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Best Practices for a Successful Transition

Integrating MSP with Clarity


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● CA Clarity PPM Scheduling Options● New Functionality● MSP Setup Options● Opening the Project Schedule in MSP● Improving Performance● MSP Prior Start, Prior Finish and Open for Time Entry Fields● Customizing MSP Views and Making them Global● Resource Availability vs. Resource Calendar● Allocation, Max Units and Assignment Units● Auto/Manually Scheduled Tasks and Peak Units – New in MSP 2010

● Understanding Task Types● Maintaining the Project Schedule & Why Task Dates Change● Saving the Project Schedule to Clarity

Topics


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CA Clarity PPM is a centralized project, resource and portfolio management tool that can help you manage, schedule, track and report on projects.

When Microsoft Project is integrated with CA Clarity PPM, project managers are no longer working in a stand-alone environment.

Consistent processes and accurate data are essential in providing accurate reporting and actionable metrics.

Overview


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CA Clarity PPM Schedule Connect provides a full bi-directional connection between CA Clarity PPM and Microsoft Project.

Whether you’re working directly in CA Clarity PPM or have opened the project schedule from CA Clarity PPM to MSP, you’re always working with the most up-to-date information.

The Schedule Connect interface must be downloaded and installed by each user.

CA Clarity PPM Schedule Connect


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CA Clarity PPM Scheduling Options


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1. Clarity Gantt View – Autoschedule

2. Microsoft Project 2007 - 2010 – 2013

3. Open Workbench

CA Clarity PPM Scheduling Options

NOTE: Using different scheduling options within the same organization is NOT supported. Each option uses a different model to calculate project schedules. Project data will be different when viewing the same project in MSP and OWB.


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Simple Project Schedules can be updated using the Clarity > Projects > Tasks > Gantt View.

Autoschedule can be used to update the project schedule after making small changes to it. You can review your changes before publishing them as the Plan of Record (POR).

Autoschedule will:● Use availability as early in the project as possible● Set start and finish dates based on task constraints● Minimize the duration of the critical path, which will determine

the earliest finish date for the project

Clarity Gantt View & Autoschedule


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Open Workbench will update the project schedule based on the number of hours each resource will work per week to cover the total number of hours on the task.

● Algorithm is Resource Driven

● Open Source application – no licensing costs

● Fully integrated with CA Clarity PPM

● Training may be required

Open Workbench


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Microsoft Project will update the project schedule based on task duration instead of resource availability.

● Algorithm is Date driven

● Custom fields will need to be mapped

● MSP license required for each user, but many organizations already own the licenses

● Additional MSP Training may be required

Microsoft Project


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New Functionality


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Clarity Release 12.1Lookup Values can be mapped between CA Clarity PPM and MSP and are uniquely identified by a hidden key. Lookup values are listed in the order defined in Studio. Inactive values will show an asterisk (*).

Clarity Release 13.2Projects with a Calculation Mode set to “off” can be opened from CA Clarity PPM to MSP without the tasks automatically re-calculating and updating the task dates.

New Functionality and Improvements


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Clarity Release 13.31. Resource Leveling in MSP is now supported.

2. Performance Improvements in smaller projects when importing and exporting the project schedules.

Small projects are defined as:• Duration of 3 months or less• 200 Tasks or less• 50 Resources or less• 2 Summary Levels• 200 Assignments or less• 100 Dependencies or less• 1 Baseline



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Clarity Release 13.3 (Cont’d)

3. Java Runtime is included in the download and is copied to the MSP Interface Installation directory on the workstation’s hard drive. This eliminates all of the issues related to the JRE version incompatibility.

4. The MSP Interface is installed silently without any user intervention.



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Robert NewellAdecco

CA Clarity PPM & MSP Experience


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MSP Setup Options


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From the MSP Tools menu, select File > Options and refer to the following guidelines so MSP and CA Clarity PPM will work effectively together.

MSP Options


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MSP Options – General

Date Format: The storage of dates and timestamps are not consistent between tables in Clarity. Some dates, like Task Start and Finish Dates, are recorded with specific timestamps. Some dates are recorded as the correct date with a timestamp of midnight. Some dates are recorded as a “plus 1” date, which means that the date stored in the table is one day later with a midnight timestamp. To avoid discrepancies, it is NOT recommended to use a date format with a timestamp.


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MSP Options – Schedule Scheduling Options for this Project: This should be set to “All New Projects” in order for the settings to be effective for all new projects and not just the one that is open. New Tasks Created: Automatic calculation is the preferred setting, but it is not required. If you select Manual Calculation, you must manually calculate the project before saving it to CA Clarity PPM. Duration is entered in: Duration should be tracked in days since this is the lowest level that CA Clarity PPM is able to track. Split in-progress tasks: When checked, remaining duration and work is rescheduled when a task slips or reports progress ahead of schedule. Tasks will always honor their constraint dates: Project will schedule tasks based on their constraint dates.

NOTE: CA Clarity PPM owns all “Calendar” data, so any options selected in the “Calendar Options” section will be ignored when saving the project schedule from MSP to CA Clarity PPM. Projects that are created in CA Clarity PPM will inherit the correct defaults in MSP. If new Projects can be created in MSP in your organization, make sure that the “Calendar Options” in this section match the settings in CA Clarity PPM, otherwise, you may see unexpected results when the schedule is opened from CA Clarity PPM to MSP in the future.


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MSP Options – Schedule (cont’d)

Calculate Project after each Edit: If “On” is selected, the project will automatically calculate after each edit.

Calculation Options for this Project: This should be set to “All New Projects” in order for the settings to be effective for all new projects and not just the one that is open.

Updating Task status updates Resource Status: If checked, resource actuals, remaining work (ETC) and costs are automatically updated when percent complete, actual duration or remaining duration is updated.

Inserted Projects are calculated like Summary Tasks: If checked on a master project, project will display a single critical path for the Master Project and all of its sub-projects.


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MSP Options – Save

Save Files in this Format: This option can be changed if you want to save the .mpp file in a format that’s compatible to an older version of MSP. Default File Location: When saving the .mpp file outside of CA Clarity PPM, you can change the default location where the file gets saved.


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MSP Options – Advanced (cont’d)

Allow Cell Drag and Drop: If checked, you can move cells by using the “drag and drop” functionality, moving the task ids with the task.


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MSP Options – AdvancedShow “Links between Projects” dialog box on open: This feature is incompatible with CA Clarity PPM external dependencies, and is ignored when selected.Calculation Options for this Project: This should be set to “All New Projects” in order for the settings to be effective for all new projects and not just the one that is open.Edits to Total Task % Complete will be spread to the status date: Unchecked will distribute the task percentage of completion changes to the end of the actual duration of the task.Calculate Multiple Critical Paths: When checked, late finish dates for tasks without successors or constraints are set to their early finish dates, making these tasks critical.


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Opening the Project Schedule in MSP


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From Clarity:Choose either (Read-Write) or (Read-Only) from the Project > Properties or Tasks tab:

● The Clarity “Scheduler Format” in Project > Properties needs to be set to “Microsoft Project”.

From MSP:Choose “Open” from the CA Clarity PPM Integration menu:

● You may be asked to login to Clarity.

● Choose the project from the “Open from Clarity” selection box.



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When opening a project schedule from CA Clarity PPM to MSP, an “.mpp” file is created on the local drive and then:

1. If the project was previously saved from MSP, that last saved “.mpp” file from the CA Clarity PPM database is downloaded and will overwrite the “.mpp” file on the local drive.

2. The MSP schedule will be updated with any changes that were made in CA Clarity PPM since the “.mpp” file was last saved.


• Actuals Posted from Timesheets• Task Level Updates• Project Team Updates • Resource Assignment Updates


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Improving Performance


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How can you decrease the amount of time it takes to export a project schedule from CA Clarity PPM to MSP?

Improving Performance

• Set the CA Clarity PPM default loading pattern to “Uniform” - which will map to a “Flat” work contour in MSP.

• Select in CA Clarity PPM Administration >

Project Management > Settings• Remove unnecessary assignments• Increase the memory on the workstation to at least 512 mg

(ideally 1G)


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MSP Prior Start, Prior Finish and Open for Time Entry Fields


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One of the biggest complaints from Project Managers is that CA Clarity PPM changed their MSP task dates in their project schedule.

● When many task dates change, it’s difficult for the PM to find the root cause.

● By default, Task Start and Finish Dates are already mapped between CA Clarity PPM and MSP. Those dates may change as Actuals are applied to the project schedule.

● You can extend the mapping table with the following MSP fields to make it easier:

Start10 Prior StartFinish10 Prior Finish

Prior Start and Prior Finish Fields


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● The extended mapping should NOT be bi-directional. It should be on “Export from Clarity” only.

● When a project schedule is exported from CA Clarity PPM to MSP, the Task Start and Finish Dates will be copied to both the MSP Start and Finish fields as well as the new Start10 and Finish10 fields.

● The Actuals are then applied to the schedule which may cause the original Task Start and Finish Dates to change, but not the new Start10 and Finish10 fields.



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The Project Manager is now able to compare the following fields to find the first task with a difference.

Start >> Prior StartFinish >> Prior Finish

You can then look at that task and any predecessors to see what Actuals were applied that caused the dates to change.



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● You can extend the mapping table by adding the “Open for Time Entry” (Flag11) field so Project Managers can better control what tasks are open for time entry from MSP.

● This should be a bidirectional mapping so the data flows from CA Clarity PPM to MSP and from MSP to Clarity.

● In CA Clarity PPM, the Open for Time Entry field defaults to “Yes” for new tasks and in MSP it defaults to “No” for new tasks.

Open for Time Entry


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Customizing MSP Views and Making them Global


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MSP 2007Tools menu > Organizer

MSP 2010File > Info > Organizer

MSP Organizer

When customizing views in MSP by rearranging columns or adding and removing fields, the changes are only visible in the project you’re currently working on.

You can copy your customization to the Global Template so all the changes are available in future projects, as well as projects that were created in the past.

To create a global template, open an empty project or the project that has the customization directly from MSP…


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Once the changes are made, you can see the active project’s customizations on the right-side panel of the Organizer.● From the “Views” tab, highlight all of the views from the right-side

panel and then click “<<Copy”.● Do the same for the “Tables” tab

MSP Organizer


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In Microsoft Project 2010, the organizer behaves a bit differently. By default, new views are automatically saved to the global template file and are made available to future projects (as are new tables associated with the view).

To change this setting, on the File tab, click Options, and then click Advanced. Find the setting in the Display section:

MSP 2010 Organizer Note

Changes to existing view elements are not automatically saved to the Global template with this setting. This only applies to NEW views, tables, filters and groups.


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Danette PurkisChubb Group of Insurance Companies

CA Clarity PPM & MSP Experience


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Resource Availability vs. Resource Calendar


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The CA Clarity PPM default Base Calendar is the “Standard” calendar. If you have resources in different locations that have different daily availability hours, you can create additional Base Calendars.

Base Calendars

Default shifts on the Standard Calendar represent 8 hours per day


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To represent a 7 hour work day, create a new calendar and choose the Standard calendar as the Base Calendar.

Base Calendars

Set the Shifts to represent the number of hours in the work day


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Resource CalendarSelect the correct Base Calendar for each resource from the Resource > Calendar page.

The Resource Availability on the Resource > Properties page will automatically update to reflect the working hours from the resource’s Base Calendar.


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● Do Not change a Resource’s Availability from the Resource > Properties page. This field is calculated based on the resource’s base calendar.

● If this is not done properly, you will see an invalid number in the Resource Availability field.

Resource Availability


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Allocation, Max Units andAssignment Units


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Allocation (Clarity) – the expected amount of time that a resource is expected to work on the project.

Max Units (MSP) – the maximum percentage of working time that a resource is available to work on project tasks.

Assignment Units (MSP) – the percentage of working time that a resource is assigned to work on that one task.

Allocation, Max Units & Assignment Units


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Allocation – Based on Percent

Allocation based on Percent:Enter the % Allocation on the Team > Resource > Properties page

As of CA Clarity PPM Release 13.1, the Allocation % is

“Average Allocation %”


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Allocation – Based on HoursAllocation based on Hours:Enter the number of Allocated Hours by time period

The % Allocation segments are calculated on the Properties page based on the Allocation Hours entered.


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The 36% comes from the Allocation % Segment that matches the current date. In Clarity, it’s displayed to the hundredths, but is rounded to a whole number in MSP.

Max UnitsAverage Allocation % and Allocation Hours from Clarity Team Page:

MSP Resource Sheet – Max Units:


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Assignment UnitsWhen Tasks are created and resources are assigned, the Assignment Units for each resource is defaulted from their Max Units.

The two tasks below were entered with 40 hours of work and then assigned to each resource.

Since Jerry’s Assignment Units is 100% on a 40 Work Hour task, the Task Duration was calculated to be 5 days.

Sine Lisa’s Assignment Units is 36% on a 40 Work Hour task, the Task Duration was calculated to be 14 days.

Note: The Assignment Units for a resource on a task can be changed when assigning the resource to the task. This will not change the Max Units.


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Back in CA Clarity PPM….Since MSP rounds Max Units to a whole number, the Allocation % Segments are rounded to a whole number after saving the schedule back to CA Clarity PPM.

Based on those new Allocation % Segments, the Allocation Hours get recalculated.


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Auto/Manually Scheduled Tasks and Peak Units – New in MSP 2010


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In MSP 2010, project can schedule tasks using two methods:

○ Auto Scheduled – Task Dates are automatically adjusted based on changes to Task Dependencies, Constraints and Project Calendars.

○ Manually Scheduled (Default) – Changes to Task Dependencies, Constraints and Project Calendars DO NOT automatically adjust Task Dates. Resource Calendars are ignored.

Project Managers can control the Scheduling Method for specific tasks, as well as for the entire project.

Auto and Manually Scheduled Tasks


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Manually Scheduled Tasks

Tasks 1 and 2 are Manually Scheduled. Duration is a text field and the Task Dates are not populated.

Tasks 3 and 4 are Automatically Scheduled. Duration is a numeric field and the Task Dates are automatically populated based on the Project Dates. • Manually Scheduled Tasks cannot be Effort Driven

• You can switch scheduling modes on a task, but Project will make decisions when switching from Manual to Automatic. For example, if text is entered for the Duration, Project will set the Duration to a default of 1d.


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To always open MSP in the Auto Scheduled mode:○ In MSP, click on File > Options > Schedule Tab:

○ Select “All New Projects” for “Scheduling Options for this Project” and “Auto Scheduled” for “New Tasks Created”.

Auto Scheduled


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Manually Scheduled Tasks are constrained by both their Start and Finish Dates. If a date change occurs on one of their predecessor tasks, there will be NO IMPACT on the manually scheduled task.

If you want a Manually Scheduled Task rescheduled based on its predecessor, click on the “Respect Links” icon on the Task Tab.

If you want all tasks to always respect date changes on predecessors, change the Task mode to “Auto Scheduled”.

Manually Scheduled Tasks


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In MSP 2010, when initially scheduling or later rescheduling a task, the Assignment Units value is used, but Peak Units is used for resource’s maximum peak units.

In previous versions of MSP, if a resource charges more hours than planned in one day on a Fixed Unit task, the Assignment Units would get recalculated.

At a later time, if you change the Duration on that task, Work would get recalculated based off of the new Assignment Unit Value, not the one that was originally planned.

Assignment Units vs. Peak Units


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Example:Resource is assigned to a “Fixed Unit” task at 100% for one day, so MSP will calculate 8 hours of work.

Resource works 10 hours on that day…

In MSP versions prior to 2010, the Assignment Units would have recalculated to 125%

Assignment Units vs. Peak Units


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Understanding Task Types


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MSP uses the following scheduling formula when calculating tasks:

Work = Duration * Assignment Units

Each value of the formula corresponds to a Task Type:Fixed Work

Fixed DurationFixed Units

Which task type should be used? It depends on the processes in the organization.

Task Types


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If work hours are used to estimate how long deliverables will take on a project based on resource assignment. All Fixed Work tasks are Effort Driven.

Example:● Team Leads will look at project requirements and provide an

estimate in hours for each project deliverable.

● Project Managers will estimate how many hours each deliverable will take based on experience or a project sizing tool.

Fixed Work


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If Duration (number of days) is used to estimate how many hours deliverables will take to complete based on resource assignment.

Example:● Team Leads will provide the estimated number of days or

weeks that deliverables will take to complete.

● Project Managers will estimate how many days each deliverable will take based on experience or a project sizing tool.

Fixed Duration


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If resources are managed and allocated to projects based on a percentage of their time or if projects are estimated based on the number of resources needed in each role, then “Fixed Units” would work.Example: ● “Resource A” is assigned to a project for 100% of their time to

work on tasks. It’s the Resource Manager’s responsibility to make sure they are adequately utilized.

● Projects are estimated and staffed with one Project Manager, two Business Analysts, four Software Engineers, etc…

Fixed Unit


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Task Type is:

If you revise Units…

If you revise Work… If you revise Duration…

Fixed Units Duration changes Durationchanges

Workchanges

Fixed Work Duration changes Duration changes

Peak changes

Fixed Duration Work changes

Peak changes

Work Changes

Task Type CalculationsMSP 2010:

MSP 2007 and prior:

Task TypeIf you revise

Units…If you revise

Work… If you revise Duration…

Fixed Units Duration changes Durationchanges

Workchanges

Fixed Work Duration changes Duration changes

Assignment Units changes

Fixed Duration Work changes

Assignment Units changes

Work Changes


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Maintaining the Project Schedule & Why Task Dates Change


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Once a resource charges time to a project and those hours are posted as Actuals, the Project Manager needs to frequently maintain the project schedule.

Maintaining the Project Schedule

Step 1: Open the Project Schedule from CA Clarity PPM to MSP

Step 2: Review new Actual Work Hours to ensure they look accurate


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● Step 3: For Tasks that are Complete:

1. Verify that the Remaining Work field is zero (0). If there are hours, enter zero (0), which will reduce the Work field so it matches the Actual Work field.

2. Enter “100%” in the “% Complete” field

3. Mark the task as “Not Open for Time Entry”



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Step 3 – For Tasks that are Complete - Cont’d

To “Close” this Task:

RIGHT WAY:Enter “0” for Remaining WorkEnter “100” for % Complete

WRONG WAY:Enter “100” for % Complete

Work was planned to take 40 hours, but the task was completed with 16 hours:


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Step 4: For Tasks that are still in progress:

• Adjust any Work hours that need to be increased

• Verify that all tasks have values in the Remaining Work field

• Reschedule any task with a “Finish Date” in the past

• Reschedule any task with a “Start Date” in the past that hasn’t started yet



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When Actual Work hours are posted to projects via Clarity Timesheets, tasks dates in Microsoft Project may change the next time the project schedule is opened in MSP.

How Actuals affect the Project Schedule


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Actuals – Same Number of Hours

Thu1/23

Fri1/24

Mon1/27

Tue1/28

Wed1/29

Thu1/30

Assigned Hours 8 8 8 8 8

Hours Enteredon Timesheet 8 8

Resource submitted their timesheet with the same number of hours assigned.

Assigned Hours vs. Actual Hours:

Results:


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Actuals – Less Hours Resource submitted their timesheet with FEWER hours than assigned.


Results:Since only 4 of the 8 hours that were assigned were recorded, the duration increased by .5 days for both the Fixed Units and Fixed Work Task Types.

Thu1/23

Fri1/24

Mon1/27

Tue1/28

Wed1/29

Thu1/30


Hours Enteredon Timesheet 8 8 4


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Actuals – Less Hours (Cont’d)

The Fixed Duration task didn’t change the duration, but distributed the additional 4 hours over the last two days so Work is now 10 hours for Tuesday and Wednesday


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Actuals – More Hours Resource submitted their timesheet with MORE hours than assigned.


Results:The Fixed Units and Fixed Work task Durations went back down to 5 days since the resource “caught” up.

Thu1/23

Fri1/24

Mon1/27

Tue1/28

Wed1/29

Thu1/30


Hours Enteredon Timesheet 8 8 4 12


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Actuals – More Hours (Cont’d)

The Fixed Duration assigned hours for Wednesday went back down to 8 hours since the resource submitted additional hours the day before.


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Actuals – Skipped a DayResource skipped the last day of assigned work and then entered less hours on the day after the task was supposed to finish.


Results:Since zero hours were recorded on Wednesday, the task gets split. Fixed Units and Fixed Work task types will calculate Duration without counting the days in between the split. Fixed Duration tasks WILL count the days in the middle of the split.

Thu1/23

Fri1/24

Mon1/27

Tue1/28

Wed1/29

Thu1/30

Fri1/31


Hours Enteredon Timesheet 8 8 4 12 0 4


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Actuals – Skipped a Day (Cont’d)

The Task Finish Dates all changed to Friday, 1/31 to accommodate the extra 4 hours needed to complete the task.


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Saving the Project Scheduleto Clarity


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To save a project schedule that was opened from CA Clarity PPM to MSP, click on the “Save” button under the “CA Clarity PPM Integration” menu.

Save to Clarity

When the schedule has been saved back to CA Clarity PPM, you will see a “Project successfully Saved” message flash on the screen.


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Save As to ClarityThe “Save As” button should only be used to save the existing project schedule as a new project in Clarity or if you want to copy the project schedule to another project in Clarity.


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If you would like to work on the project schedule offline or disconnected from Clarity, you can:

Save to your Local Drive

• Open the Project from Clarity to MSP in the Read/Write mode

• From the MSP file menu, click File > Save As and select a location on your local hard drive.

• Exit out of MSP

You can now work on the project schedule that was saved to your local drive. Clarity will maintain a lock on the project until it is successfully saved back to Clarity. When you’re ready to save it back to Clarity, open the file, click on “Save” under the CA Clarity PPM Integration Toolbar. You may need to log back into Clarity.


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Questions

Contact US888.813.0444

Email [email protected]

Web Sitewww.regoconsulting.com

For CA Clarity PPM and Microsoft Project Integration questions, training needs or for more information, you can contact:

Rego ConsultingLisa OlsenAustin, Texas

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.regoconsulting.com/

www.regoconsulting.comphone: 1-888-813-0444 best practices for a successful transition integrating...

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