Contacts List Data Entry View
Critical Success Factors (CSF’s) List
The CSF List is used to log the critical success factors for the project during the Idea Phase of the
project lifecycle.
Project CSF’s are identified in conjunction with the project sponsor and other major stakeholders of
the project.
This data is then used as a starting point for expediting Risk identification and the data is also used to
pull into other logs if these CSF’s are considered to be impacted by Risk for example.
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Critical Success Factors (CSF’s) List Data Entry View
Decisions Log
This vital log is considered to be a primary tool within Delta EPM.
The tool is used throughout the project lifecycle to document major decisions that have been made.
This provides an audit trail of decision making that can directly support project auditing, lessons
learned, delivery management and status reporting elements.
Decisions are normally logged only by the PM or their appointed deputy, with security access locked
down appropriately as required. Decisions that impact objectives can also be identified at the point
of data entry.
Work is enabled so decisions that are captured by other team members can be reviewed before
being made publically available to other Delta EPM users.
The decisions logged onto the Log are then made available to dashboards and other lists such as the
Delta EPM Highlight Report for inclusion in a specific reporting period.
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Decisions Log Data Entry View
Deliverables List (Project Plan)
This is probably one if not the most important tool within the Delta EPM solution.
Management deliverables are assigned to this list as part of the pre-population of the tool. These
deliverables form a management plan for the project with deliverables being assigned to the project
phases discussed in early sections of this document.
The list itself is built upon a task list (SharePoint terminology) which accommodates for tasks (i.e. in
this case deliverables) having predecessors, start, end dates etc. Deliverables can be assigned to
individuals within the Delta EPM user list and a Gantt chart view is produced.
At the time of upload, deliverables can be assigned as being:
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Management – part of the overall management deliverables needed to deliver the project,
typically project management documentation etc.
Specialist – these are the deliverables that usually deliver the project outcomes such as
software etc.
Other attributes can be assigned such as mandatory so that Delta EPM user teams can decide if
some deliverables are ‘must have’ deliverables or be considered as ‘optional’ as is the case when a
portfolio of Management Deliverables is first logged into the plan.
Deliverables List Default View
Different views of this list have been pre-configured and it is also important to note that the
allocation of the deliverable as a ‘milestone’ means that the deliverable appears on the milestone
status reporting.
Deliverable status is displayed throughout Delta EPM, within the phases (i.e. by Phase) and in areas
such as Planning and Reporting etc.
Note – there is also a basic search capability to allow for searching for deliverables which is very
useful within larger and more complex projects.
Interface with Microsoft Project and use for planning
SharePoint 2010 allows for users to export a task list to Microsoft Project 2010. This is an important
feature within Delta EPM as we understand that there may always be a mandate to plan projects
using a planning tool of this type.
However, to allow for greater collaboration on projects plans we suggest that the planning is done
within Delta EPM and Microsoft Project use is limited if it required. The reason for this is that many
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project stakeholders do not tend to have access to the Microsoft Project client software and
therefore access to project planning is often at a cost or nor provided at all.
The Deliverables List is not the smartest of planning tools but it does allow for effective planning,
with basic Gantt charting and dependency identification and impact management.
The project plan within Delta EPM can be managed via Microsoft Project (if required)
Exception Report
Delta EPM follows the approach that in the event of a predicted move out of project tolerance (e.g.
time and cost) then an Exception Report is raised.
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Exception Report Data Entry View
The report does require approval before being formally dealt with by the PM in the first instance.
Exception Reports are reported on the Status Report area and normally result in a need for a project
change or issue resolution.
Highlight Report
The project Highlight Report within Delta EPM is considered as a significant tool in the management
and reporting of project status.
Although real time status updates are provided by default within Delta EPM (via the Status Report
Home Page) the nature of the written Highlight Report add extra context to the project status and
recent / planned activities.
It is used to document the detail beneath the detail in the various tools within Delta EPM but also
pulls in this information (via the various lookups) so that a concise view of the status can be
obtained.
The Highlight Reports are accessible via the tool bar and via the Status Report Home Page.
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Highlight Report Data Entry View
Holiday Calendar
This is a supporting tool within Delta EPM designed to manage holiday requests within the project
team.
The Calendar uses basic approval workflow for new requests and invites the person requesting
holiday to document how their absence will be covered and the impact to the project.
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Holiday Requests Data Entry View
Issue Log
In most project management scenarios the Issue Log is considered to be very important and in this is
case within Delta EPM. As a primary tool for the PM, the Issue Log is used to identify and track the
issue management activities throughout the project lifecycle. It includes a visual status flag based
upon the impact of the issue that helps to identify how issues are being categorised within the
project and are visibly in the log and associated dashboards.
Issues can be raised by anyone within the user list but are then moderated by the PM (via approval
workflow) to ensure that they are indeed an issue or if not are they classified as something else such
as a Risk.
Issues logged are then given an owner and managed under whatever issue management process is
in place within the organisation. Issues are reported on phase home pages and within the Status
Report area of Delta EPM.
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Issue Log Data Entry View
Lessons Learned Log
Effective project management requires the identification of lessons learned throughout the project
lifecycle.
Delta EPM provides a facility to log lessons learned at any point during the project, these are then
subsequently used to complete the end project report during the Closure Phase.
When lessons are learned, these are reported on the Status Report Home Page.
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Lessons Learned Log Data Entry View
Objectives Log
Within the Idea Phase of the project the PM is required to identify the ‘smart’ objectives of the
project and document them.
The log within Delta EPM provides the tool for doing this and is then used to track the completion of
each objective.
Objective delivery status is demonstrated on the delivery dashboard of the Status Report Home
Page. It includes a visual status flag based upon the delivery status of the objective that helps to
identify how objectives are being delivered within the project and are visibly in the log and
associated dashboards.
Note – When objectives are impacted by Risk, Issues, Change and Quality management aspects these
are pulled into those logs / lists
In addition, the completion of objectives is also pulled into the project Highlight Report.
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Smart Objectives List Data Entry View
Project Status List
This list is pre-populated with the project phases that are used within the phase pages and the many
tools within Delta EPM.
The phases are:
Idea Phase
Initiation and Planning Phase
Delivery Phase
Closure Phase
This list is used to provide phase specific views for the phase management dashboards.
Project Managers Announcements
This is a basic announcements list which is normally configured for limited access to contribute
announcements.
The PM uses this list within Delta EPM (accessing it from the Communications area) to announce
project updates to the rest of the wider project team (Delta EPM users).
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The latest announcement is also displayed on the right hand side of the Delta EPM Home Page under
the image of the PM.
This tool is considered to be an important tool in the drive to open up communication using Delta
EPM. Team members would be invited to ‘add an alert’ (using SharePoint Alerts) to this list so that
they can be immediately notified via email of any important announcements about the project.
Project Managers Announcements Data Entry View
Quality Issue Log
The Quality Issue Log within Delta EPM is considered to be a primary tool and needed to effectively
manage the overall quality management of the project.
Quality issues can be raised by any user of Delta EPM and they are then moderated by the PM using
the built-in approval workflow.
The Quality Management process and approach is dependent upon the organisation however this
tool provides a means of managing quality issues and ensuring that these issues do not get forgotten
about and then subsequently impact the project outcome. It includes a visual status flag based upon
the impact of the issue that helps to identify how issues are being categorised within the project and
are visibly in the log and associated dashboards.
Quality issues are reported on the overall project Status Report Home Page.
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Quality Issue Log Data Entry View
Risk Log
The Risk Log is a well-known and used tool within most projects. The Delta EPM solution has
adopted a typical Risk Management approach to the management of risk. The Risk Log is used to
identify, evaluate and then manage the risk. The Log is an on-going tool and is used within all phases
of the project. It includes a visual status flag based upon the rating of the risk that helps to identify
how serious the exposure is within the project and these are visibly in the log and associated
dashboards.
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Project Risk Log in Delta EPM
Risks are raised and then moderated by the PM (via approval workflow) to ensure that they are risks,
not issues etc. Risks are associated with a critical success factor (identified during the Idea Phase of
the project) and are evaluated based upon the impact and likelihood of happening. The Exposure is
then automatically calculated and a manual rating of High, Medium or Low can be applied based
upon whether or not the PM is concerned by the exposure and proximity of the risk.
Risks that are logged and approved appear on phase home pages along with a risk update within the
overall Status Report Home Page.
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Risk Log Data Entry View
Stakeholder Log
Delta EPM supports the Office of Governments (OGC) Managing Successful Programmes approach to
the management of stakeholders.
We strongly believe that a formal approach is required to document who your stakeholders are,
what impact and interest they may currently have around the project and how this may need to
change going forward.
Delta EPM allows for the capture and management of stakeholder information (access is normally
tightly controlled for obvious reasons) and suggests that a management plan is put into place for
each stakeholder by an appointed Relationship Manager.
We realise that every organisation has their own approach to the management of stakeholders
within the programme and project environment but we do feel that this tool provides an excellent
resource for the PM and any associated Relationship Managers.
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Stakeholder Log Data Entry View
Tasks
The Task List within Delta EPM is used to manage project tasks across the full range of project
activities.
It is particularly useful for managing governance meeting actions along with actions relating to other
delivery management meetings. Tasks are allocated to Delta EPM users, with each users tasks being
available on a personalised view on the Delta EPM Home Page and within the phase home pages. It
includes a visual status flag based upon the focus and priority of the task that helps to identify how
important the tasks are and the status of their completion within the project and are visibly in the
log and associated dashboards.
The Task List is an important tool in the delivery management of projects within Delta EPM.
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Project Task List Data Entry View
Timesheets
The purpose of the Timesheet list is to enable the capture of man-hours spent on the project by
project team members.
The tool allows for any Delta EPM user to submit their time based upon a week commencing on a
Monday. Hours are logged and a total is automatically calculated. The person submitting the
timesheet is asked to specify who their approval manager for this time is (e.g. the PM) and their
contact email address.
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There is a built in workflow to ask the approval manager to either approve or reject the timesheet.
Email communications take place during the workflow and are dependent upon the status.
Timesheet Data Entry Form View
Status Reporting within Delta EPM Status Reports are presented on the Status Report Home Page within Delta EPM.
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Project Status Report Home Page – Combines Excel integration with SharePoint list data
Delta EPM is designed to allow for real time reporting.
What is meant by ‘real time reporting’?
In this case, it means that when a status changes of a data item that is being tracked that change is
immediately reflected within the Status Report area of Delta EPM.
Note - In this section, we have outlined the reports that are configured as standard. However, due
to the flexibility of Delta EPM and SharePoint as a whole many different reports and ways of
presenting data can be achieved with minimum effort.
Example of Real Time Reporting
The logs within Delta EPM are used as active management tools. In this example changes and
quality issues are captured and their associated information logged in the aligned list. When this
information changes (and when approved) this data is ‘instantly’ replicated into the overall project
status dashboard.
Data that is also ‘rolled up’ to the programme site is also instantly replicated to the Programme Site
and other dashboards.
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An example of real time reporting from project logs (Status Report Home Page)
Status Reporting – Reported Elements
The Status Report Home Page reports on many elements of project status:
Overall Project Status
Overall Project Status is can be represented in many ways depending upon the client’s requirement.
In the example below, this is taken direct from an Excel feed that is also used to update stakeholder
presentations.
Overall Project Status
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Project Objectives
Project Objectives are reported in terms of their completion or non-completion. This report is driven
via a data view of the Objectives List.
Project Objectives Status Report
Milestone Status
Project Milestone Status is driven from the Deliverables List and presented on the Status Report
Home Page as a data view with RAG status.
Milestone Status Report
Recent Highlight Reports
Written Highlight Reports are presented on the Status Report Home Page in reverse order with the
latest at the top of the list. These reports are generated from the Highlight Reporting tool.
Fig 37 – Recent Highlight Reports
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Top Risks
The Top 5 Risks in terms of their exposure are presented on the Status Report Home Page driven by
the project Risk Log.
Top Risks Report
Risk Exposure by Status and Phase
This report outlines in graphical terms how the risks are spread across the phases of the project in
terms of their levels of exposure.
Risk Exposure by Status and Phase
Top Issues
This report outlines the top 5 issues across the project based upon their impact. The report is driven
by the Issue Log and presented via a Chart Web Part.
Top Issues Report
Issue Impact by Status and Phase
This report presents graphical representation of the Issue impact status across the phases of the
project lifecycle. It is driven by a Chart Web Part view of the Issue Log.
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Issue Impact by Status and Phase
Recent Current Change Requests
This report outlines the most recent changes on the project. The report is driven by the project
Change Log.
Recent Current Change Requests
Recent Quality Issues
The most recent Quality Issues that have been raised are stated within the Status Report Home Page
and driven by the Quality Log.
Recent Quality Issues
Recent Decisions
The last five most recent decisions that have been logged within the Decisions Log are displayed with
the Status Report Home Page.
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Recent Decisions Report
Recent Exception Report
The most recent Exception Reports are summarised on the Status Report Home Page, driven from a
data view of the Exception Report tool.
Recent Exception Reports
Recent Lessons Learned
The most recent lessons learned during the project are summarised on the Status Report Home Page
driven from a data view of the Lessons Learned log.
Recent Lessons Learned
Resource Management within Delta EPM Organisations have many different ways of managing project resources. Delta EPM acknowledges
this fact and offers an environment to manage the project team resources but does not prescribe a
specific way of doing this.
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Use of Resource Management Tools and Delta EPM Design Scope
Delta EPM is not a Resource Management tool in its own right, it is designed to provide a
supplementary management tool but does not intend to replace the heavyweight resource
management tools that are on the market.
From our experience to date, most organisations tend not go down the formal route to
implementing these types of heavyweight tools for managing resources. Most organisations are still
challenged by the need to manage projects within matrix environments and allocating dedicated
resource to projects is often a major issue.
Other organisations use project management tools such as Primavera and Microsoft Project for the
management of resources but we also find those tools lack the flexibility needed to manage
resources effectively. In addition, they do not offer a full scope of management toolsets so
inevitably the tendency is to use Office and in particular Excel for resource and costing spreadsheets.
Taking all of the above into account we feel that Delta EPM is a supplementary tool and our clients
will have their own tried and tested way of managing resources.
Resources Area Home Page
The toolsets for managing resources within Delta EPM are designed to assist the PM and Project
Team.
Timesheets
The solution has a built-in Timesheet tool to allow project team members to submit their time
against the project. This is useful to assist with cost management and also to use a tool for
calculating project delivery performance i.e. when calculating ‘earned value’.
The Timesheet List is an excellent means of keeping track of both internal and external spend on
projects, especially when contractors are involved.
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Team Structure
Projects can be confusing in nature both from within and when looked at by the wider stakeholder
community. It is important for the project to issue an organisation structure so that any ambiguity
of role is alleviated and people generally know who is leading what area etc.
Delta EPM suggests that you upload your own diagram of the team structure similar to one detailed
below.
Example Project Team Structure Diagram
Secure Documents Area
The Resource Home Page offers a means for the PM to store and manage project resource based
documentation in a secure area using a locked down SharePoint Document Library. Security would
be limited to the PM and appointed Delta EPM users.
Health & Safety
Delta EPM encourages the documenting of incidents and accidents within the toolset. This is not
meant to be used instead of any existing organisation tools but is useful to keep a track record of any
health and safety issues encountered during the project lifecycle.
Recent Accident Reports are displayed on the Resource Home Page
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Holidays
Managing the holidays that people need and book within a project is often a major headache for
most PM’s. Delta EPM has a built in holiday calendar with approval workflow so that they can be
made aware, approve and then track all holidays occurring within the project lifecycle.
Project Team Members are required to submit holiday requests via the Delta EPM Holiday Calendar
Resource Links
The Resource Links are used for quick access to a number of common actions within this area and
many other areas.
Resource Links within the Resource Area
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Project Governance The development and organisation of project governance is a key requirement in any successful
project.
Delta EPM has a dedicated area focussed on project governance so that this crucial aspect is given
the appropriate exposure to the users of Delta EPM and key stakeholders of the project.
The project governance is developed though out the Idea and Initiation / Planning Phases of the
project.
Governance Area Home Page
The justification for having this as a separate and specific area of the solution is that often effective
project governance gets overlooked in the urge to deliver. This often leads to problems and then a
total lack of understanding of how the project is governed, controlled and how key decisions are
being made.
The focus of the governance area is to publish information for the wider stakeholder community to
have access to.
Delta EPM provides placeholders for the project sponsor and PM to upload their picture and tell the
stakeholders more about themselves.
A view of the Project Contacts List is available that only displays those contacts who are Project
Board Members. This is highly useful information for the all users of Delta EPM.
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Project Board Members Contact Details
Another key component of information is how the governance is structured. Often it remains
unclear as to how the project fits in with other projects and change programmes within an
organisation. Delta EPM offers the ability to publish this information on the Governance Area Home
Page.
Example Governance Structure
Governance Meetings are another key aspect of a project that need to be planned and well
communicated. The Calendar tool within Delta EPM offers the ability to plan and track these
meetings with details being posted on the Governance Area Home Page.
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Governance Meetings View
The major Governance Gates within Delta EPM are based upon the Authority to Proceed List that the
PM uses to plan and track the progress of approval for key decisions, normally the approval to
progress to the next phase of the project.
These Governance Gates are displayed within the Governance Area Home Page.
Governance Gates Data View
Recent Decisions and Governance Documents are also displayed on the Governance Area Home
Page so that a full picture of the governance status is available.
Recent Decisions and Governance Documents Dashboard
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Delta EPM Development and Modification The solution is built upon a core SharePoint platform.
As a result, it offers a high degree of flexibility in terms of what can be achieved using SharePoint
and how it can be modified to suit organisations specific requirements.
DMPC Limited offers a full design and development service in support of their client’s need to
enhance the basic Delta EPM implementation.
Design & Development Services The Design Service for Delta EPM is quoted for upon request and includes the delivery of the
following services:
Requirements
Our team of Business Analysts will support our clients to document the requirements for the
solution and produce a product catalogue of the required enhancements or changes to the Delta
EPM solution.
For example, a typical upgrade to the basic solution may be to provide a dashboard of projects and a
programme management environment.
Look and Feel Design
We have specialist graphic designers who can work with your team (or design agency) to review and
produce a new look and feel design for the basic Delta EPM solution.
Development
The development of the solution can be done in many different ways; however we suggest our
clients stay away from bespoke development to ease the challenges associated with future
upgrades. However, if their requirements can only be done used bespoke code we can provide this
service. Otherwise we would focus on the configuration development capabilities of the product to
achieve the required enhancements.
Deployment Service Our team of experienced deployment professionals can assist our clients to deploy the solution into
operational use within their organisation.
We charge for this effort on a time and materials basis (quoted for on request) with a typical set of
activities being delivered such as:
Deployment Strategy Planning – how to get the most benefit from Delta EPM within the
target organisation and what is the most appropriate implementation approach
Deployment of the Solution – we offer a service to deploy the solution. This may be limited
to the installation of the solution into the site collection solution gallery or it may include a
full SharePoint deployment with Delta EPM installed on top of that platform
Training – we can provide training based upon the following:
o eLearning Training Development
o Train the Trainer classroom based training
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o Project Manager classroom training
o End user classroom training
Note – we can provide a full assessment of the need for deployment support as required for each of
our clients. We provide this assessment free of charge at the time of purchasing the user licence.
Support Service We provide an optional Support Service based upon email support for any incidents raised.
Our Service Level Agreement is stated below:
Monday to Friday (normal office hours – 08:00 to 17:00hrs) with a 24 hour response time.
Support requests are raised directly on the Delta EPM Support Desk (SharePoint List) and tracked to
resolution using the tool by ourselves and our clients.
Support Scope The scope of standard support is limited to:
The configured aspects of Delta EPM i.e. the specifics of the solution (Note – we do not
support the functionality and capability of the core SharePoint platform)
Requests for technical assistance
Requests for user based advice regarding Delta EPM usage
Support also includes access to updates to the solution during the coverage of the support
agreement. For example, if a new SharePoint based Web Part is developed and added to the
solution and revised solution package version is sent to the client for their future adoption or
available for new sites created within SharePoint Online (Office 365) for Delta EPM Online clients.
Support Costs Basic Support costs are fixed at 25% of the solution package costs.
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License Costs for Delta EPM The following license costs apply as of 1st January 2016.
Delta EPM Online / Standard Licensing Model Delta EPM is sold as a solution package to our clients based upon the cost of the provision of the
solution, it has no annual license costs apart from support.
Delta EPM – Single Implementation
Delta EPM Purchase Fee (+ VAT)
Programme Solution Package (1 Programme Site License)
£595.00
Project Solution Package (2 Project Site License) £1495.00
Delta EPM Basic Implementation
Delta EPM Purchase Fee (+ VAT)
Programme Solution Package (3 Programme Site License)
£1495.00
Project Solution Package (Up to 9 Project Sites License)
£4495.00
Delta EPM Enterprise
Delta EPM Purchase Fee (+ VAT)
Programme Solution Package (Enterprise License – Unlimited Programme Sites)
£2495.00
Project Solution Package (Enterprise License – Unlimited Project Sites)
£7995.00