Projects & Project Related Entities

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Our clients often ask us “What is the difference between a task and an action?” or “When does a risk become an issue and why is an issue not just a task or action?” In order to provide some clarity this article will define each of these project it...

Most project management methodologies including PMBOK and PRINCE2 suggest that you calculate a Risk Rating for every risk that is raised for a project. By default, PPO is configured to support the calculation of risk ratings using the models sugge...

When projects are added on PPO, they can either stand alone or be linked to a parent project. The parent project field is a project list, that shows all the projects that are currently visible on the project list. If you want to link a project to ...

This is a question we get asked a lot and the answer is Yes. PPO allows users to import tasks into PPO using either a native Microsoft Project file(.mpp) or a Microsoft Project XML (.xml) file. If the alternative scheduling tool allows project pla...

PPO provides functionality to show dependencies which impact a project.  These dependencies can be anything from the completion of other projects, events that must be completed before another can start, etc. How do I go about setting this up? De...

PPO's bi-directional integration with MSP allows for data to be transferred quickly and easily from MSP to PPO and back to MSP. However, as with any integration, there are some basic problems or errors that present themselves from time to time. Th...

Project Portfolio Office (PPO) provides functionality to notify individuals via e-mail when an item has been updated, including updates to Projects, Tasks, Documents, Issues, Leads or any other entity within PPO. The notification can be sent to in...

It is not uncommon for organisations to have different groups of users following different processes, managing different types of projects and all making use of the same instance of PPO. Different processes can be followed using a single PPO insta...

Project Managers often want to record a list of their project team members, specifying who will play which role during the life span of their project. PPO's custom entities allow for a Team Members entity to be set up to assist with managing team ...

It is not uncommon for organisations to have different groups of users following different processes, managing different types of projects and all making use of the same instance of PPO. PPO allows for these varied management methodologies through...

To evaluate the quality of the data captured on PPO, clients are generally interested in answers to questions such as the following: Is the Project Manager allocated at the correct time during the project Life Cycle? Have Risks been uploaded to t...

PPO's document entity provides users with the ability to store documents and upload documents of any format. Each document is connected to a set of meta-data, such as document type, document status, document title and description of the document. ...

Normally, PPO requires a physical file to be uploaded when you add a document to PPO.  There are however circumstances where there is a requirement to link to an external document, rather than uploading a file. Examples of some of these reasons in...

Step 1 - Implement a Cost Data FieldA new data field must be added to the Tasks entity as follows: Note: when the field is added the Field Type must be Currency. Step 2 - Map the MSP Cost field to PPOThe cost for each Task can be entered into on...

PPO allows for the capturing of baselines, by making use of a Baseline Date field on the projects entity, as well as  two calculated fields on the tasks entity. Project Managers should ensure that they complete the baseline date for the project, o...

PPO assigns project codes after a user has clicked on the Add Project icon but only affirms / saves this code once the user clicks on the Submit icon. The reason for this is to prevent gaps in project numbering when a user clicks on the Add Proje...

Default Cost Entity Fields PPO’s default configuration includes the following cost entity fields: Budget – This field allows the Project Manager to record the project budget that has been approved. Spent – This field allows the Project Manager to...

The last updated date on the Projects entity only shows the last date on which the fields on the Projects entity itself were updated – it does not flow through from all the underlying entities (such as Issues, Comments, Health Indicators,etc.). Th...

Because the field is cleared automatically and it is mandatory, it forces the user to provide a response. The “Action / Response” field on the issue entity is a typical scenario where you want to force this behaviour since you want the user to pro...

The maximum physical file size allowed on PPO is currently 50MB. This is a hard limit and cannot be changed. We periodically review this limit and on the basis of a number of factors take a decision on whether to increase it. Some of the factors t...

This can be done as follows: the solution needs to be provided in line with your other requirements but what works well with most clients is the following: Scheduled Activities: Use the Tasks entity and even go as far as pre-loading activities fo...

It is sometimes required to create a link from a specific record in one entity, such as an Issue, to a specific record in another entity, such as a Risk. This can be done in PPO by implementing a calculated field. For more information on calculate...

Step 1 - Implement a Phase Data FieldA new data field must be added to the Tasks entity as follows: Note: when the field is added the Field Type must be Custom List and must be linked to a custom list containing all the required Project Phases. S...

By default, Health Indicators and Comments are automatically created when you add a new project. The mechanism that is used to do this will depend on whether whether your instance was provisioned before 9 October 2019. Prior to this date, the defa...

Deleted tasksWhen Tasks are deleted from your MSP plan they will not automatically be deleted from PPO upon the next import. The reason for this is that PPO has the ability to only import selected Tasks based on which Tasks are selected on the Imp...

PPO does not overwrite project plans When a project plan is re-imported into PPO, PPO compares the information in its database with that provided by MSP and updates the Tasks accordingly. PPO does not overwrite the Tasks in the Tasks section, it f...

Confidential projects and documents can be hidden from specified user groups by implementing a field on the entity called: Confidential. This should be a Yes / No field. A user group filter should then be set up for the user groups who are not al...

Lessons entityPPO has a standard, pre-configured Lessons entity that can be deployed to your instance. This Lessons entity is included in some of PPO’s pre-configured instances, but can also be deployed to your instance by request. To set up this ...

PPO provides for prioritisation models which allow projects to be rated in the Projects entity, or as a separate custom entity based on the client requirement and current configuration. Prioritisation models are implemented in PPO using its standa...

PPO allows for the monitoring of adherence to project governance rules by means of pre-defined reports and associated configuration. These reports measure whether a defined set of documents are produced and approved for each of the phases of a pro...