Archive for September, 2009
Microsoft Project Server 2007: Time Tracking Solutions
29 September 2009Following Project Conference 2009, it’s great to see the number of solutions that have been created to extend the out of the box capabilities of Microsoft Project Server 2007 (PS07) timesheet capabilities. All these solutions demonstrate the two key pillars of timesheets in Project Server 2007: scalability and extensibility. With its new queuing mechanism PS07 can easily handle thousands of timesheets per hour (see this whitepaper for scalability lab results: Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Performance Testing Lab – English). Additionally PS07 offers fully documented API (Project Server Interface timesheet web services are fully documented in the SDK) and hence enables rich extensibility as demonstrated below with this impressive list of solution built by Microsoft and partners.
To learn more about about the out of the box PS07 capabilities check this diagram: Timesheeting and Statusing Data Flow Diagram
| Timesheet Solution | Comment |
| Project Server 2007 Timesheet & Statusing Customization - Timesheet Tied-Mode v1.5 CodePlex solution does require C# skills, not supported by MSFT |
First version of tied-mode solution (initially published in November 07), this solutions automatically imports a timesheet into My Tasks. One user review states: “Great solution to integrate My Timesheets with My Tasks, providing one central input for users/resources to report all their working & non-working time, followed by an automatic generation of submitted task updates.” |
| Project Server 2007 Timesheet Tied-Mode Service and Event CodePlex solution does require C# skills, not supported by MSFT |
Second version of tied-mode solution published in January 08; the main difference with the version above is that its based on a Windows Services and timesheet imports are done asynchronously (done synchronously in the solution above) |
| TrackTimesheet SOLVIN, partner solution. TrackTimesheet Benefits
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Web part with great user interface and functional enhancements to the out of the capabilities, check out their documentation to learn about about all its features:  |
| Project Timesheet for Project Server 2007 Indigo Group, partner solution. |
Windows application that helps you manage your timesheets:  |
As disclosed at the Project Conference in Phoenix two weeks ago, Project Server 2010 offers additional enhancements to timesheets, tied-mode and it’s user interface.
If you know of any other partner solution around timesheet and statusing please send me an email and I will gladly update this blog post.
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Tips and Tricks: Create a report instantly with Project 2007
29 September 2009It’s the end of the month, and you need that project report right away. One handy trick is to copy and paste Project 2007 information into PowerPoint, Word, Visio, an e-mail message, or just about any piece of software that allows an image to be pasted.
1. If you have specific rows you want copied, select those. Or forget this step if you want to copy a picture of the entire project.
2. On the Standard Toolbar, click the Copy Toolbar button 
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The data is captured in a picture and copied to the Clipboard. From there, you can paste the picture into the other application.
And if you like this tip, wait until Project 2010! Copying and pasting takes on a whole new meaning. With Project 2010, column and data formatting is retained when you copy and pasting (without using the button) into an Office application–for an instant report.
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Innovation, Project Portfolio Management, and Fractal Organizations (Part 2)
28 September 2009So if you read my previous post, you’re probably wondering just what this has to do with Project Portfolio Management, ITIL and Fractal Organizations – or why I equate PPM and ITIL – and probably some of you are wondering just what ITIL is exactly. Well, today, let’s talk about Project Management… (More)
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A few things about Project 2010
28 September 2009
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We would like to hear from Microsoft partners who will be attending the SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas and can talk about Project 2010
25 September 2009
If you are attending and want to let us know, email dmccutch@microsoft.com
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Solid State Drive/SSD and SharePoint Server 2010, Project Server 2010 Demo Image Benchmark – Take 2
25 September 2009Following this post from last may: Solid State Drive/SSD and SharePoint Server, Project Server Demo Image Benchmark I have had the chance to test two more Solid State Drives to demo Project Server 2010/Server SharePoint Server 2010 at our Microsoft Project Conference event last week. Lots of you have been asking what hardware/software was used for the super fast keynote demos for instance. The answer a Dell Latitude E6400 Dual Core T9900 @ 3.06 GHz with 8GB, with Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V and most importantly a secondary hard drive: a 160GB Intel Solid State Drive (SSDSA2MH160G1GC).
Please find below results running on a Dell E6400 for the following two SSD:
- Intel Solid State Driver SSDSA2MH160G1GC - 160GB
- Samsung MMCRE28G5MXP-0VB -128GB
Key Takeaways:
- Not all Solid State Drives are created equal
but as usual budget might be a factor in your purchase decision (average read of 201 MB/sec for the Intel vs. 170 MB/sec for the Samsung, or 81 MB/sec for the older generation Samsung SSD). There are plenty of sites to help you shop around, see links at the bottom of this post + Bing Bing Bing. So if you buy a new laptop check the SSD that it comes with (specifically the brand and its performance) - The Intel SSD is significantly faster than the Samsung SSD
- Both generate significant performance gains to run demo images (Project Server/SharePoint Server 2010 demo image/VHD for instance), and hence are a must in my humble opinion if you are going to demo Project Server 2010/SharePoint Server 2010 extensively
- All SDD were mounted internally (replaced DVD bay with HD bay)
- If you are planning to have an external SSD ensure its connected to the laptop using eSATA so transfer speed is optimal
- Don’t invest in faster CPU or RAM first, spend money on a fast SSD first!
- If you are planning to purchase a new laptop buy the SSD separately so you know exactly what you are getting
- As a reference I have included below the performance benchmark of the Dell primary hard drive, a traditional “spindle” drive (Western Digital WD800BJKT, 80GB)
I have also tested the Samsung on a HP 8530W (2 Intel Extreme Q9300 @2.53 GHz (four core), 8GB + Windows Server 2008 R2) and found similar results, more CPU does help but does not improve performance as much as a faster SSD.
| Intel SSD | Samsung SSD |
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| Intel SSD | Samsung SSD |
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| Western Digital WD800BJKT (spindle) | Western Digital WD800BJKT (spindle) |
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Related links:
- The Ultimate Demo Machine: Get Ready to Demo Project and SharePoint Server 2010
- What’s SSD (from Sansung)?
- Datamarck Benchmarks
- Hard Drive Bench Marks
Popularity: unranked [?]
Microsoft Project 2010: Product Group Blog on the new Ribbon
25 September 2009If you haven’t been over to the Product Group blog for a while, now would be a good time. There is a new look and a new posting on the ribbon in Project 2010 - http://blogs.msdn.com/project/archive/2009/09/24/project-2010-introducing-the-ribbon.aspx
More to come – watch that space (or this one, and I’ll link).
I really think of all the Office application Project benefits most from the ribbon – there are plenty of gems just waiting to be found deep in the menu structures of 2007 and before – now they are just at your fingertips! Enjoy!
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Project 2010: Introducing the Ribbon
25 September 2009The Project 2010 user interface has been completely revamped this release based on the Office Fluent or “Ribbon” UI. The Office Fluent UI represents a dramatic departure from the overloaded menu and toolbar design model of previous Project releases. Project’s extensive capabilities are now organized into logical, easy to find groups that help you accomplish actions efficiently rather than choosing features.
There are several design elements that comprise the Office Fluent UI.
The Ribbon replaces menus and toolbars as the main location to find functionality organized to help you accomplish tasks. Here’s a brief breakdown of each of the tabs across the Project 2010 Ribbon.
The Task tab is where you access commands associated with tasks in addition to commands that are consistently on the first tab in other Office applications. You can think of the Task tab as Project’s home tab.
The Resource tab is where you access commands associated with resources.
The Project tab includes commands that affect the entire project.
The View tab is where switch the view you’re in, edit what data you see and how it is arranged, and setup combination views.
Additionally, each view has it’s own contextual tab, Format, that contains commands used to format that views contents. For example, the Gantt Chart contextual tab contains commands related to bar styles in addition more generic view formatting commands such as text styles and column settings while the Task Usage contextual tab contains commands for editing the details displayed in the view.
At the bottom of the application window is the new Status Bar. The right side of the Status Bar includes convenient controls for quickly adjusting the zoom level of the timescale and switching views.
The left side of the Status Bar includes status items related to what you’re working with. For example, you can see whether the view you are in is filtered and if you hover over the text you’ll even see which filter is applied. Additionally, some of the items are interactive, such as the New Tasks item. If you click it, you can set the mode for new tasks.
In the upper left corner of the application window is the Quick Access Toolbar, into which you can add the commands you use most frequently, eliminating the need to switch to the Ribbon tab on which they are located while creating diagrams.
Finally, we have re-vamped the right-click menus and added minitoolbars. Minitoolbars are just what they sound like and they show up when you right-click any item. Pictured here are the task and resource right-click menus and minitoolbars.
Additionally, along with the rest of Office, Project’s file menu has been re-vamped to the Backstage View. We’ll post about what is unique to Project’s in the future but to find out more about it in general check out the the Office 2010 Engineering post on it – I’ve linked to the first post but there are a number of post about it on that blog.
Note: The images are from a fairly recent build so if you are on Technical Preview, your ribbon will look a bit different.
Popularity: unranked [?]
EPM Implementations as an Exercise in Metaplanning
24 September 2009For years, the PMI has teased me with mentions of a Schedule Management Plan in the PMBOK. It obviously existed, and even was listed as an input to one of the Time Management processes, but it never got called out as its own separate artifact with its own planning process. Obviously, this implie… (More)
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Project Conference 2009 – Day Two, September 16
24 September 2009
=”font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;”>BY: Collin Quiring
Day Two of the Microsoft Project Conference was the great unveiling of Project and Project Server 2010. It was amazing to look around the audience and see how we were so excited to get an overview of some software. However, as Microsoft pointed out repeatedly, this is the most significant upgrade to Project in a decade. I will have a separate blog that lists some of the new features and my thoughts.
During the sessions during day two, the emphasis was on the 2010 version of Project and Project Server. The hands-on-labs included Project 2010 and were well attended.
I was amused at how much applause was given during the keynote and the presentations. While the tool is great and there are lots of wonderful new features and abilities it was just fun to see how many times a feature (or lack thereof – or software modification) elicited applause.
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