A customer pain point brought to my attention this week is related to linking tasks to risks from PWA vs linking risks to tasks via the project site’s Risks list.

The customer noticed that, in Project Server 2010, linking a task to risk from PWA’s drill down view of the project schedule does not make that link show up in the Reporting database so he could report on it using SSRS (SQL Server Reporting Services).  However, he noticed that if he links the risk to the task from the Risks list, he was able to report on the link immediately.

I dusted off my Project Server 2010 test server (just kidding, it gets such frequent and heavy testing that I never turn the VM off) and created a project plan with a project site.

I opened the project site, and then clicked on the Risks list. I created a new risk and added a link to a task from the plan.  The queue presented this Reporting (Project Sync) job:

Next, I opened the schedule in PWA and drilled into the plan, then linked the risk there, but no reporting job materialized in the queue.  Nothing queue related happened at all, in fact, unless I saved the plan, but still there was no Reporting job (notice that I did not publish here, which definitely would have fired a reporting job).  Then, I published the plan and the Reporting (Project Sync) job fired.

So, when the user creates the link between task and risk from PWA, the user must publish the plan in order to make the Reporting (Project Sync) job run.  After that job runs, the information related to the link will be in the Reporting database.  When the user creates the link between risk and task from the Risks list, the user doesn’t need to do anything else because the Reporting (Project Sync) job runs immediately. 

This is because changes to Project Server Risks list on the site writes directly to published db so the reporting database has be to be updated. I ran a profiler trace and found a stored procedure that writes to the published DB when a risk to task link is made.  When you edit a plan in PWA, your changes do not impact the published db until you publish, so absent any changes, the published and reporting data still match.  Another way of looking at this behavior is to see that project managers may not want changes made to the plan published until they are ready for the changes to be publicly available. Changes to the site are publicly available without a project publish so the sync job fires when a task/risk is linked.

There real problem to my mind is that there is no way for users to know there is a difference in the behavior based on where you link the task/risk. That’s because there is no warning/dialog pop-up saying if you edit the plan in PWA, you won’t be able to report on the new link until you publish. The result is that a user links a task/risk via PWA and doesn’t know he can’t report on that link until he publishes while at the same time, the user can create the risk/task link from the Risk list and report right away.

From a database and code perspective, linking a risk to a task and linking a task to a risk are actually very different.  Strictly speaking, linking a risk to a task from the Risks list writes to the Published DB, which then requires a corresponding update to the Reporting DB. Linking a task to a risk from the Project Center drill down view writes to the Draft database – and remember, you can make changes all day to the Draft and never see those changes until you publish the plan.  While the actions the user takes appear to be roughly the same whether you link from a task to a risk or vice versa, the command being sent to the databases differ behind the veil of the user interface.  The behavior editing a plan and not seeing those changes until a publish occurs is perfectly in line with a project’s not being made public until a project manager wants them to be by publishing.

Because the project site is already public, linking a risk to a task causes an update to occur against the reporting database.  This behavior is unlikely to change in Project Server 2010, but the fact of the behavior should be relayed to project managers so they can determine the best choice for linking tasks and risks.

Naturally, this line of investigation led to testing on Project Server 2013.  Does the same thing happen there?

For testing, I created a plan called 0000 Linking Risks and published it with a project site on an out of the box instance of PWA.

In PWA, I drill into the project plan schedule and you see the URL below:

http://ps2013c:8080/PWAoob/Project%20Detail%20Pages/Schedule.aspx?ProjUid=807c7051-7881-e411-9433-001dd8b73e9d&ret=0

I selected a task, then clicked on the Options tab, and then on the Related Items button. At this point, the URL changes to the project site URL, where I can create the association.

This means I’m in the project site when I make the association, so the Reporting job fires when I save.  This DID NOT HAPPEN in Project Server 2010.

http://ps2013c:8080/PWAoob/0000%20Linking%20Risks/Lists/Tasks/DispForm.aspx?ID=2&ContentTypeId=0x010800AAD67843BFB5C64E81A19F453581A719&ShowRelatedItems=1

The fact I’m in the project site when I create the association means the behavior is different in Project Server 2013 and the Reporting (Project Sync) job fires because there is only one way to link a task to a risk.  I thought this was worth pointing out.

Hello, Microsoft PPM Community.

This is our monthly blog post about what is happening in the PPM Community around the world.

This means webcasts/webminars, PMI and MPUG chapter events, and all about what you need to know to stay up to date about Microsoft Project, Project Server, and Project Online.

Microsoft Project Webcast Series

Projects solved using Project 2013 - Tips n Tricks
December 16 @ 12:30pm – 2:00pm EST
Is your Microsoft Project schedule not delivering the accurate and actionable information you need? Join us for this exciting and practical webinar that will demonstrate tips and tricks for building and maintaining a proactive project schedule. This event will provide you with tools and techniques that you can use right away, to ensure that your project schedule is providing accurate progress and forecast details.
Presented by Kenneth Steiness & Terry Kneeburg

MPUG Events

“EVM” – Earned Value Management – Not Just Another 3 Letter Acronym!
December 3 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EST
Earned Value Management (EVM), can provide a picture of project cost and schedule status. However, what do you require to implement this capability using Microsoft Project or Project Online? This interactive session will outline the steps needed to support EVM and understand the elements and techniques needed to incorporate EVM into your project and portfolio scheduling.
During this event, students will learn how to make Earned Value Management and Analysis using Microsoft Project possible.
John Riopel, MCP is President and CEO of PM Providers, a full-service project management consulting firm dedicated to delivering business results with project management solutions. Find out more at www.pm-providers.com.

Learn from the MVP: Tips & Tricks with Project 2010/2013
December 10 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EST
Have you ever wondered what is the best way to see which tasks are scheduled to take place next week across multiple projects? How can you group task data using specific resource fields? What is the easiest way to create a quick customized TimeLine report for project phases?  How can you tell if your project ending date is really accurate?  During this session, these questions and more will be answered. This session is designed to show you suggestions that you can apply to your schedules to enhance MS Project 2010/2013 immediate usage.
With over 20 years of corporate training experience, Ellen Lehnert, MVP, PMP, MCT, MCP, is a consultant/trainer for Microsoft Project and Microsoft Project Server. She’s author of  “Managing Projects with Microsoft Project 2010 Desktop courseware,”, technical editor and contributor for several MS Project reference books, and frequent meeting speaker. Ellen brings a unique combination of licensed teacher and programming background to the classes she teaches as well as process development, installations, and consulting. Contact her at ellen@lehnertcs.com or at LehnertCS.

Partners Events

Combining Enterprise Social and PPM to Maximize Benefits and Utilization
December 3 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST
Social technologies are used in roughly 75% of all companies. Few, however, are able to unlock the full benefit. Join this session to witness the kind of productivity possible when using Social Collaboration tools like SharePoint, Project, Lync and Yammer. Learn how you can speed up innovation, connect and engage your employees and transcend traditional organizational structure. Understand the additional value realized through improved team collaboration and communication within and across organizations. Improve decisions and bring together relevant information and people by combining unstructured communication with structured processes. We will also explain what changes in organizational culture are necessary to ensure a successful business transformation.

Unlock the Strategic PMO Inside Microsoft Project Server
December 4 @ 1:00 pm EST
Despite receiving significant investment, traditional PPM tools and processes are simply not delivering the anticipated results. In fact, UMT360 research suggests that companies are missing out on up to 46% of planned business value from their project portfolios. What’s driving this lack of performance? PMOs who fail to recognize that projects are strategic business investments and therefore miss the opportunity to effectively integrate financial management with PPM. As a result, they are unable to proactively gauge the economic impact of poor project performance and take timely corrective actions. Join this webcast to learn how to easily unlock the strategic aspects of Microsoft Project Server with UMT360 and gain complete financial intelligence across project portfolios. Learn how to:

· Eliminate the need for Excel and standardize investment governance controls across the PPM lifecycle

· Streamline capital planning and build stronger business cases

· Automate financial tracking and variance analysis, helping you dynamically reallocate funds to maximize ROI

· Establish a benefits realization framework and measure results

The webinar will also include a live demonstration of UMT360, the only Enterprise Portfolio Management solution built on SharePoint that seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Project Server.

Deliver winning Projects with Microsoft Project Online
December 11 @ 12:30 GMT
Easily plan projects and collaborate from virtually anywhere with the right tools for project managers, project teams and decision makers. ​Join us to find out how to:

· Get up and running with reliability and zero up-front infrastructure costs.

· Add teams and projects within minutes with a web-based portal.

· Immediately glean insight about your portfolio with new point and click reporting capabilities.

· Get Team Members to clearly see all their tasks in one place, across multiple projects.

· Use the new visual tiles to quickly begin or flex project portfolio management capabilities.

· Enable your teams to work within a familiar environment. Project Online includes SharePoint Online and comes to you through Office 365.

If you are aware of some event that will occur this month and it is not listed here, please, leave a comment with the link.

Introduction

Microsoft Project Professional users sometimes lose their unsaved work due to unreliable or bad internet connectivity. 

Below are the steps which can help to minimize the loss of work while working with Project Professional 2013. 

1.1       Enable Auto Save

1. Auto Save can be enabled and the frequency can be set based on user preference.
2. User might want to enable and set it for higher frequency, if the internet connectivity is extremely unreliable.
3. By default, Auto Save option is disabled to reduce the traffic sent to the server.
4. To enable Auto Save, start Project Professional, then click on File -> Select Options -> Click on Save.

1.2       Check The Status Of Balloon

1. Project Professional offers a balloon feature which provides information whether the Project Client is offline (not connected to the server) or online (connected to the server).
2. The status of the balloon is checked when any activity is triggered from Project Professional to Project Server.
3. If the status of the balloon if offline, it can be changed to Online by clicking on it.

Indication that Project Professional is connected to the server.

Indication that Project Professional is not connected to the server.

If Project Professional is offline, click on the Balloon, then click on Connect to server to connect to the server. Multiple clicks may be required to connect to the server. This option can be used when the internet connectivity is restored.

1.3       Working Offline

1. Open Project Professional. Make sure it is connected to the server.
2. Click on File -> Open -> Select PWA instance Name -> Click on Browse -> Double click on Show me the list of all projects.

3. Click on the Project you want to open. Click on Check-out, if asked.

4. Once the required Project is open, modified, Click on File -> Info -> Manage Accounts -> Work Offline

Note - Please note that the balloon at the left bottom corner has been changed from Online to Offline.

5. When user is done working offline and ready to save back to the Project Server, perform the steps below.

a. If the internet connectivity has been restored, go online by clicking on the balloon and selecting Connect to Server.

b. Status can be changed to online by clicking on File -> Info -> Connect to Server

c. Close Project Plan if the internet connectivity has not been restored. Plan can be synced to the server later when the internet connectivity is restored to the server.

d. In order to Sync Project Plan to the server (assuming that Project application was closed and internet connectivity has been restored), open Project Professional, select the PWA profile which was used last time and click on OK. DO NOT click on Work Offline.

e. Click on File -> Open -> Select PWA profile -> Click on Browse and open the plan from cache.

f. Click on Save, then Publish, and then close the plan click Check-in to check in the Project Plan to the server. The changes made to the Project Plans while working offline, will be synchronized back to the server.

g. Until you save Project Plan back to the server and check it in, Project Plan will not be available for other users to modify.

h. Never save the Project Plan locally on your hard drive and upload it back to the server. Saving the project plan locally divorces the project plan from the Project Server and the enterprise resource pool and is considered bad practice.

Scenarios to save work performed in Project Professional with unrelible internet connectivity.

1.4       User Is Working In Project Professional, Modifying Existing Project Plan, And The Internet Connectivity Has Been Lost. User Is Unaware Lost Connectivity.

1. User will be allowed to modify the plan as much as she wants and as long as she is not trying to retrieve any information from the server.
2. The moment the user tries to the save the Project Plan, Project Professional will automatically turn to Offline Mode and User will no longer be able to save it to the server.
3. Now, she can close Project Professional. User will be prompted below screen. If the user wants to save all the changes made, make sure that user doesn’t modify any settings provided on the screen,

4. The changes made by user will be stored in a local cache of Project Professional and the changes are not lost. Note: Storing projects in this fashion happens automatically and is not the same as saving the project as a local .mpp file.

1.5       Internet Connectivity Has Been Restored - User Wants To Save Changes To Server

1. Follow steps available above in section 1.3, bullet 5, from d to f. 

1.6       User Is Working In Project Professional. Save/Publish Job To The Server Has Been Initiated And Internet Connectivity Is Lost.

1. If the job are properly submitted to the server, no data lost should incur. There is a possibility that jobs need to be re-submitted, if they were not submitted properly, when the connectivity has been restored.
2. If the jobs are not submitted to the server, the user should follow the steps provided in 1.2 to make sure that Project Professional is not offline and can try to connect to the server if the internet connectivity has been restored.  

Hello, Microsoft PPM Community.

This is our monthly blog post about what is happening in the PPM Community around the world.

This means webcasts/webminars, PMI and MPUG chapter events, and all about what you need to know to stay up to date about Microsoft Project, Project Server, and Project Online.

Microsoft Project Webcast Series

Leveraging Scrum/Agile for Project and Project Online

November 18 @ 12:30pm – 2:00pm EST

Some people say that Project cannot be used outside of a Waterfall schedule approach. This is absolutely NOT true. In fact, most of the best scheduling approaches leverage iterative activities, such as Scrum or Agile Planning incorporated into their project. This seminar will address key steps for building an Agile schedule, addressing pros and cons to Scrum features and approaches, while blending a schedule to address the tactical agile needs, while still providing rollup and time boxed reporting to stakeholders. This lively and example-driven webinar should help all who attend understand how they too can build agile, iterative schedules and address the need for having a good schedule that also helps to map, track and report activities, features, story points, backlogs all within MS Project. 

MPUG Events

Agile IS Risk Management
 
November 6 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EST

The existence of a heavyweight risk management process is a good indicator that a company has failed to embrace the essence of what agile is. But software development is risky. You’re creating something new, with an uncertain set of requirements, in an often tight timeframe. And, don’t get me started on unknown dependencies, sudden market changes, and personnel shifts! You know that without some sort of risk mitigation strategy, your bright and shiny new project can tarnish quickly, along with your reputation. So, if you don’t have a formal risk management process, what do you do? After all, agile frameworks like Scrum and Kanban don’t explicitly mention risk at all. The solution is a matter of principle–agile principles that is.

In this presentation, Ken Rubin discuss how applying core agile principles can make the development process robust and at times antifragile to the disorder of uncertain events, allowing us to avoid harm and reap the benefits of uncertainty, without the need for heavyweight risk management processes. He will show that our goal is not to eliminate uncertainty, risk, or variability, but to protect ourselves against the variability that harms us and to promote and exploit the variability that benefits us. He will discuss that when appropriate, we should apply simple traditional risk management techniques in a good-enough (barely sufficient) manner. He then discuss how we can manage risk through the product backlog and how we can apply agile principles to avoid the self-creation of inherently risky or uncertain situations. Finally, he will discuss how to apply agile principles to avoid the harm (be robust) and reap the benefits (be antifragile) from uncertain events in the environment.

Tabular Reports to Customized Management Dashboards – Project 2013 Reporting
 
November 19 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EST

This MPUG event will pay you back multiple times – in it I’ll show you how to use the new reporting features of Project 2013 so that you never have to manually create a project report in PowerPoint or Excel again. You will learn how to create everything from simple tabular reports to customised management dashboards with drill-through capabilities.  No stone will be left unturned as we review all of the new reporting capabilities in Project and discuss best practise reporting techniques. We’ll discuss the types of information available for each report (Project and task progress, costs, work) and how to customise and personalise the look and feel of each report.  Finally, I’ll show you how to link the link the reports together to create a drill-through management dashboard linking all of your reports together.  The techniques we discuss are equally applicable to a single project or a programme of work, and I’ll show you how to consolidate several project reports into a single programme report.

MPUG Certificate Series

Forecast Scheduling
 
November 12, 13 and 14 @ 12:00 pm - November 14 @ 1:30 pm EST

Renowned speaker and master scheduler Eric Uyttewaal will present three 1.5-hour webinars on his latest book ‘Forecast Scheduling with Microsoft Project 2013’. He will show you how to forecast your project with just the schedule by itself and minimize the effort doing this. Eric will challenge you to forecast the finish date of your project, which is what most stakeholders expect from the project manager. This presentation will show you how to create a dynamic model of the project to forecast it and take scheduling to the next level. The main tenets of Forecast Scheduling are:
•Capture your promised dates … without killing the dynamic model!
•Minimize your effort on creating and maintaining the schedule
•Find the real Critical Path 2.0 instead of an incomplete old Critical Path 1.0
•Incorporate insights from project execution and update the schedule to forecast

Eric will explain these principles of Forecast Scheduling, demonstrate how they would work in practice as well as their benefits. We will run through several checks that you can perform on your own project schedule.

APMG International

Business Relationship Management: A Bridge Between Business Value and Technology

November 13 @ 15:00 GMT

This webinar will introduce the Business Relationship Management (BRM) discipline with a particular focus on BRMP training and certification. The BRMP (Business Relationship Management Professional) certification was developed by the Business Relationship Management Institute (BRMI) and is administered by APMG International. This session will be of interest to training organizations for whom BRMP training and certification may be a valuable addition to their portfolio, and individuals who could benefit from this certification.

If you are aware of some event that will occur this month and it is not listed here, please, leave a comment with the link.

Symptoms

Any new project plan creation process fails with below error message in the queue. Even using out of the box Basic Project Plan EPT does not help.

General

• • Project:
    • ProjectNameAlreadyExists(1034). Details: id='1034' name='ProjectNameAlreadyExists' uid='fd477e47-c74f-e411-8d41-005056956a3d' projName=''.
  • Queue:
    • GeneralQueueJobFailed (26000) - ProjectCreate.ProjectAddToMessage. Details: id='26000' name='GeneralQueueJobFailed' uid='fd4177e47-c74f-e411-8d41-005056956a3d' JobUID='00500d41-c74f-e411-9203-005056956a39' ComputerName='dfc43234-896b-417b-b19f-a01571d6fed3' GroupType='ProjectCreate' MessageType='ProjectAddToMessage' MessageId='1' Stage='' CorrelationUID='987ac09c-1eed-a084-03d1-1f6959c4d76c'. For more details, check the ULS logs on machine dfc43234-896b-417b-b19f-a01571d6fed3 for entries with JobUID 00500d41-c74f-e411-9203-005056956a39.

Possible Cause

This error can occur if a project plan in Project Server doesn't have any name or it has blank name. 

Resolution

Open PWA with Administrator access.

1. Open PWA Settings. Click on Delete Enterprise Objects.
2. Find the name of a project plan, which is unusual or which doesn't have any name.
3. Take a backup as .mpp of the project plan in question and of the Project Site associated with it.
4. Delete the Project Plan (or rename it, if it allows you to do so), as well as Project Site associated with the Project Plan.
5. Try to create a new Project Plan and check the behavior.