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At the recent PMI Global Congress event in Seattle, whereMicrosoft was the official sponsor, Microsoft announcedthe launch of the Microsoft Office Project 2007 User

Certification Program to advance the Project ManagementProfession. This credential and curriculum program, has beendesigned to establish a high performance level for applicationand tool competencies. Additionally, the program will fully alignand complement PMI’s PMBOK™ Guide. Microsoft believes thatthis initiative will enable its customers, most of whom arealready PMP certified, to build specific Microsoft Office Project2007 competencies to improve project outcomes when buildingsolutions on its platform. Speaking on this occasion, MicrosoftLearning General Manager Lutz Ziob said, “Microsoft iscommitted to advancing the project management profession. Thisis especially important as project management evolves from adesktop application to an increasingly strategic enterprise levelbusiness solution. For end users, the new certifications will helpthem gain measurable skills and industry recognized credentialsto help advance their careers. For employers, the credentials willhelp identify and assign qualified employees to improve projectmanagement results.”

MPA recently had the opportunity to interview Daniel Queva,Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Project shared his thoughtsand opinions on Microsoft’s relationship with PMI as well as this

announcement. Additionally, he provided some insight on howall of these decisions will serve to benefit the ProjectManagement Profession as a whole.

MPA: Why is cooperation between Microsoft and PMI of value?

Daniel: Thanks to the growth of global training organizationsand the continued development of industry standards, customersand PM practitioners are increasingly educated and aware of thepotential value and benefits that Enterprise Project Managementoffers. This has now become a driving force behind the evolutionof the project management practice from a desktop application toa highly integrated business solution, that serves a more strategicrole in the success of an organization. Supporting these morecomplex solutions and sophisticated customer needs, has been amajor objective in the design of our next release of the Projectand Portfolio Management offerings. But, to make sure that ourcustomers can get the most benefit from our technology, werecognize that standards for application and tools-basedcompetencies are needed, which is where PMI with its PMBOKbased methodologies guide come in. The end-user certificationprogram announced at this event, has been designed to helpadvance the proficiency and use of the “tools of the profession”as they are more generally referenced in the PMI’s PMBOKframework.

MPA: Why is Microsoft investing in the advancement of theproject management profession?

Daniel: Very simply, to meet our own highly demanding needs,as well as those of our customers. We are a major user of Projectmanagement practices and continue to push boundaries tomake it better and easier for use, not only by us, but also by ourcustomers. As we invest in developing new versions of ourMicrosoft Project products, we recognize the value of continuedadvancement of this profession as a major factor determiningour future success. We believe we need to satisfy the needs ofevery member in the project management ecosystem – thecustomer organization, the integrator, the training vendor or anISV. The common denominator in all of these organizations, isthe individuals that comprise them, and the level of competencyand professionalism that they can deliver.

MPA sponsored by: Continued on page three

Microsoft Launches New Microsoft Office Project 2007 CertificationProgram to Help Advance Project Management Profession

In This Issue:

1 Microsoft Launches Project 2007 Certification4 Collaboration –The Often Missing Link in

Successful Project Management5 Resource Over-Allocation – Visual Root Cause

Analysis; End Cascading Failure7 IT Roadmaps: How Project Management Techniques

and Tools Shed Light on the Value of IT Solutions10 Calculating Project Profit: Display Selling Price

and Costs for Your Projects13 Rollup…Rollup Milestone Dates to the

Project Center

Volume 10, Issue 4 - 2006

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“Microsoft recognizes MPA as the leading industryassociation helping project managers and organizationsget the maximum value out of Microsoft Office Project.With its different avenues to interact and network andresources on Microsoft Office Project, MPA is playing apivotal role in helping project managers and organizationslearn from each other and maximize the success of theirprojects using Project. We strongly believe that anyindividual managing projects would benefit immenselyfrom being part of this association.”

Michael Angiulo, General ManagerMicrosoft® Office Project, Microsoft Corporation

t seems hard to believe that weare wrapping up 2006. So muchhas transpired for MPA and the

project management community in thisvery exciting year!

January kicked off the Microsoft ProjectConference and set the tone for theanticipation and excitement of the release of“P12” or Microsoft Office Project 2007. As the expectations andenthusiasm rose throughout the year, the time finally arrived. Theproduct debut was on the horizon as we went to print.

October was the PMI North American Congress where moreexciting news, the announcement of a Microsoft certificationprogram was released. MPA, as well as other critical partners,will be an important component to the success of this newcredential. It promises to be a valuable and significant additionto the options available to Project professionals and to furtheringthe impact of the project managers role.

Throughout the year, MPA also accomplished quite a bit of“behind the scenes” work. We did a lot of listening andreconfiguring to address our growth needs. Some keyaccomplishments include: the completion of our marketresearch project (so well supported by you, our membershipbase), launching several new chapters including Mexico City,Mexico, and two in Missouri, Kansas City, and St. Louis, andworking even more closely with our Microsoft sponsor tobecome a more integral part of the Project ecosystem.

All of these efforts are directed at a single goal. MPA is dedicatedto being the preeminent resource for the community of MicrosoftProject specialists. We are working to create an organization betterpositioned to support the needs of our members: A strongerinfrastructure, a broader range of information, an ability to reachinto our resources and provide unique perspective andinformation, not available anywhere else.

This is the directive for MPA. Our success is built on you – yourcommitment, your experience and your willingness to share thisinformation with colleagues around the globe. Without yourinput, we would not be here. So as we end this year, it is withheartfelt appreciation that we take a moment to thank you forletting us succeed and continuing to provide you with theresources that create this dynamic community of Projectpractitioners.

Wishing you continued health, wealth and happiness,

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

From the EditorThe Official Industry Association forMicrosoft® Office Project

Email: info@mympa.orgWeb: www.mympa.org

MPA Headquarters

3923 Ranchero Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108 (U.S.A.)

Phone: 734.741.0841 Fax: 734.741.1343

MPA Staff

Chief Executive Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christine Buonocore

VP, Sales and Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Beth A. Swartz

VP, Strategic Alliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tim Cermak

VP, Systems & Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kirk Vantine

The Project Network Newsletter

Editorial content: Articles, case studies, and tips are welcome! Please emailnewsletter@mympa.org. Entries may be edited for clarity and length.

Advertising: Advertising is open to any authorized Microsoft Office ProjectConsultant or Service Provider. For a Media Kit, email advertise@mympa.org.

The Project Network is a quarterly publication dedicated to inform themembership of MPA. The information published herein is believed to be reliable;however, the editor and other individuals associated with this periodical assumeno responsibility for inaccuracies or omissions. Publication of advertisements inthis newsletter does not necessarily constitute an endorsement by MPA. Signedcolumns are the opinions of their writers and not necessarily the opinion of thepublishers.

© Copyright 2006 MPA. All rights reserved.

MPA Mission Statement

MPA is dedicated to fostering a dynamicprofessional association that serves as the

preeminent resource for Microsoft Office Project toa worldwide member community.

Beth A. Swartz

“I

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Daniel: Three curriculums and credentials will be released in succession, starting in early 2007. A fourth curriculum and credential is planned for early 2008 to focus on portfolio management.

Project 2007 - Continued from page one Daniel: While PMI did not participate directly in the design ordevelopment of Microsoft’s program, its’ PMBOK Guide servesas the foundational framework of our program. We’ve made aconcerted effort in the design of this curriculum to maintainconsistency with the role based competencies and the standardtaxonomy established by the PMBOK Guide.

MPA: What type of process did Microsoft use to ensure thatits curriculum fits with the needs of customer organizations,PM practitioners and global training organizations?

Daniel: Microsoft has a well established process that depends ona carefully composed and independent group of subject matterexperts that represent a cross-section of leading training servicesvendors, internal and external PM practitioners, and customers.

Microsoft’s decision to launch end-user certification curriculumhas been very well received by customers, partners and traininginstitutions, MPA will continue to be an integral part of thecertification program as it moves forward. Eric Verzuh, CEOVersatile, conveys the following sentiment in support of thisinitiative: “Microsoft has long been a leader in the field of projectmanagement: their technology has been crucial in the advancementof the profession over the past 15 years. These new Microsoft Projectcertifications will continue to advance the profession by providing awidely recognized standard for tool proficiency. This certification isgood news for project managers and the organizations that employthem. As a training provider, Versatile is looking forward to helpingour customers integrate this standard as another practicalbenchmark for project management competency.”

MPA: Does Microsoft’s credential program overlap with orreplace the PMP?

Daniel: No. Microsoft’s program is focused on the correct andconsistent application of technology. It is designed to extend andadd greater value to the PMP credential and not to replace it.

MPA: How will Microsoft make the curriculums and testingprogram available?

Daniel: Microsoft will market the program through its globalCPLS channel. This channel offers easy and affordable access tocurriculums and certification testing to customers throughoutthe world.

MPA: What role did PMI have in the development ofMicrosoft’s program?

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Iam often approached by clients who have implemented aproject management toolset wondering why their company hasnot improved financially, as a result. Usually, the project tools,

coupled with a robust Project Management (PM) methodologyresults in a repeatable process and improved performance ofproject financials, (on time, on budget), with resources managedmore effectively. However, the executives comment that althoughthe projects are better controlled, the overall team dynamics andinformation sharing is still not happening. To better identify thesituation, I will ask the following questions:

• What have you done to change the culture so that these PMinitiatives are realized?

• How has the communications layer within your organizationshifted since implementation of the PM toolset?

Usually, the responses are “deer in the headlights” stares. Thattells me that I am able to answer on the clients’ behalf with twowords - Collaboration Paralysis.

Projects are managed and executed by people. People are atremendous variable and subjective thoughts are introducedthroughout the lifecycle of projects. A process must be followed,and the more stringent the process, the higher the level ofcultural resistance that forms in the organization. In the late 80’sand early 90’s, many organizations attempted to foster“knowledge management,” by adding repositories fordocuments and images. The thought process was to allowpersons to share information more readily by creating a centrallocation. This partially succeeded at many organizations.Everyone learned where to go to find the documents, yet truesharing and collaborating still did not happen

It turns out that cultural collaboration is the hardest concept to implement in organizations. True team dynamics requireTrust, Understanding, Delegation and Authority as primarytenets. Team leadership concepts can be taught, but teamleadership is earned, not awarded. When a team member isfrustrated, their productivity goes down. And as we assigndeadlines to the tasks, the pressure can also influence anindividual’s ability to share effectively.

For example - When you go to the kitchen area for a cup ofcoffee, a casual hello to a co-worker and a social interaction iscommon, asking about family, activities, plans, etc. However,sometimes the conversation can be about a work issue as well. It is this social networking ability that organizations fail to consider.

In simple terms, fostering collaboration includes encouragingmembers to share information and work proactively together.

Pcubed Perspective

Collaboration –The Often Missing Link in Successful Project ManagementKen Winell, Senior Vice President, Pcubed, BSEE, MSEE (MPA Member, New York City)

Consumer technologies addressing collaboration include suchsites as MySpace and Yahoo360, etc. You become added as a“friend” and then have visibility into the blogs/pictures andmusic of a person or group. In the corporate environment,Portals such as Microsoft Sharepoint are the equivalent.

In project management, Tasks, Issues and Risks are managedand identified, corollary documents are added to a repository,and team members are notified and alerted. What collaborationis encouraged? Each person is held accountable to complete orperform task assignments, and we certainly can put controls inplace to track progress. Yet we have no measurement on howwell the individual understands their tasks, nor how well thatperson communicates the task to others. Four basic ingredientsare mandatory for collaboration:

1. Easy to Create - Content is created, users need to be able todo this quickly and with ease.

2. Easy to Find - Reinventing the wheel? It is likely thatsomewhere, somebody has done something like this before.

3. Easy to Share - Having information and a way todisseminate it effectively, without having to go one-to-one.

4. Easy to Consume - Once having the information, being ableto act on it.

To show the importance of collaboration, we do not need tolook any further than how Microsoft has changed its core Projectproduct over the past few years, by incorporating morecollaborative features. In the upcoming Project Server 2007version, the use of Sharepoint as the front end into Project webaccess, has never been more tightly integrated. Microsoftrecognizes the need to provide a three-dimensional view of aProject. It is not just the tasks/issues and milestones, but theaffiliated documents, the team members and artifacts, as well asthe knowledge capture, that can be retrieved by both projectteam members and managers.

All too often, Project Management teams forget the basic layer ofcommunications. We think that managing to the tasks, budgetsand risks of a project, and effectively assigning resources (andcoming in under budget, on time, etc.) is a job well done. Theorganization that fosters collaboration also learns from eachproject, sharing the information in a non-intrusive way.Microsoft Sharepoint and other tools allow this to occurseamlessly. The first step is to embrace collaborative conceptsand encourage teams to work differently. Exchanginginformation should be rewarded and recognized. Think of it asSocial Networking through the organization - if you are not myfriend, you should be.

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Introduction – Move Your Career Forward in 15 Minutes

Would you like the “Easy Button” for Microsoft OfficeProject (MSP), specifically for handling resource over-allocation? Would you like to remove the fear of

cascading failure by knowing where to start? Want to learn thesetup to become expert at visual pattern root cause analysis?

This article will show you how to use MSP to do this and startin the right place: Visually differentiate and validate systemicroot problems (vs. cascading symptoms) by eliminating the pooranalysis which leads to starting in the wrong place.

Previously unpublished, vetted in the Enterprise version of theOfficial Microsoft Canada Project / Visio Boot Camp, this tip hasworked without fail for 10 years, answering the question ofwhere to start to resolve resource over-allocation.

We hope you add this to your toolkit as a professional lookingto build more leadership skills, moving your career forward.

Problem Scenario – Over-allocation Nightmare

You have walked into a resource, over-allocated MicrosoftProject file. Your client is upset, and needs convincing that your skills will solve the problem. Further, they need to understand how you will manage this, as previous attempts were based on poor analysis, and resulted in bad startsand chasing symptoms that cascaded into more problems. How do you chase down and solve the root problems? You may or may not have Project Server available and you need toshow results in 15 minutes.

Solution Description – Features and Requirements

How about a holistic, visual pattern analysis approach with anundefeated track record that is not hard if you keep an openmind, and are prepared to practice using “both hands”.

• Take 15 steps in 15 minutes to get you to the point whereyou “get it”.

• See the pattern by combining “Flip Book” techniques withthe split window pane (master/slave) feature.TV is amodern version of “Flip Book” technology.

Let’s do this one step at a time, organized by three logical phases: I) Setup, II) Pattern Analysis, and III) Recommendation.

PHASE I – Set Up (2 minutes)

Let’s start.My screen shots are from the Microsoft SolutionsFramework application development plan template that comeswith MSP 2003.

Continued on page six

The 15 Minute Project Manager Series

Resource Over-Allocation – Visual Root Cause Analysis; End Cascading FailureDave D’Silva, President, Intelligent Market Solutions Group Inc., PMP (MPA President, Greater Toronto Chapter)

By mouse wheeling (scrolling) the bottom pane, it becomes clearwhere the over-allocation is for a given individual.

Step 1: View Resource Sheet.6 of 8 or 75% of resources are overallocated.

Step 3: View Zoom Entire Project

PHASE II – Pattern Analysis (10 minutes)

Here’s where it gets more interesting and requires practice. Theclient value may not be obvious at first glance.

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Resource Over-Allocation – Visual Root Cause Analysis; End Cascading Failure - Continued from page five

Repeat 9 and 10 quickly. Spend the time to see the overlapping pattern, similar to watching a 3-D movie with thosecorny glasses.

Make sure the screen (right-hand quadrant) flashes by quicklyenough for you to see the pattern. To add flair, point them outon the screen with your other hand, in a forensic manner (thinkCSI, the TV show).

Soon your eyes will get used to this, and you will see the redoverlapping pattern based on flipping through each over-allocation. This will yield insight into the starting point of theroot problem due to your innate ability to see patterns like a flip-book! (Hint look for the biggest contiguous blocks of red as you“flip” through.)

TOP DOWN.BOTTOM UP.

So far, we have focusedon the top pane. Now dothe same thing whilelooking at the bottompane (slave). Notice howdifferent Tasks come up?This is because thebottom window isdependent on what isbeing shown in the toppane (master).

As you can see, the tallest “over-allocation” has a set of tasks thatcontribute to the over-allocation and they have multipleresources. Therefore, solving that problem for the singleresource, is expected to solve the problem for many resources.

PHASE III – Recommendation (3 minutes for the first iteration)

Once you have completed your visual pattern analysis in the top window pane, it is time to look at the bottom window pane.You identified specific overlapping “clumps of red” in the toppane. Now, literally look at the tasks below the “red” in thebottom pane.

Here is the test of root problem vs. symptom:Test it.Try solvingthe problem (on a copy of the file) for a single resource andrepeat Phase II. You will likely find that it solved the problem forthe other resources as well, thereby reducing the overall over-allocation. If not, try a different set of overlapping “red” as astarting point. Typically, I find the key starting point on my firstor second try, (keeping in mind I’ve done this may times).

Give it a chance, as you’ll quickly get a feel for which patternssignal root problem.

Continued on page nine

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How do you spend your money?

Information Technology (IT) is a perplexing subject for manyfolks in business. This makes charting a course for theevolution of their IT infrastructure precarious. They are

bombarded by ads from solution vendors promising betterbusiness operations through IT, yet the most tangible facet of ITsolutions from a typical business perspective is the expense.Software licenses, hardware, consultant fees, and support servicesare a lot easier to quantify than “better business operations”. Oneof the main reasons that these features are easier to quantify, is thatsolution vendors like to get paid. They want to make it as easy aspossible for this transaction to take place. How could we addressthe flipside of the investment equation and make it easy toquantify “better business operations”?

Project managers often find themselves quantifying figures forstakeholders. How long will it take to complete the project? Howmuch will it cost? How many people do you need? These are verysimilar to the questions asked by stakeholders in the overalloperation of the business. How long does it take us to process anorder? How much does our product or our services cost? How manypeople do we need to hire or let go? Perhaps there is something tobe gained from a study of fundamental project managementprinciples such as labor costs = labor effort x labor rate.

If you would like to quantify “better business operations”, startby quantifying what it takes to run your business today. Everybusiness owner knows how much it costs to run their business.A simple glance at the general ledger provides this information.There is a huge logic gap, however, from being able to track youroperational expenses and being able to understand how asoftware system could reduce these expenses. In order to closethis logic gap, we need a way to model our current operations ina way that goes beyond revealing how much we are spendingand instead describes how we are spending our money. This isthe information that unlocks the secret to maximizing the valueof the IT solutions. Software is codified how. You want to makesure that the capabilities embedded in your software actuallyimprove the efficiency of your spending rather than increase therate of your spending.

Processes and Projects

PMI police notwithstanding, projects are simply processmodels…a special class of process models true, but processmodels nonetheless. They contain a set of tasks of finite durationarranged in a logical sequence. In order to track the cost ofexecuting a project, resources with pre-defined labor rates areassigned to tasks. The time spent by each resource multiplied bytheir respective labor rates results in an estimate of the cost forcompleting each task. A rollup of the costs for each task resultsin the total labor costs for the project.

Early in my career, I used project management software(MacProject by Claris) to model processes. I needed a simple

IT Roadmaps: How Project Management Techniques and ToolsShed Light on the Value of IT SolutionsPatrick Colbeck, Founder, Perspective Shifts, LLC (MPA Member, Southeast Michigan)

approach to model the event-based consumption of oxygen andnitrogen aboard the International Space Station. Projectmanagement software tracked all of the information that Ineeded to analyze the process. Oxygen and nitrogen werematerials that were consumed at a pre-determined rate for theduration of an event in proportion to resource load (e.g. numberof crew members). Times change and so did my projectmanagement tool of choice. Microsoft Project provides the samecapabilities to model processes as my previous tool.

The salient point of this flashback is that even if you don’t useMicrosoft Project to model your business processes, you canapply the same project management principles codified inProject to define the how of your business operations andtranslate this understanding into a practical model of yourbusiness performance. Processes feature tasks for whichdurations can be estimated or tracked. Resources and theirrespective labor rates can be assigned to these tasks and result inthe calculation of labor costs. Instead of modeling theperformance of your project, you are modeling the performanceof one or more segments of your business.

Moving the Needle

So, how could we apply this insight towards connectingbusiness performance with IT solutions? First, we need torecognize that what we are really searching for is a business case.We would like to demonstrate that our investment of time andmoney in the deployment of an IT solution will be outweighedby the improvements to our operations that we realize from thisdeployment. Quantifying the project costs is a bread and butteractivity for most project managers. The key to quantifying theimprovements is to understand what you are changing frombefore you change to something else. Remarkably, this step isoften overlooked. There can be many reasons for this, but oneof the most common is that the diligence associated with thisstep is often overshadowed by the impulse-based appeal of theshiny object IT solution that you are pursuing.

What does it take to understand what we are changing from?One needs performance models for the segments of yourbusiness that will be impacted by the solution. What are these“segments” in your business? If your business is a ProfessionalServices Firm, it might look something like the following figure.

Figure 1: Business Functions

Continued on page eight

Each of the red cells inthis figure correspondsto changes to processperformance driversthat would result fromthe adoption of one ormore IT solutions. Bymaking these changesin context of yourcurrent operations,

you provide your business with very valuable information. Youprovide decision makers with a defendable reference for yourbusiness case assertions. Even without taking into account thetime value of money with methods such as Net Present Valueanalysis, you have enough information to make a decision as towhether or not to fund a project. Additionally, you provide thepersonnel impacted by the solution with a tangible picture of howthe solution deployed by the project will change the way they dobusiness. Effective expectation management is a key enabler forproject success.

Roadmaps

Often, the gap between your current and target state cannot beclosed with a single project. This is where the concept of an ITRoadmap comes in handy. IT Roadmaps will help you to knittogether your “current state” models, “target state” models, andthe projects that bridge these gaps into a single, cohesive,strategic plan. Unlike most qualitative, platitude-ridden strategicplans, the status of this plan can be readily tracked. Ifcircumstances change, it is also possible to change course withan understanding of the impacts that this course correction willhave on your business operations. One way of representing thisIT Roadmap is shown below:

Microsoft Office ProjectServer provides aconvenient mechanismfor capturing your ITRoadmap. The ability to manage multipleprojects, model thecosts of executing yourbusiness processes, andmanage dependencies

between your projects and processes in a centralized database,promise to provide your organization with a powerful decision support tool.

It all comes down to value. If an organization is going to makesignificant investments in IT solutions, wouldn’t it be prudent tounderstand how these solutions impact the day-to-day operationsof your business before they are operational? The more complexyour operations, the more you will need to lean on some kind ofsystematic analysis framework to help you make sense of them.The next time you are faced with this challenge, throw away thekeyword “project” in MS Project and see how this software lendsitself to “process” management insights. Even if you don’t use it tomodel your processes, you’ll never again look at the “cost of doingbusiness” in quite the same way.

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Figure 5: IT Roadmap

Figure 4: Realistic Targets

IT Roadmaps - Continued from page seven

is one example of how this performance might be tracked using Excel.

This information provides you with a tangible understanding ofthe “current state” of your business operations. Thisunderstanding provides significantly more insight into whatmakes your business tick than a line item in the general ledger.

Now…let’s take a hard look at the tasks in the model of ourcurrent processes. Which tasks offer the greatest potential forperformance improvements with the new solution? Can wespeed up a task? How about eliminating a task? What wouldhappen if you could improve the quality of a task so that the costof corrective actions would not be incurred? Rather than makinga management decree that operating expenses need to bedecreased by 10%, you now have the insight necessary to make a pretty good guess at how you might reduce expenses by 10% or simply set a realistic target for these expenses (seefigure 4 ).

The core operations are divided into functions. Depending uponthe size of your organization, one resource may perform allfunctions (i.e. sole proprietor) or each function is performed bymany specialized resources (i.e. mid to large companies). Your“business model” could be represented as the superset of theprocess models for each of your business functions. Forinstance, the sales function for a business might be representedby the following process model.

Figure 2: Process Model

Microsoft Project users might recognize a few similaritiesbetween this Visio diagram and the standard Network Diagramview within Project. The similarities are no accident. Theyunderscore my earlier assertion that projects are process models.

The current performance of your business can be ascertained by resource-loading these process models. The following figure

Figure 3: Performance Model

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Resource Over-Allocation – Visual Root Cause Analysis; End Cascading Failure - Continued from page six

What Next to Move your Career Forward?

Based on your input, we will expand this tip for members.Additionally there are a number of hot topics:

• MPA Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has a slew of “15 Minute Project Manager” tips, including the hot Microsoft Officeintegration presentations from Ted Butlin, SponsorshipDirector MPA GTA, who started the “15 minutespresentation” series.

• Portfolio Management Server and Project Server led SAP, aspart of our monthly line up.

• In 2007 we will add a significant business intelligencecomponent, in preparation of the Microsoft Project andBusiness Scorecard integrated PerformancePoint Server2007.

• Please write us at President@mpa-gta.com. We give greatadvice to our members as well as any MPA member to makeus all look good and have lowered stress, all whileadvancing our careers. Give us a try and please let us know how it goes, so we are able to plan more value for you.

Typical Successful Approach

A typically successful approach is:

1. Split the group of tasks into two linked groups (optionallyas parent/child structures)

2. Separate with a lag3. Crash the schedule4. Repeat from Phase II

It is amazing how an iterative solution based on visual insight,makes hard problems easier to solve!

A Suggestion

Look good doing it.Practice “in front of the mirror”. It is the sortof sophisticated technique that determines go / no go forprojects (and promotions!)

10

2) Use the “CostRate Table” columnto switch betweenthe two rates

By default, all theassignments’ costs areset to be calculated onthe rate table A. Switchto a Usage view (likeTask Usage) and insertthe Cost Rate Table field

in the table (figure 2). Also add the Cost field to see the changehappen. To change all the assignments’ Cost Rate Tables at once,change the first value on the first assignment of your project anduse the copy handle to copy down the value to the end of yourproject. Don’t worry about the task lines or about going beyondyour last assignment, the change will only apply to existingassignments.

That’s it! You now changed the calculation of the project’s costs touse the rate table B, and your project now shows its selling price.You can change to any view to see how the whole project, or how

MORE 1:Automate theCost Rate Tablesswitching

With a little VBAprogramming, youcan automate theswitching of thetable. Here is thecode so you can takeit away now, but Iwon’t explain it as Ihave more ideas toexpose…

SubSwitchCostRateTables()Dim t As TaskDim a As AssignmentDim CurrentCRTn As VariantDim NewCRTn As VariantDim NewCRT As String‘Apply the other CRTFor Each t In ActiveProject.Tasks

If Not t Is Nothing ThenFor Each a In t.Assignments‘Get first CRT as CurrentCRTIf CurrentCRTn = “” ThenCurrentCRTn = a.CostRateTable‘Set the new CRT to applySelect Case CurrentCRTnCase 0NewCRTn = 1NewCRT = “B”

Case 0NewCRTn = 0NewCRT = “A”

‘Customize for more switchesCase ElseNewCRTn = 0NewCRT = “A”

End SelectEnd If‘Apply NewCRT to all assignmentsa.CostRateTable = NewCRTn

Next aEnd If

Next t‘Notify user of the new CRTMsgBox “All the assignments’ costs are now calculated” & _Chr(13) & “using the Cost Rate Table “ & NewCRT

End Sub

If you plan and track billed services, or a combination ofbilled products and services, chances are that you keepasking yourself how much profit you are generating through

the project. There is no such feature in Microsoft Project to helpyou display both the cost and the selling price for your activities,so you generally have to choose between the two. This articlewill show you how you can find and even automate, you projectprofitability.

1) Define both cost tables

Costs in Project are calculated by the assignment’s work timesthe resource’s rate, regardless if the resource’s types – work ormaterial – generic or not. To simplify, we will not consider theresource’s overtime rate nor its cost per use here, but that wouldwork as well. Tasks fixed costs, however, should be avoided andmaterial resources should be used instead. Those resource ratesare usually defined as a flat number in the Standard rate field(and Overtime rate, and Cost per use), but they can also bedefined so they vary in time through the cost tables. Look for theCosts tab in the Resources Information dialog (figure 1). You cansee that there are actually 5 tables you can define for eachresource. Each table invokes a rate varying in time. Start bydefining the Table A as the cost of your resource, then define therate in Table B as the selling price of your resource.

Remember that the cost of the resource is not necessary it’s salaryor it’s paid price. The resource’s overhead should be added to theresource’s cost to cover various fees that lowers profitability, suchas supervision, taxes, travel, lodging, handling,… It all dependson the business rules of what a cost is for your business so securethis first with the finance department.

Calculating Project Profit: Display Selling Price and Costs for Your ProjectsJoël Séguin, Project Server Expert and PMO Director, AlphaMosaïk, Microsoft Project MVP (MPA President, Montreal Chapter, Québec, Canada)

much some deliverables are billed. Revert to Cost Rate Table A toget your project costs again.

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Continued on page eleven

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Calculating Project Profit - Continued from page nine

MORE 2: View both the costs and the selling price atthe same time

It would be even better to show both cost measures side-by-side.The following macro will switch the Cost Rate Table to B, thencopy all the Cost values to the Cost1 field, at the task,assignment and resource levels, then switch back to the CostRate Table A. Showing Cost1 in any task or in any usage viewwill provide you with the selling price.

This macro can be assigned to a tool button, to a keyboardshortcut (look for the macro’s options in the Macros dialog). Itcannot be called automatically from the Project_Calculate andProject_Change events as it would loop indefinitely.

Sub UpdateSellingPrice()Dim t As TaskDim a As AssignmentDim r As Resource‘switch the Cost Rate Table to BFor Each t In ActiveProject.TasksIf Not t Is Nothing ThenFor Each a In t.Assignmentsa.CostRateTable = 1 ‘That’s B

Next aEnd If

Next tApplication.CalculateAll

‘copy all the Cost values to the Cost1 field‘at the tasks and assignments levelsActiveProject.ProjectSummaryTask.Cost1 = _ActiveProject.ProjectSummaryTask.Cost

For Each t In ActiveProject.TasksIf Not t Is Nothing Thent.Cost1 = t.CostFor Each a In t.Assignmentsa.Cost1 = a.Cost

Next aEnd If

Next t‘at the resource levelFor Each r In ActiveProject.ResourcesIf Not r Is Nothing Thenr.Cost1 = r.Cost

End IfNext r‘switch back to the Cost Rate Table A

For Each t In ActiveProject.TasksIf Not t Is Nothing ThenFor Each a In t.Assignmentsa.CostRateTable = 0 ‘That’s

Next aEnd If

Next tEnd Sub

Continued on page twelve

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MORE 3: Calculate profits

Now that you have bothin and out costs side byside, it’s quite easy tocompare them. But itwould be even better if you can calculate how much profit youare generating. Simplycustomize the Cost2fields (both on the taskand the resource sides)with the [Cost1]-[Cost]formula to have yourprofits calculated at thetask and at the resourcelevels. For the assignment level, however, you will need to addthis part at the end of the UpdateSellingPrice macro listed above,as formulas cannot be defined for assignments.

‘Calculate the profits at the assignment levelFor Each t In ActiveProject.TasksIf Not t Is Nothing ThenFor Each a In t.Assignmentsa.Cost2 = a.Cost1 - a.Cost

Next aEnd If

Next t

Figure 3 shows the results in the Task Usage view. Note thatNoob costs more than his selling price, as he requires a lot ofsupervision, creating negative profitability.

MORE 4: Using this in a Project Server environment

As a Project Server administrator, you may want to standardizethis practice for the whole organization. For that, enterprisefields may be used instead of local fields – just add “Enterprise”before each Cost field call in the macros. You can locate themacro in the Enterprise Global so it’s accessible by all users. You can even create a toolbar and put it in the Enterprise Globalas well.

The only thing that might not work as easily is the fact thatselling prices could vary from project to project and that theresources’ rates are centralized. For that, you may want to haveup to four selling prices defined in the B to E Cost Rate Tables.Then an outline code or a text field could be used to specifywhich cost rate table to use, either by project, by task or byassignment. This information would be then used in theUpdateSellingPrice macro to switch to the right cost rate table.Calling the UpdateSellingPrice macro from theProject_BeforeSave would then ensure the up-to-date profitinformation gets published to the Project Center.

I wish you profitable projects!

Calculating Project Profit - Continued from page eleven

Figure 3.

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An important part of a project manager’s job is to managethe dates for milestones and other key tasks in a project.The dates for these key tasks are monitored very closely

by executives in an organization, and Project Web Access is anexcellent tool to keep the management team informed aboutthese tasks in your project.

The Project Center in Project Web Access allows you to createdashboard views to display high-level information about yourproject. However, in order to see detailed information aboutmilestones and other key tasks, a user needs to “drill-down”from the Project Center to get the project details.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to display the dates for key tasksand milestones in your project directly in the Project Center,without requiring executives to have to drill down to get to thedetails for your project? This article describes a step by stepapproach for how you can display the dates for these importanttasks in a Project Center view, eliminating the need to drill-down into a project to get to the details. We will use thetemplate “MSF Application Development” that is included withMicrosoft Project as the basis for this example.

The way we will accomplish this feat, is by creatively usingEnterprise Custom fields to flag and rollup the dates for specifickey tasks and milestones to the Project Summary Task (alsoreferred to as “Row 0” in your project). Once we roll up thesedates to the project summary level, we can then include them ina Project Center view.

NOTE: You must be set up as a member of the Administratorsgroup in order to perform the steps described in this article.

Our Mission:

Suppose we would like to be able to include the following keydates from the “MSF Application Development” template in aProject Center view:

• Completion of “Vision/Scope Frozen” milestone• Completion of “Feature Complete” milestone• Completion of “Golden Release” milestone

To accomplish this, follow the steps described in the remainderof this article.

A. Configuring the Enterprise Global

1. The first step is to use a series of flag fields to “mark” thetasks in your project that you want to roll up to the projectsummary level. We will need to define these fields in theEnterprise Global in Microsoft Project Professional. Toaccomplish this, select Tools…Enterprise Options…OpenEnterprise Global from the menu. A screen similar to thefollowing will be displayed:

2. From the menu, select Tools…Customize…Enterprisefields. The following screen will be displayed:

Rollup…Rollup Milestone Dates to the Project CenterIra Brown, President, Project Widgets (MPA President, Philadelphia-Delaware Chapter)

3. On the “Customize Enterprise Fields” dialog box, select the“Task” option, and from the “Type” drop-down list, select“Flag”. Select Enterprise Flag1, and click the “Rename”button. Name this field “Vision/Scope Frozen Flag”, asshown below. Click OK on the “Rename Field” dialog box.

NOTE: You may use fields other than the ones used in thisexample if these fields are not available in your EnterpriseProject environment.

4. Repeat step 3 above to create the following custom flagfields:

5. The next step is to define a series of Enterprise Date fieldsthat correspond to each of the flag fields we have createdabove. To do so, on the “Customize Enterprise Fields”dialog box, select the “Task” option, and from the “Type”drop-down list, select “Date”. Select “Enterprise Date1”, andclick the “Rename” button. Name this field “Vision/ScopeFrozen Date Task”, as shown below. Click OK on the“Rename Field” dialog box.

6. Next, we will define a formula for the Vision/Scope FrozenDate Task (Enterprise Date1) field. Select the “Vision/ScopeFrozen Date Task (Enterprise Date1)” from the field list, andclick the “Formula…” button. Type the following formulainto the dialog box, as shown below:

IIf([Enterprise Flag1],[Finish],”NA”)Continued on page fourteen

14

12. Click OK, and a screen similar to the following will bedisplayed. Click OK to close this dialog box.

13. Repeat steps 10 - 12 above to create the following customdate fields:

9 Repeat steps 5 - 8 above to create the following custom datefields:

Rollup - Continued from page thirteen

7. Click OK, and screen similar to the following dialog boxwill be displayed. Click OK to close this dialog box.

8. In the “Calculation for task and group summary rows”section, select “Maximum” for the “Rollup” option for thisfield (as shown below).

10. The next step is to define a series of project level EnterpriseDate fields that correspond to each of the task levelEnterprise Date fields we have created in this example. Wewill display these project-level date fields in a Project Centerview, eliminating the need to have to drill down to see thisinformation. To do so, on the “Customize Enterprise Fields”dialog box, select the “Project” option, and from the “Type”drop-down list, select “Date”. Select “Enterprise ProjectDate1”, and click the “Rename” button. Name this field“Vision/Scope Frozen Date”, as shown below. Click OK onthe “Rename Field” dialog box.

11. Next, we will define a formula for the “Vision/Scope FrozenDate (Enterprise Project Date1)” field. Select the“Vision/Scope Frozen Date (Enterprise Project Date1)” fromthe field list, and click the “Formula…” button. Type thefollowing formula into the dialog box, as shown below:

[Enterprise Date1]

14. Now that we have created all of our custom fields, the nextstep is to create a table that can be used for setting the flagvalues for the tasks in a project. To do so, from the menu,select View…Table…More Tables. The “More Tables” dialogbox will be displayed.

Continued on page fifteen

Rollup - Continued from page fourteen

15 Click the “New…” button, and the “Table Definition” dialogbox will be displayed, as shown below.

16. Name the table “Date Rollup Administration”, and set up thetable using the following information:

17. Click OK on the “Table Definition” dialog box, and clickClose on the “More Tables” dialog box.

18. Next, we will create a view that includes the “Date RollupAdministration” table. From the menu, select “View…MoreViews…”, and the following dialog box will be displayed:

19. Click the “New…” button, and on the “Define New View”dialog box, select “Single view”. Click OK.

20. On the “View Definition” dialog box, enter the followinginformation and click the “OK” button.

In the next issue of the MPA Project Newsletter, be sure to lookfor Part 2 of this article, detailing additional milestonemanagement techniques.

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