Re: Actual work from unopened projects not reflected in resource u

Mike,

You've obviously given this a lot of thought. Before I go further in
suggesting approaches, could you explain to me why it is important to have
information on Actual work when you are trying to do resource leveling? I
don't understand that, but I also don't want to assume your approach is
mistaken. Understanding that may help me better appreciate what you're
trying to accomplish, and the environment in which you're working.
--
Reid McTaggart
EPM Architect
Microsoft


"MikeR" wrote:

> Hi Jan,
>
> Thanks very much for the response. You are indeed correct. Opening
> all the files involved (either individually, or through the use of a master)
> does work. The difficulty I'm having in my environment is that opening all
> the relevant files is not always easy - we have hundreds of files here -
> though for a given resource the number of files is quite a bit smaller. It
> can be done, but it's not fun ;-)
>
> The thing that puzzles me is that the levelling (and everything else
> having to do with resources) sees the "work" but not the "actual work" of
> closed files. It would make our work much easier if the "actual work" from
> closed files were exposed as well.
>
> Thanks again,
> Mike
>
> "Jan De Messemaeker" wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> > I'm not a Server specialist but here is what I heard in a course.
> > You have to create a master project with all the projects using that
> > resource(s) inserted.
> > When that maste ris open all projectcts are "open" as Microsoft Project
> > files
> > The enterprise pool then will act as a normal resource pool and one can use
> > resource leveling normally, i.e. using a resource pool without server.
> >
> > Hope that is true - give me a feedback??
> >
> > --
> > Jan De Messemaeker
> > Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
> > http://users.online.be/prom-ade/
> > +32-495-300 620
> > "MikeR" <MikeR@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> schreef in bericht
> > news:A672CEAB-C61F-452D-A9BA-E36EE0BDE738@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > Hi Reid,
> > >
> > > Thanks for the response. You have confirmed what I had deduced. You
> > > are indeed correct that PWA will give the proper picture of the work
> > across
> > > all projects. However, for my situation the solution is incomplete. Let
> > me
> > > explain.
> > >
> > > Suppose I want to use load levelling. Typically I would open up a
> > > file, go to Resource Usage, select the resource I want to level, and have
> > at
> > > it. But, actuals in other projects appear to be ignored, as per our
> > > discussion, and I wind up overcommitting my resources by the amount of
> > > actual time. In a nutshell, this means that resource levelling doesn't
> > work,
> > > at least not in any useful way.
> > >
> > > Do you have a suggestion that would allow resource levelling to be
> > used
> > > in my environment?
> > >
> > > I have been watching others trying to deal with the problem, and am
> > > seeing all sorts of schemes being tried. The most common is to set up
> > > massive numbers of dependencies between tasks in order to "waterfall"
> > them.
> > > Unfortulately, this creates "spaghetti code" projects, and in most cases
> > > (ie., where the dependencies are strictly to force a schedule, and do not
> > > represent actuall task relationships) are a misuse of the dependency
> > > mechanism. A second is to force dates on tasks (ie., "must start on" and
> > the
> > > like. This is problematic because as time information is entered every
> > week,
> > > the schedule owners have to go back and redo all the dates.
> > >
> > > I'm not sure what the limitation is here. I imagine that some sort
> > of
> > > database is created that represents time in all projects. If so, does the
> > > information on actuals get into this (in which case, perhaps a 3rd party
> > > levelling product might do better), or is it left out completely?
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Mike
> > >
> > > "Reid McTaggart" wrote:
> > >
> > > > You can use PWA to get your rollups of Actuals and other such data. The
> > > > behavior is not a bug because the tool was never designed to do what you
> > want.
> > > >
> > > > Showing all work across all projects is useful for planning assignments.
> > > > Analyzing Actuals is a retrospective analytical activity that is handled
> > in
> > > > PWA.
> > > >
> > > > I do agree that the advice to open all projects is not practical. It
> > should
> > > > say to use PWA.
> > > > --
> > > > Reid McTaggart
> > > > EPM Architect
> > > > Microsoft
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > "MikeR" wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Hi All,
> > > > >
> > > > > I have a perplexing problem. It appears that when I open one or
> > a few
> > > > > files (out of many) from Project Server, actual work from unopened
> > projects
> > > > > is not reflected in the work rollup. See article 888638 on
> > Microsoft's site
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;888638&spid=2525&sid=global
> > > > >
> > > > > The suggested workaround is to open all files relating to the resource
> > in
> > > > > question. While this works, this is impractical in my environment
> > because:
> > > > >
> > > > > 1 - there are hundreds of files
> > > > > 2 - some files, such as those representing administrative time, were
> > not
> > > > > meant to be managed by any other than a few admins (this is a current
> > > > > business practice of ours)
> > > > > 3 - I may not have access to every relevant file
> > > > >
> > > > > Is there another way around this? Anyone know of plans to fix it?
> > > > >
> > > > > As an aside, this behavior certainly looks like a bug to me - after
> > all, it
> > > > > appears that I can see the planned work from unopened files just fine.
> > The
> > > > > article cited above spins this as a "behavior" rather than a "problem"
> > or
> > > > > "bug", though I haven't found any reference in the regular
> > documentation that
> > > > > would lead to this conclusion. I would hope that someone is looking
> > at a
> > > > > more satisfactory resolution than opening all files. Anyone out there
> > have
> > > > > additional details on what might be in store?
> > > > >
> > > > > Thanks,
> > > > > Mike
> >
> >
> >
.

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