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June 28
EPM Live Rocks the Gartner PPM and IT Summit
by  Heather Champoux-RaynerNo presence information  on 6/28/2011 4:31 PM

Last week EPM Live sponsored the Gartner PPM & IT Governance Summit which took place in our very own sunny San Diego.  Our booth was full of excitement as we spent two days demonstrating WorkEngine's newly enhanced PPM and IT Work Management capabilities. 

WorkEngine was recently rated in the new Gartner Marketscope for Project and Portfolio Management Applications so we had a lot to celebrate as we kicked off the conference on Monday afternoon.  WorkEngine, represented as the "SharePoint Answer to PPM", drew a large audience interested in expanding their underutilized SharePoint collaboration systems into full PPM solutions.  

Although SharePoint-based PPM was a hot topic, so was online services.  As Gartner predicted, SaaS solutions are on the rise and we definitely felt the heat as we answered all of the common SaaS questions that circulated the show floor.  PPM online is definitely the new rage and with WorkEngine's affordable, quick and easy PPM online solution, the response was incredible!

But for those of you who know us well, it can't be all work and no play.  EPM Live hosted a rockin' EPM Live concert event in the historic Gaslamp District Monday night to help attendees wind down from the day's events.  The EPM Live party limo bus escorted conference attendees to and from the event to give everyone the full rock star experience.  The EPM Live band was there to welcome the crowd as we rocked the night away.  EPM Live partners, customers and conference attendees filled the venue and helped make this year's conference one of the best!  To check out more party pics from the evenings event, click here.  As for the conference, well, it was top notch!  We hope to see you next year!

photo.JPGdsc_0057.jpgdsc_0014.jpgdsc_0078.jpg

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June 22
Use Microsoft Office and #SharePoint to Extract Data from WorkEngine’s Reporting Database – Part 2
by  Elaine MeyerNo presence information  on 6/22/2011 3:41 PM

This is part two on Microsoft Office 2010 and ad-hoc reporting, this time focusing on the administrator’s responsibilities in setup. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.

Today, I’ll cover an approach to design & implement a centralized structure using reports from the WorkEngine system. In this case, I am assuming that you have SharePoint Foundation as your back-end to WorkEngine.

A SIDE NOTE: If you are a SharePoint 2010 Enterprise or Project Server 2010 administrator, the Excel Services infrastructure setup & technical requirements are very well documented by Microsoft on TechNet. You will want to use Microsoft’s documentation to configure Excel Services before applying any of the concepts in this article.
 
I recommend having a written plan, for several reasons:
 
1)    Having your general approach written down helps identify gaps and limitations upfront
2)    The simple exercise of planning “who needs what” ensures that people don’t see things they shouldn’t see, and,
3)    At the end of the day, employees can be more efficient -- they only have to review the reports which they actually need
 
Here is an outline that you, as an administrator, can reference for the design and implementation of centralized reports based on WorkEngine, whether it is your own custom report or one from our Reporting Starter Kits:
 
Goals:
1.    Have a solution that is relevant to the end user, with proper security
2.    Use existing software (no new purchases)
3.    Reduce administrative overhead & increase staff efficiency
 
First steps:
·         Know the groups and/or names of people who need to consume WorkEngine reports
·         Select which WorkEngine reports will be stored online (in SharePoint)
·         Determine which users need to access which reports
·         Determine the expectations for data load/refresh
 
Implementation Approach:
Ø  In SharePoint Foundation 2010, create one library for report files, and one library for data connection files.
 
Ø  Require “check-out” to make changes on the files in these libraries.
 
Ø  Attach custom security to each of the libraries, or create folders inside the libraries and attach custom security at the folder level
o    You may use both of these options to achieve your desired result.
o    Part of this security should be that only Administrators can check out (modify) the report files or data connections. All other users should have read-only access.
 
Ø  Upload each report to its proper place and upload each data connection file to its place
 
Ø  Connect the reports stored online to the data connection files stored online using the user guides provided with the Reporting Kit download
 
Ø  Test opening the report files, to see how long the report takes to download and open in the client application. You may also be able to modify the report library settings to make the experience more user-friendly
 
Ø  Setup a walk-through of the reports with a focus group or the original requestor, to make sure all of the technical requirements are met
 
Ø  Publish a link to the report files stored online in your site Links library, or in an easy-to-access location for the users.
 
Ø   Provide instructions for users to refresh data since the refresh will not be automatic
 
Using this model, an administrator can easily make modifications to the report configuration, layout, or the data connection file, which is then available to all users who have access.
 
Explore this topic further
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June 20
WorkEngine #Agile Management - Expanding Iterative Planning Outside of Software Development
by  Heather Champoux-RaynerNo presence information  on 6/20/2011 2:20 PM

​The Agile trend has been rapidly increasing now that the practices are more easily understood and adopted, and tools have become more increasingly available.  While Agile is definitely more prominent within the software development community, we’ve found customers finding new and innovative ways to leverage iterative planning outside of software development projects.  Since WorkEngine supports both standard waterfall scheduling approaches, along with iterative planning, organizations have been able to leverage one solution across multiple departments.

For example,  one of our customers has a department with a need to manage their monthly publications.  Key requirements that influenced them to use iterative planning include: 

  • Short cycles with repeated activities
  • Frequent releases of publications
  • Highest priority items are addressed first
  • Finish date is firm but scope might be changed
  • Need to easily move work items among iterations 

To meet these requirements, each monthly publication is represented as an iteration within WorkEngine.  Users can create, name and time-box these iterations associated to publications for management and tracking capabilities.  Managers easily create tasks, sub-tasks and general activities and associate them to a specific publication (iteration).  They then define the complexity (points) or workload (effort) to a specific monthly publication and resource within their WorkEngine solution to balance the workload.  As such, managers now have the capability to plan and coordinate resource workload to ensure proper placement, expertise and efficiency for each publication (iteration).  Work items that don’t make a specific publication can be easily dragged into another publication iteration.  

In addition, some articles may span several iterations.  WorkEngine’s Agile solution allows them to associate each article to several tasks or activities within each iteration(s).  Combine the powerful iteration planning WorkEngine offers, along with the other work management capabilities such as workflow/approvals,  content management and financial management and you have one simple to use solution to manage across multiple department needs.

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June 15
How to Edit Time and Work Status in WorkEngine's #SharePoint Timesheets
by  Brandon BakerNo presence information  on 6/15/2011 12:38 PM

​I have had several questions recently asking, "Why do we have to enter time and work status or work item meta data separately?"  This question is typically followed by a statement along the lines of "It seems so cumbersome." or "It's time consuming and frustrating.".  

My answer is always that "You don't have to!".

Time and Status.PNG

I'm guessing there are others out there with the same question so I felt that I should shed some light on the subject.  You absolutely can edit work item status information and/or meta data such as % Complete, Start Date, Finish Date, etc., right from the WorkEngine timesheet!  In fact, you should be! We are all about making life and collaboration much easier.  

How you might ask?  It's simple:

  1. Navigate to the "General Settings" page located in "List Settings" for the My Timesheet list. (List Settings -> General Settings)
    General Settings.png
  2. Check the boxes for "Default to Edit Mode" and "Allow Edit Toggle" if they are not already checked.  Click Save button.
    Edit Mode.png

    As long as the internal column names of the columns in the My Timesheet Lists are the same as the internal columns names of the Work Lists, you will be able to edit those columns in My Timesheet!  

That's it!  Simple.  Now you can add time to the work items and update the status and meta data all at the same time.  Also, when you save your timesheet the values you changed for the items is copied to the workspace where the items actually resides.    Pretty sweet huh?

 

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June 09
#SharePoint 2010 Tips and Tricks: Upload a File in the Middle of Writing an Announcement
by  Elaine MeyerNo presence information  on 6/9/2011 3:52 PM

Today I found myself in this predicament:

I was writing a new post in the Announcements list on my project workspace, and I wanted to insert a link to the document I was referencing in the post. But, the document was not already uploaded to my SharePoint Site.
 
Back in SharePoint 2007, that would mean that I have to go upload the document, and then come back to the announcement, and copy the URL from the location I stored it, and try to remember what I was writing...but for 2010…Microsoft improved the product!
 
To clarify – posting an Announcement is very simple: Title, Body, Expires (expiration date). But now in 2010, when I click into the “Body” section, a ribbon lights up and I have two tabs: Format Text and Insert.
 
On the Insert tab, there are four options. Under the Links group, is the new option for 2010: Upload file.

AnncNewItem.png

SharePoint 2007 offers Insert Table, Insert Hyperlink (you provide the address), and Insert Image as separate buttons that are activated when you click into the Body field of the Announcement (in Edit mode).
 
The Upload File option is dynamic. It lets you browse to a local directory for the document that you want to upload, and then specify the site location for where you want to store this document as well. The Upload To menu will pull down all the document libraries that you have permission to:

AnncUploadDoc.png

I know it’s a small thing, but I found the addition cool and intuitive.
 
Other applications for this kind of functionality might be if I just created a new Excel-based report, and wanted to announce the availability of the report to my team.
 
Or, if we have a new form required for all systems owned by my department, I could blast the news and upload the new file at the same time!
 
Perhaps I just setup an EPM WorkEngine site, and I want to share my Project Plan presentation with everyone who comes to the site for the first time: right there on the home page in my Announcements list.
 
There are myriad applications for this time-saving trick. And, really, it’s the sum of efficiencies throughout the day that add up to better productivity as information workers.
 
I’m pretty happy I found this little trick, and plan to use it next time I have the opportunity.
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June 03
Use Microsoft Office and SharePoint to Extract Data from WorkEngine's Reporting Database – Part 1
by  Elaine MeyerNo presence information  on 6/3/2011 4:01 PM

I want to take some time to talk about Microsoft Office 2010 and ad-hoc reporting in WorkEngine.

In this first of two posts, I will review the basic premise of ad-hoc reporting: a business user, or end user’s ability to directly manipulate data - specifically, data from WorkEngine's SQL database, and data in Microsoft Office Excel 2010.
 
To do this, I will use the example of an Office Data Connection file with the WorkEngine Reporting Solution and provide a practical outline for creating a data connection file that extracts information from that particular SQL database.
 
The concept of directly connecting to a database is extensible, and the needs of an organization should be well-thought out in order for the technology to be really useful and well-performing. The many details of administering and architecting an ad-hoc reporting solution that uses Office 2010 to connect to a custom SQL database are probably impossible to blog, but I will create a second part to this post that covers the ideas behind SharePoint administration and ad-hoc reporting architecture, with these technical assumptions and best practices in mind.
 
Getting back to the topic at hand, the outline I will walk you through now is technical by nature, but you just need to know that what you are doing is opening a door to your data. I hope you will understand the basic concept of how a data connection works at the end. Also, my hope is that you will feel confident in extracting your own data from the LOB applications your organization uses.
 
To start, I am using Excel 2010 and WorkEngine 2010 (which is built on SharePoint 2010). Yes, only the latest and greatest for this gal! However, if you are using an earlier version of any of those applications, the concept is adaptable. (If you are a 2007 WorkEngine/SharePoint/Office customer, let me know how I can help with the correlation.)
 
For practical application of this exercise, you will need to have a WorkEngine site collection, with a reporting database, and that setup information. If you are a hosted EPM Live customer, the information you need was sent to the Site Collection Administrator in an email, similar to the one below. 
ReportingSetupInfo.PNG
WorkEngine Reporting Information: Sample Email
 
If you are not an EPM Live customer, but would like to follow along with practical application of the outline, create a trial site by filling out this form.
 
If you setup your own WorkEngine site collection, use this reference table to associate the types of information you need to participate with other commonly used names:
 
#
Item
Also known as
Examples
1
Server Name
Data Source, Connection String
 
EPM Live Hosted: mydb.epmlive.com,42069
In-house/Onsite:  *per  IT policy
2
Database Name
Initial Catalog, Database
 
EPM Live Hosted: _RPTworkenginesite
In-house/Onsite:  *per  IT policy
3
Login
Username, User ID
 
EPM Live Hosted: RPTworkenginesite
In-house/Onsite:  *per  IT policy
4
Password
Passwords are passwords…
 
EPM Live Hosted: *randomly generated
In-house/Onsite:  *per  IT policy
Connection String Information: Reference Table
 
Here is the practical outline that I would recommend to get started with extracting data.
 
Open Microsoft Excel 2010 to begin.
 
Go to the Data tab. Look for the From Other Sources button and choose From SQL Server on the menu.
CreateFromSQLServer.png
Initiate the Data Connection Wizard
 
Enter your database Server name and the Log on credentials when prompted.
This example uses the online database server name: mydb.epmlive.com,42069, and a demo site name:
DataConnectionWizard_1.png     
Data Connection Wizard: Connect to Database Server
 
Notice the available databases in the next dialogue box, which is based on the server you entered. Pull the drop down menu and select your database name.
 
The list that is populated in the larger window, once you select your database name, is a list of all the tables now available for that specific database. Find the one that contains the data you want to extract.
 
For my EPM Live customers: Here is a summary of our most popular EPM and Application Management template list names and corresponding table names. There is a link at the end of this post for you to download Reporting Starter Kits that leverage some of these lists.
Default WorkEngine List Name
Corresponding Table in Reporting Solution
Project Center
LSTProjectCenter
Task Center
LSTTaskCenter
Issues
LSTIssues
Risks
LSTRisks
Actions
LSTActions
Changes
LSTChanges
Resources
LSTResourcePool
My Timesheet
RPTTSData
Applications
LSTApplications
Backlog
LSTBacklog
Releases
LSTReleases
Test Cases
LSTTestCases
Features
LSTFeatures
EPM Live Customers: Popular WorkEngine template list table names
 
I’m using the second part of the “Your Connection String” bullet from the EPM Live Online Services email to select the database name, and also choosing the WorkEngine Timesheet table.
 
If you don’t Connect to a specific table during this step, you will be prompted to select the table you want to extract when the data connection is refreshed. 
DataConnectionWizard_3.png
Data Connection Wizard: Select Database and Table
 
Side note (from above screenshot) on RPTLog, RPTPeriods, RPTResLink, RPTSettings, and RPTWork: these tables are part of the WorkEngine Reporting Solution base schema, which has a point-in-time snapshot capability. Ultimately, the solution makes trend reporting across the platform successful, as it could include any SharePoint list. See the links at the end of this post for more info on the WorkEngine Reporting Solution.
 
The last screen for creating the Data Connection has a lot of detail. I will explain these areas one by one:
DataConnectionWizard_4.png
Data Connection Wizard: Save Data Connection File and Finish
 
1.    File Name – these file types always use the extension ODC (for Office Data Connection). If you are storing the file locally, use as many words as you need to in order to have a clear description. If you are planning to store the file on a SharePoint site, consider that the file name will be part of the URL – you may want to make it as short as possible while remaining descriptive.
2.    Browse – save this file to a location other than the default. The Windows 7 default location is C:\Users\[username]\Documents\My Data Sources.
3.    Save Password in file – a handy option for connections using SQL authentication, but this option will warn you if you don’t have encryption, which may or may not be a security requirement at your company. Check with your IT group if you are not sure.
4.    Description – standard Multi-line text field. 255 character max. Write a description that explains how the data connection is meant to be used. That way you can remember why you set it up later!
5.    Friendly Name – in my experience, this comes into play when you import data as a table, and then reference the table in the same (or another) workbook. Excel will reference the outbound connection to the table by this ‘Friendly Name’ property.
6.    Search Keywords: I haven’t used this but it seems pretty straightforward.
7.    Always attempt to use this file to refresh data – very handy option for deployments where the Administrator is configuring reports for a business on the back-end and then pushing them out for consumption. We will go into that setup in part 2.
8.    Excel Services: Authentication settings… - I may cover these options in a later post. Excel Services is a SharePoint 2010 Enterprise feature, and is optional as part of the architecture for data extraction from a SQL warehouse.
 
I would highly recommend that you make a note of the configuration options that you chose before you click Finish!
 
Once you click Finish, the Import Data wizard pops up immediately. You will most likely want to use the connection to generate a Pivot Table or a combo Pivot Table + Chart, but you can do a flat extract as a table as well.
 
Here is a non-exhaustive list of reasons to import data as a Table:
·         When you need a local copy of the entire database table in your workbook in order to build charts or pivot tables from a point-in-time version of the data
·         When you need to insert a custom formula(s) that should be dynamically calculated based on inserted or removed rows from the source data (which would happen on a refresh)
·         When you need to perform ad-hoc queries of the database table for different views of the information
·         When you need an export of the entire database table for use (import) to another LOB application
ImportDataDialogue.PNG
Import Data kicks off after the Data Connection Wizard closes
 
By default the data goes into the Existing worksheet, and looks something like this:
 ImportDataResultsfromPivotTableChart.png
Result of selecting Import Data as Pivot Table and Chart Option
 
Technically, we are done with what we set out to do at this point, which was to extract data from SQL into MS Office.
 
But, now that you know how easy it is to unlock that door, I know that what you really want to do is create a snazzy report.
 
So, bust out a few drag & drop moves, spice it up with a pre-designed MS chart layout……and… there it is! Comin’ in hot... J
 
But just in case you need a bit more guidance, here are the references that I used to get savvy when I first started:
 
Ø  For help with charts & pivot tables, the Microsoft Excel Online Help site is at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/
 
Ø  For more information on WorkEngine Reporting capabilities: http://workengine.com/Product/Capabilities/Reporting.aspx
 
EPM Live product customers: you can download WorkEngine Reporting Starter Kits from the EPM Live KB: http://kb.epmlive.com/DownloadsandUpgrades.aspx
 
Next time, I’ll take a look at the Administrator’s burden in the ad-hoc reporting setup, and lay out how to setup centralized data connections with SharePoint 2010.
​
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June 01
EPM Live Sets Sail with Carnival Cruise Lines!
by  Heather Champoux-RaynerNo presence information  on 6/1/2011 4:29 PM
Category: Articles; In the News

This past Memorial Day Holiday the EPM Live corporate office was quiet; however, the Carnival Cruise Ship Paradise was hopping with reggae music and laughter as the EPM Live crew embarked the ship in Long Beach California.  All aboard the Lido Deck!!!  EPM Live has a tight crew of hard working professionals that enjoy each other's company and will take every chance to fit in a little team building when the opportunity presents itself.  This was our third annual cruise on the Carnival Cruise Ship Paradise with a diverse crew of product development, sales and services staff.   

Hosting corporate team events has proven advantageous for EPM Live.  At EPM Live we believe our number one asset is our employees. Without our employees, we could not provide the quality of products and services we are so proud of today.  This cruise offers us the opportunity to show our appreciation for the EPM Live team’s continuous effort.  It is also provides the team with an enjoyable event to enhance the teams’ cooperation, and encourage initiative and leadership traits we value.
 
Not only are we supporting our employees, but also our Customer!   EPM Live has successfully partnered with Carnival Cruise to deploy WorkEngine and PortfolioEngine to address their work, project and portfolio management needs!  I am looking forward to another year of continued success as our summer release sets sail soon!  Hope to see you on our voyage…
​

 

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May 25
Reporting and Enterprise Reporting: Which SharePoint 2010 Business Intelligence Approach is Best?
by  Elaine MeyerNo presence information  on 5/25/2011 2:31 PM

Reporting solutions range from complex, technically challenging infrastructure types to simple, ad-hoc reporting from a client-based application. Often, the most difficult aspect of selecting a solution is the process of understanding what the organization really needs.

The success factors of implementation are basically three-fold:
 
1.    The level of commitment and sponsorship of the project from senior management
2.    The level of business need for creating a BI implementation
3.    The amount and quality of business data available
 
In this post, I have analyzed some of the most popular and most common reporting solutions for SharePoint 2010, mentioning both benefits and challenges. An organization may need one, some or all of these reporting solutions to meet their enterprise needs. In practice, all of these solutions are compatible in an infrastructure properly designed with the whole in mind and can be deployed in totality.
  
Summary of Reporting and Enterprise Reporting Solutions:
 
SharePoint Reporting Options
WorkEngine Reporting Solution
Benefits Description
SharePoint Web Part Pages/Dashboard
WorkEngine Chart Web Part Template Pack:
 
 
Low-impact to infrastructure
 
Leverages SharePoint Out of Box web part pages, high flexibility
 
Commonly tracked project information and will save you valuable time with the ability to place them in any Web Part Zone in your WorkEngine application.
 
Microsoft Office (Excel, Access) connected directly to a reporting database
WorkEngine Excel Report Packs:
 
General Instructions for setting up Excel to connect to WorkEngine Reporting Database:
 
WorkEngine Preconfigured Excel Reports:
 
 
WorkEngine Preconfigured Timesheet Reporting:
 
Low-impact to infrastructure (usually little to no change required to setup)
 
Report design is easily modified and updated
 
Commonly used Excel based application for managing and reporting
Web-based Microsoft Office (Excel, Access) rendered through SharePoint
WorkEngine Excel Report Packs:
 
General Instructions for setting up Excel to connect to WorkEngine Reporting Database:
 
WorkEngine Preconfigured Excel Reports:
 
 
WorkEngine Preconfigured Timesheet Reporting:
 
 
Medium-impact to infrastructure, requiring technical resources to implement
 
Report design is easily modified and updated as organizational changes flow down
 
Reports are centralized through technical design and maintained as part of the SharePoint farm
 
Web-based SQL Reporting Services reports stored on SharePoint
WorkEngine SSRS Report Pack:
 
 
High-impact to infrastructure, requiring specialized technical resources to implement
 
Report design is tightly controlled
 
Reports are centralized through technical design and maintained as part of the SharePoint farm
 
Reports performance is based on SQL server stability and performance, which can handle millions of rows
 
Web-based KPIs and dashboards using PerformancePoint in SharePoint
Performance Point integration with WorkEngine Reporting Database
 
WorkEngine Reporting Database Info:  Please review section 7 of our Administration and Configuration Guide.
 
 
 
High-impact to infrastructure, requiring specialized technical resources to implement
 
Report design is tightly controlled
 
Reports are centralized through technical design and maintained as part of the SharePoint farm
 
Reports performance is based on SharePoint server stability and performance, and can handle millions of rows
 
No end-user training is required to consume the reports, and they are generated automatically
 
 

 

Weigh the technical and organizational challenges, your business requirements and the three success factors mentioned upfront to discover which reporting solution will work best for you.
 
You can always start with the most simple, extensible option and grow into a more complex solution over time. At the very least, I would recommend to first try the solution with the lowest initial investment (whichever one that is for you) for a period of time, and then do a re-assessment on whether the organization’s business intelligence needs are satisfied.​
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March 03
Implementing a PPM System- Considerations and Benefits
by  Heather Champoux-RaynerNo presence information  on 3/3/2011 4:38 PM

Most organizations today looking to implement a Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) System have identified numerous business specific challenges that need resolution.  Can a PPM solution address business challenges out-of-the box?  Absolutely; however, relying on a system to do all the work will only lead to tool resistance and frustration.  You must first understand the following:

  1. What are your biggest challenges/pain points you are looking to resolve with a PPM Solution?
  2. What are the strengths of the current PPM process and/or toolset?
  3. What are the weaknesses of the current PPM process and/or toolset?
With today's technology it IS possible to implement a system with less effort and fewer costs than ever before, but the ability to do it successfully without the proper planning is highly unlikely.  As I have shown before in previous PM maturity discussions, in order to make the technology successful you must have a balanced combination of people, processes and technology in order to improve the business. 

A successful PPM implementation begins with identifying and understanding clearly defined goals, carefully planning the strategy to obtain those goals, and a vision to complete the goals through controlled execution.  Most organizations are already performing tactical run the business activities when a PPM system is introduced.  By introducing strategic planning into the mix you can expect to move into a new dimension of growth and profitability for an overall competitive advantage.

tactandstratplanning.png

What benefits can you expect to see with a PPM Solution/System?
  • Better decision making capabilities- With proper visibility into your investments along with powerful PPM analytics tools such as portfolio modeling (what-if analysis) and capacity planning, managers will have the information they need to make more informed decisions.  Through execution, as changes are introduced to your environment, real-time impacts can be analyzed and addressed.
  • Process improvements- Functionality such as stage gating, portfolio optimization and resource negotiations will help improve internal processes by backing process with technology.  Methodologies and standards can be introduced as projects are selected enforcing best practice alignment.
  • A strategically aligned portfolio- Choosing the right projects to implement is key in meeting business objectives and maximizing ROI. Identifying a projects benefits, alignment and ranking will ensure you are executing on the most profitable portfolio.
  • Better business results- Planning your costs and resources up front will have a big impact on execution.  Forecasting your resources based on roles, skills and availability will help ensure you have the right resources on the right tasks at the right time.  Understanding the costs anticipated with all work prior to execution will help you identify potential budget risks now and adjust spend where needed.

​ To realize the benefits above and to get the most out of your PPM implementation, the following considerations should be reviewed:

  1. Alignment with defined objectives and goals
  2. Deployment complexity
  3. Cost- infrastructure, deployment and training
  4. Ease of use
  5. Scalability
  6. Time to market

Take a look at what PPM WorkEngine can do for your organization.  PPM WorkEngine has end-to-end PPM capabilites that will take you from strategic planning to tactical execution.  PPM WorkEngine is built on the SharePoint platform so it increases ROI for a tool that you most likely already own, protecting your investment and extending the platform from a simple content management system to a full project and work management platform.  SharePoint is intuitive and easy to use; those familiar with SharePoint will leverage the same technology to manage the PPM WorkEngine application, no new investment in expertise required.  Not only can WorkEngine be used for Project and Portfolio Management (PPM WorkEngine), but can also be expanded to product development teams (Agile WorkEngine) and IT service teams (Service WorkEngine), making it the most flexible PPM system on the market.  WorkEngine products can be consumed online or on premise.  

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January 21
WorkEngine's January Tips, Tricks and Best Practices
by  Heather Champoux-RaynerNo presence information  on 1/21/2011 4:03 PM

Need Project Requests?

Use the WorkEngine Project Requests feature to efficiently and effectively capture, classify, evaluate, and appropriately prioritize projects within your organization.  This feature resides at the EPM WorkEngine top level site and serves as a repository for all project requests associated with the project portfolio.  See below for step by step instructions to begin using Project Requests today:
 
  1. Navigate to the Project Requests list in your EPM Live WorkEngine site collection and select the New Item button.  Complete the fields that are applicable to your request and click the Save button.  Your new project request will be added to the Project Requests list.  
  2. Initiate the out of box Project Approval workflow or create your own incorporating your internal processes.

    PR1.jpg
  3. Use one of the many views pre-configured for you to review status and analyze data for project selection.
    1. All ‘Proposed’ projects:

      PR2.jpg
    2. The entire Project Portfolio (i.e., project requests, active projects, etc.).

      PR3.jpg
    3. Detailed Bubble Charts assists in evaluating Risk vs. Strategic Value of proposed as well as active projects.

      PR4.jpg
  4. Upon approval of a Project Request item, create your project workspace with the project data you've been adding and updating in the request item throughout the review and approval process.

    PR5.jpg
  5. Your new project workspace is created.

    PR6.jpg
     
Resource Pool Out of Control?

Use the Build Team feature in WorkEngine to group, sort, and filter the Enterprise Resource Pool to render only the type of resources required for the project.  This feature is ideal for organizations that have large resource pools.  See below for details on how to use this time saving feature.
 
  1. From your EPM Live project workspace, navigate to Site Settings ànd Build Team and select the Add Users button.

    Add users button.jpg
  2. The entire list of resources from the Enterprise Resource Pool will load. From here the Project Manager can group, sort and filter to narrow the list down to render only resources required for the project.  See example below.

    resource pool.png
     
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Welcome to EPM Live's WorkEngine Blog!  Come to this site to find the latest news, tips and articles in the SharePoint Project and Work Management community. 
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