ms project integration: tips, tricks and what's new for you

ca Intellicenter

MS Project Integration: Tips, Tricks and What's New for You

Mindy Calderon

ICX17E #CAWorld

Senior Instructor, North America CA Technologies

2 © 2014 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Abstract

Have you scheduled in Microsoft Project (MSP) and are now presented with the "Tasks" to

maintain a schedule in CA Clarity? Is your organization using CA Clarity but still wants to

schedule in MS Project? Have you noticed that the logic in how CA Clarity schedules is different

in MS Project? And most importantly - wouldn't it be awesome to be able to explain why CA

Clarity and MS Project behave differently but ultimately get you the same result? The session

will show you where and how MSP and CA Clarity bi-directionally map data, how to create and

manage tasks, assignments and scheduling, as well as updating task status and work. It

includes a broad discussion where and when data should be entered in Clarity and MS Project,

on defining data elements and how to capture them.

Mindy Calderon

CA Technologies

Senior Instructor


Agenda

INTEGRATION OVERVIEW

CUSTOM VIEWS

WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

RESOURCES AND MS PROJECT

Q & A


Summary A Few Words to Describe MS Project Integration with Clarity

Results

MS Project and CA Clarity PPM bi-directionally maps data, manages tasks, assignments and scheduling as well as updating task status. The Clarity project acts as the ‘umbrella’ for PM methodology . The result is a project that follows Project Management and Scheduling standards.


Definitions

INTEGRATION – BIDIRECTIONAL DATA FLOW USING NEW XML DRIVER

METHODOLOGY – CONSISTENT AND REPEATABLE SCHEDULING AND MANAGING PROCESSES

*

*

This is NOT a Technical Session: Understand from a Functional Perspective

Integration Overview


Identify the MS Project Integration

Schedule Projects – Microsoft Project

Set Scheduler Format attribute default to Microsoft Project

PICK ONE AND STICK WITH IT! – Per project


Identify and Install the MSP Interface


Bi-Directional

New xml file – same location as the .mpp file

Usually in the My Documents folder

Supportable – old integration no longer supported by Microsoft

When you launch a plan from the CA Clarity PPM

screen, it exports this plan to your local client

system.

After you complete updating your session from

within Microsoft Project, you will select Save

from the Clarity Integration toolbar to retain your

updates


Install the MSP Interface Tips


Set Defaults and Options


Set Defaults and Options Continued

Tips

– At a minimum, you must set the File – Project

Option defaults at the application level

– Additionally, you will want to check and modify

these settings on the individual projects that

were created before you adjusted these File –

Project Option defaults

– These projects would have inherited the former

default settings

– Application Level Defaults allow all new projects

to inherit the default settings.

– Setting should also be reset for Legacy projects

that are being brought into CA Clarity PPM


Identify Field Mappings

Custom Views and Creating a Project


Custom Views Gantt Chart View

Add the Key Task Column

Add the Charge Code Column

– Only if you let Users select

Task Usage View

actual work

remaining

Custom View

Combined View

Gantt Chart on the top

Task Usage on bottom

Modify Existing Views to Create Custom Views


Create Projects – RULE OF THUMB

Anything on the Properties Tab and Team Tab

– Enter/Edit/Update in CA Clarity

Anything on the Tasks Tab

– Enter/Edit/Update in MS Project

Anything on the Tasks Tab

Enter/Edit/Update in MS Project

Resources and MS Project


Resources and MS Project

Staff a Plan – Should ALWAYS be done in CA Clarity

– Resource Allocation button

Holistic View of Availability

Resource Planning Views


The Four (4) A’s

Availability

Allocation

Assignment

Actuals

Holistic View of Availability and Allocation

Resource Planning Views

Work Breakdown Structure

There are often misunderstandings about the meanings

of the terms “duration” and “work”

A task has duration amount and work amount,

which may not always be equivalent values


Define Work, Units and Duration

For a Fixed Units task, Microsoft Project recalculates Duration when you overwrite the Fixed Units value

For a Fixed Duration task, Microsoft Project recalculates Work when you overwrite the Fixed Duration value

For a Fixed Work task, Microsoft Project recalculates Duration when you overwrite the Fixed Work value


Identify Task Management Guidelines Terminology Differences Between CA Clarity PPM and Microsoft Project


Identify Task Management Guidelines Terminology Differences Between CA Clarity PPM and Microsoft Project Continued


Determine the Schedule

Some of the common elements of

Project Management get a bit more

complicated when using CA Clarity and

Microsoft Project together

Status = Complete

– Microsoft Project

Zero out remaining work for all

resource assignments

– CA Clarity

Zero-out the Estimate to Complete

value, select ‘Completed’ from the

drop-down in the ‘Status’ field

Remaining Work & Pending Estimate To

Complete

– Entry Precedence

– Work Contour

– Summary Tasks

– Blank Task Names

Control the Project


Baseline the Project

A Baseline will create a point-in-time capture of your project plan that you

can refer to, and measure against

– Baselines can include either the full or partial project WBS

Update to existing baselines

– Full baseline

– Update partial (tasks) baseline


Baseline the Project

CA Clarity PPM can only have one Baseline active, but Microsoft Project can view several at a time

Microsoft Project can store 11 baselines, while CA Clarity PPM can store as many as you need

– If there are more than 11 project baselines stored in CA Clarity PPM, the latest 11 will download to Microsoft Project

when you open the project

CA Clarity PPM has security rights associated with creating and modifying baselines

– you will still be able to run the baseline functionality in Microsoft Project, but the data will not be saved to CA Clarity

PPM


Define Track Mode Settings This setting permits or restricts a

specific project from accepting

actuals from a timesheet and/or

permits the project manager to

enter actuals directly into the

project plan

The Track Mode is found in two

locations:

– Project level: Properties >

Schedule

– Resource level: Properties


Define Track Mode Settings

The following chart contains rules surrounding the capture of actuals using CA Clarity PPM Timesheets in conjunction with Microsoft Project


Tips Resources can be open for time entry at the resource, project and project assignment

level. If a resource is not open for time entry in all three places, they are not able to use

CA Clarity PPM timesheets.

Time periods should be created and status (open or closed) should be managed by an

application administrator

Timesheets are submitted, approved and posted in CA Clarity PPM Timesheets – only

posted timesheets appear as actuals

– Actuals on Timesheets, which have been saved but not yet posted, will appear as Pending Actuals

in Microsoft Project. These can be viewed using MSP mapping

– Do not update Actuals in Microsoft Project if the Track Mode is Clarity or Other


Apply Actuals

Be Vigilant on Timesheets – When work begins on the project, actuals will begin to be recorded against the

plan

– Impress upon your team members to track their time accurately and on the appropriate day or your plan‘s finish date may unnecessarily be delayed

Tasks not reported on a time sheet may change due to the posting of the assigned resource‘s time sheet. CA Clarity PPM assumes that a person's time sheet is a complete accounting of the project work they completed that week. If a scheduled task did not appear on the time sheet, it implies no work was completed by the resource on that task, and must be rescheduled for the following week or beyond


Pending Actuals

There are three possible values you may see: – ‘0’ indicates that you are looking at a Summary task

– ‘-1’ indicates that there are no Pending Actuals entered on the timesheet as of that day

– A value other than ‘0’ or ‘-1’ indicates that the value you see is the team member’s cumulative Pending Actuals up through that day in that time period


Pending Estimates

There are three possible values you may see: – ‘0’ indicates that you are looking at a Summary task

– ‘-1’ indicates that a Pending Estimate has not been entered for the task

– A value other than ‘0’ or ‘-1’ indicates that the team member has entered a Pending Estimate to identify a revision to the remaining estimate for the task


Apply Actuals


% Work Complete vs % Complete

% Work Complete

– % Work Complete is set to 100% automatically if

Microsoft Project detects the task is complete via

calculations.

Once the Remaining Work has been reduced to

zero, either manually or by the actuals that

have been booked, the system sets the % Work

Complete to 100%.

It is calculated based on Actuals and Remaining

Work

% Complete

– % Complete set by the Project Manager’s actions.

– It is set to 100% when the Project Manager says the

task is complete by manually changing the %.

– CA Clarity PPM automatically sets the value to 1% for

Started Tasks and the Project Manager sets it to 100%

when task is completed.

– It is not calculated based on Actuals

Summary task % Complete can be calculated by running

the Update % Complete Job


For More Information

To learn more about Management Cloud,

please visit:

http://bit.ly/1wEnPhz

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ensure it links to correct page Management Cloud






For Informational Purposes Only

© 2014 CA. All rights reserved. All trademarks referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

This presentation provided at CA World 2014 is intended for information purposes only and does not form any type of warranty. Some of the specific slides with customer references relate to customer's specific use and experience of CA products and solutions so actual results may vary.

Terms of this Presentation

ms project integration: tips, tricks and what's new for you

Technology

clarity project acts

clarity results ms project

project management

ms project q

microsoft project msp

microsoft project pick

ca clarity bi

ca clarity schedules