Revision Control and Microsoft Project
History and Practices
Mark ReadPresident, Sequence Advisors
President, MPUG-SFBAC
Disclaimer
This is not a hands on, not a tutorialThis does not have material non-public
information, simply observations over a few decades
Many thanks to Technet and all our clients who teach us every day
Other titles considered: A random walk down Project Server street, and Zen and the Art of Project Server Architecture
Agenda
What do Project 14 and Project 4 have in common?
Some Version HistoryArchitecture OrientationThe ChallengeTool ConsiderationsSnapshots and other viewsSupporting ProcessesWhat Project 15 could help with
What do Project 14 and Project 4 have in common?
(Project 14 is now Microsoft Office Project 2010)
…Neither contain revision control as is commonly thought of in the document or code control worlds
Some Version History
1984 Project debuts on DOS1985 Microsoft buys Project1990 Version 1 for Windows1999 Project Central, v1 of collaboration platform2001 Microsoft buys E-Labor, rebrands Project
Server2003 Project Server 2002/2003 based in SharePoint2005 Microsoft buys UMT Portfolio Server product2007 Project Server 2007 introduces queue/cache2010 Introduces ribbon, integration of Portfolio
Server?
Computing Context
Transition from DOS to Windows640K memoryGraphical User InterfaceRelational DatabasesObject Oriented vs. Procedural ProgrammingXMLCollaboration64 bit – Multi-CoreOh yeah… and the Internet
Hmmmm….
In testing of recursive insertion, virtually all significant parameters scaled linearly. The limiting factor on depth is memory usage — for example, at 16 levels, the large project, which contained approximately 10,000 tasks, approached 32-bit virtual memory limits. Even in this example, however, save operations executed very quickly. Other operations, such as closing and then reopening the master project, inserting new layers, and forcing recalculation, were significantly more time-consuming. A 64-bit server platform would significantly increase the number of projects that you could insert, but projects that would require such depth are not common.
Project Server 2010 will be 64-bit ONLY and Windows Server 2008 ONLY
Word Expectations
Some Common Definitions
Version Control (SHAREPOINT): Whole file Check In Check Out, Timestamps, Last Modified By
Track Changes (WORD): Calling out changes within a document
Archives (PROJECT SERVER): Whole file, time stamps, individual restore
Baselines (PROJECT): Snapshot of 5 fields: Cost, Duration, Work, Start and Finish
What are your thoughts on the matter?Do your clients understand the gaps between
system approaches?Are you happy with your ability to control the
past?What is the accuracy of your forecasts?Is there a connection between last quarter and
this one?Why do you care about project performance?Can you demonstrate where you’ve succeeded?
Process Alignment with Time and Data
Everyone may be working off of the same sheet of music, but they all want to see it from their own perspective
Project Manager
Authors Plan
Resource Managers
Assign Resources
Team Members Update
Timesheets
Program Managers
Review Results
Executives Review Reports
Time
Data
Com
ple
xit
y
Priorities, Focus and Value
• Baselines are useful because they are focused on data, and that data are your project values
• Revision control would be nice, but its not here yet
• Paying attention to features without value is futile
Phase Gate and Baseline AlignmentBaseline Policies and Common definitions can
help to tie metrics togetherWhat triggers your baseline?
Absolute Date? (Quarters?)Phase Gate?
You can compare apples to oranges, you just need a broader vocabulary.
Baselines Comparisons
Task UID
Cost Duration Work Start Finish Timestamp
Task UID
Baseline Cost
Baseline Duration
Baseline Work
Baseline Start
Baseline Finish
Timestamp
Task UID
Baseline1 Cost
Baseline1 Duration
Baseline1 Work
Baseline1 Start
Baseline1 Finish
Timestamp
Task UID
Baseline2 Cost
Baseline2 Duration
Baseline2 Work
Baseline2 Start
Baseline2 Finish
Timestamp
Task UID
Baseline3 Cost
Baseline3 Duration
Baseline3 Work
Baseline3 Start
Baseline3 Finish
Timestamp
Have you ever played Concentration?
Time
Resources and skills
Cost and budget
Tasks and phases
Projects and portfolios
Entities
Relationships and Definitions Really Matter
But preserving these through process and dataflow?
Time
Resources and roles
Cost and actuals
Tasks and milestones
Projects and scope
Key Architecture Context
Data Flow
I got an error message, what does it mean?
Do I have to redo my work?
What does the queue say?
What is the number supposed to be?
Overview Of MS Project 2007 Queue
State Next Possible State
Getting Queued • Waiting to be Processed• Cancelled
Waiting to be Processed
• Processing • Cancelled • Blocked • Skipped for optimization
Processing • Success • Failed and Not Blocking
Correlation • Failed and Blocking
Correlation • Cancelled
Success • End
Blocked • Processing • Cancelled
Failed and Not Blocking Correlation
• End
Failed and Blocking Correlation
• Cancelled • Processing
Skipped for Optimization
• Blocked (due to a failed job)
• Cancelled • Success• Failed and Not Blocking
Correlation• Failed and Blocking
Correlation• Processing
Cancelled • End
Archive Database
Five (or more) versions with individual items for restore
Look at the order of the timestamps and dates:
Multiple points of entry to the system
Timesheet Queue
PSI
Project Professional
GuidelinesObject Number Notes
Resources per farm 40,000 This is the tested limit: NOT BIG ENOUGH FOR ALL MICROSOFT EMPLOYEES
Baselines per project 7 recommended11 maximum*
Testing indicated performance degradation for certain operations on large project files when more than seven baselines were generated. For more information, see "The effect of baselines on performance" earlier in this
article. NOT MONTHLY
Depth of inserted projects (recursive)
16 Performance degradation at this level is significant. UNREADABLE IN A PIVOT TABLE
Breadth of inserted projects (non-recursive)
20 Performance degradation at this level is significant. CONSOLIDATE PRODUCT LINES INTO PRODUCT FAMILIES
Tasks per project 5,000 This is the tested limit. NOT ENOUGH FOR EVERY MINUTE OF A WEEK
Task length in months 300 The amount of time for a project to publish is dependent on task length when work contours are applied to tasks. This impact can be significant, especially if EPM Solution is used to create projects that span several years.
This is the tested limit. NOTHING PAST 2035… BTW, DEC 31 2049 IS THE END OF TIME
Assignments per task 16,000 This is the tested limit. Although you can add more than 16,000 assignments per task, it took over seven
seconds to add an assignment to a task that already contained 16,000 assignments. CHARACTER AND DISPLAY LIMITS, NOT TO MENTION SCHEDULING ISSUES
Local custom formula fields 10-30 The number of local custom formula fields allowed per task depends on the type of custom field. The following list shows the types of custom fields and their limits:
REMEMBER 640K?Enterprise custom formula fields per server
32,000 This is a theoretical limit, and the limit applies to each entity type to which you can apply a field. However, performance testing has not been conducted with more than approximately 1,000 enterprise custom fields.
Team Builder resource limits 10,000 resources The Team Builder dialog box takes less than five seconds to display even when 10,000 resources are present on the server. Although 10,000 resources is the tested limit, Team Builder can be used with more resources if the subsequent increase in time required for the dialog box to appear is acceptable.
The Project Management ChallengeFocus on hard dollar
savingsOptimize schedule to save
timeOrganize managers to act
on task completion and gap reduction
Preempt hill and valley staffing
EPM
Supporting Processes
Ease of Use
Coordination
Driving Expectatio
nsExec
Resource Mgrs
Team Team
PMO
PM
Tool Considerations
Push or Pull?Rows and
Columns or Pivot on Dimensions?
Schedule ValidityProcess Validity
Data or Graphic?Color?
Resource ValidityCost Validity
More Tool Considerations
Project ProfessionalCubes on the client and Pivot diagramsGantt Charts
Project Web AccessRows and Columns, Pivot Tables
SharePoint WebPartsSQL Reporting ServicesPerformancePoint Server / Business Data
CatalogsOthers?
Audiences
PMs themselves: What do they need to see and correct issues with their plans?
Resource Managers: How can they see overallocation and priorities?
Program Managers: 1st level summarizationExecutives: 2nd level summarization and pictures
“If it’s not in color I won’t read it, and if its not a picture, I won’t understand it”
Milestones Codes, with links,
Milestones Comparison
Mind the Gaps
Work by Work Type
Snapshots
Can subscriptions drive behavior?
Audience Fit
EPM Solution
Project on SharePoint
Stand Alone ProjectEnterpris
e
Small Teams
Single User
What could Project 15 help with?
Tracking Changes within a Project file to help show structural changes over time
Labeling of baselines and versionsMultiple scheduling methodologies
Critical ChainEvent Management
Easier cross entity joinsWorkflow integrationDeeper search integration
Conclusion
Large datasets with multiple transformation steps are fragile and require the precise control of the Microsoft EPM solution
Large projects with multiple transformation needs are stubborn and require the leadership of management
Engaging with experienced partners is a recommended best practice
The value of competent execution is under appreciated!
Who are Sequence Advisors?
• MS Certified Professionals
• MCSEs• Project
Facilitation
• Over 50 MS EPM implementations
• Custom development
• Process Architecture
• Methodology agnostic
• Flexible service model
• Hosting
CONTACT: Mark Readmark@sequenceadvisors
.com510 540-7875 (o)510 406-4645 (c)
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