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Integrating MSP with Clarity

Integrating MSP with Clarity. Best Practices for a Successful Transition. Topics. 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

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Integrating MSP with Clarity

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  1. Integrating MSP with Clarity Best Practices for a Successful Transition

  2. Topics • 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

  3. Overview 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.

  4. CA Clarity PPM Schedule Connect 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.

  5. CA Clarity PPM Scheduling Options

  6. CA Clarity PPM Scheduling Options • Clarity Gantt View – Autoschedule • Microsoft Project 2007 - 2010 – 2013 • Open Workbench 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.

  7. Clarity Gantt View & Autoschedule 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

  8. Open Workbench 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

  9. Microsoft Project 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

  10. New Functionality

  11. New Functionality and Improvements Clarity Release 12.1 Lookup 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 13.2 Projects 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.

  12. New Functionality and Improvements Clarity Release 13.3 • Resource Leveling in MSP is now supported. • 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

  13. New Functionality and Improvements Clarity Release 13.3 (Cont’d) • 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. • The MSP Interface is installed silently without any user intervention.

  14. Robert NewellAdeccoCA Clarity PPM & MSP Experience

  15. MSP Setup Options

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

  17. 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.

  18. 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. 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. Tasks will always honor their constraint dates: Project will schedule tasks based on their constraint dates.

  19. 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.

  20. 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.

  21. 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.

  22. MSP Options – Advanced Show “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.

  23. Opening the Project Schedule in MSP

  24. Opening the Project Schedule in MSP 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. 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”.

  25. Opening the Project Schedule in MSP When opening a project schedule from CA Clarity PPM to MSP, an “.mpp” file is created on the local drive and then: • 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. • The MSP schedule will be updated with any changes that were made in CA Clarity PPM since the “.mpp” file was last saved. • ActualsPosted from Timesheets • Task Level Updates • Project Team Updates • Resource Assignment Updates

  26. Improving Performance

  27. Improving Performance How can you decrease the amount of time it takes to export a project schedule from CA Clarity PPM to MSP? • 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)

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

  29. Prior Start and Prior Finish Fields 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 Start Finish10 Prior Finish

  30. Prior Start and Prior Finish Fields • 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.

  31. Prior Start and Prior Finish Fields The Project Manager is now able to compare the following fields to find the first task with a difference. Start >> Prior Start Finish >> Prior Finish You can then look at that task and any predecessors to see what Actuals were applied that caused the dates to change.

  32. Open for Time Entry • 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.

  33. Customizing MSP Views and Making them Global

  34. MSP Organizer MSP 2007 Tools menu > Organizer MSP 2010 File > Info > 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…

  35. MSP Organizer 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

  36. MSP 2010 Organizer Note 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: 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.

  37. Danette PurkisChubb Group of Insurance CompaniesCA Clarity PPM & MSP Experience

  38. Resource Availability vs. Resource Calendar

  39. Base Calendars 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. Default shifts on the Standard Calendar represent 8 hours per day

  40. Base Calendars To represent a 7 hour work day, create a new calendar and choose the Standard calendar as the Base Calendar. Set the Shifts to represent the number of hours in the work day

  41. Resource Calendar Select 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.

  42. Resource Availability • 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.

  43. Allocation, Max Units andAssignment Units

  44. Allocation, Max Units & Assignment Units 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.

  45. 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 %”

  46. Allocation – Based on Hours Allocation 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.

  47. Max Units Average Allocation % and Allocation Hours from Clarity Team Page: MSP Resource Sheet – Max Units: 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.

  48. Assignment Units When 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.

  49. 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.

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

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