Oracle Primavera P6 v7 Release Value Proposition

Release Value Proposition
Oracle Primavera P6 v7
Applications Release: Release 7
Creation Date: 3/1/2009
Last Updated: 8/3/2009
Version: 4.0
Status: FINAL

Oracle ‐ This document is intended for information purposes only
2
PURPOSE STATEMENT:
This document provides an overview of features and enhancements included in
Oracle Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) v7. It is
intended solely to help you assess the business benefits of upgrading to P6
EPPM v7 and to plan your I.T. projects.
DISCLAIMER:
This document in any form, software or printed matter, contains proprietary
information that is the exclusive property of Oracle. Your access to and use of
this confidential material is subject to the terms and conditions of your Oracle
Software License and Service Agreement, which has been executed and with
which you agree to comply. This document and information contained herein
may not be disclosed, copied, reproduced or distributed to anyone outside
Oracle without prior written consent of Oracle. This document is not part of
your license agreement nor can it be incorporated into any contractual
agreement with Oracle or its subsidiaries or affiliates.
This document is for informational purposes only and is intended solely to assist
you in planning for the implementation and upgrade of the product features
described. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality,
and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The
development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described in
this document remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.
Due to the nature of the product architecture, it may not be possible to safely
include all features described in this document without risking significant
destabilization of the code.

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Contents
Release Value Proposition for Oracle Primavera P6 v7 Preface.....................4
Introduction to Oracle Primavera P6 v7............................................................5
Improved Usability ....................................................................................................................... 5
Advanced Scheduling and Analysis............................................................................................. 5
Business Process Automation..................................................................................................... 5
User Administration, Security and Deployment........................................................................... 5
Web-Based Project Management ......................................................................6
Improved Activity Gantt................................................................................................................ 6
New Activity Gantt Bar Customization Options........................................................................ 7
Progress Line ........................................................................................................................... 7
Improved Project Gantt Portlet................................................................................................. 8
New Calendar View ..................................................................................................................... 8
New Activity Network View .......................................................................................................... 9
Web-Based Import and Export .................................................................................................. 10
Addressable P6 Web URL......................................................................................................... 10
AutoVue Integration ................................................................................................................... 11
Improved Content Management Integration .............................................................................. 11
Planning and Scheduling Enhancements.......................................................12
Planning and Scheduling Enhancements in Both the P6 Windows Client and the Web Client 12
Work Day Definition................................................................................................................ 12
Grouping/Summary Duration Calculations............................................................................. 12
Adding Code Values on the Fly.............................................................................................. 13
Copy Baseline ........................................................................................................................ 13
Improved Feedback and Communication .............................................................................. 14
Planning and Scheduling Enhancements in the P6 Windows Client Only................................ 14
Activity Usage Histogram ....................................................................................................... 14
Activity ID Renumbering......................................................................................................... 14
Business Process Automation ........................................................................16
Events..................................................................................................................................... 16
User Administration, Security, and Deployment............................................17
Oracle Administration and Security Support.............................................................................. 17
Activity Field-Level Security ................................................................................................... 17
Excel Import Security ............................................................................................................. 18
Standardized Server Platform................................................................................................ 18
Scalability, Performance, Availability ..................................................................................... 18
Increased Standardization for P6 Web Services....................................................................... 18
Platform Support........................................................................................................................ 19

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Release Value Proposition for Oracle Primavera P6 v7 Preface
This document provides an overview of the value proposition that is associated with the new
features and enhancements that are planned for Oracle Primavera P6 v7. This document will
help you assess the business benefits of Oracle Primavera P6 v7 and plan your information
technology investments.
This document describes new or changed functionality only. Existing functionality from prior
releases is not described.
Our goal is to ensure that you leverage technology to its fullest to increase the efficiency and
effectiveness of your operations. Please note that the final release may not have every feature
that is discussed in this document, and a specific feature may become a part of a different
application or have a product name that is different from those cited in this document.
This preface discusses:
• Oracle release information publications
• Additional resources
This RVP in any form, software or printed matter, contains proprietary information that is
the exclusive property of Oracle Corporation.
The information provided in this document is intended to outline our general product direction and
is intended for information purposes. The development, release, and timing of any features or
functionality described for Oracle's products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.

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Introduction to Oracle Primavera P6 v7
Version 7 is the next major release of the Oracle Primavera P6 solution. P6 v7 represents a
tremendous improvement in usability, advanced scheduling and analysis, business process
automation, and user administration and security. The new functionality will help companies
deliver more projects on schedule, within budget and with the intended scope.
Improved Usability
The new version of P6 improves the usability for users of all experience levels. Not only will
experienced P6 users find it easier to do routine planning and scheduling tasks – from copying
baselines to adding new code values to activities and renumbering activity IDs, but new users will
be able to become productive very quickly using a simple Calendar view and Excel-based
import/export using the P6 Web client.
Advanced Scheduling and Analysis
With P6 v7, project managers will find it easier to accurately plan, manage and communicate
project details, as well as identify trends and key performance indicators that need to be checked.
Through many new Web-based graphical options, such as a flexible network view, many
customization options on the Activity Gantt view, and a progress line that shows at a glance
whether activities are ahead or behind schedule, planners and schedulers are likely to use the
Web client as their primary planning and scheduling environment.
Business Process Automation
Project portfolio management (PPM) has become a mission-critical application within project-
intensive organizations. P6 v7 is a complete, open and integrated solution that easily fits within
the enterprise’s software ecosystem and it now includes event enablement to easily link project
changes and updates that take place within P6 with essential enterprise business processes that
are tied to other systems. For example, a change made to a P6 project may kick off an
appropriate workflow among systems for approvals or procurement.
User Administration, Security and Deployment
Today’s business environment mandates careful tracking of ownerships costs for any investment.
By lowering the cost of deploying P6 and the ongoing support, organizations are assured that
their investment is being maximized while working within tightened budgets. P6 v7 includes new
technology to minimize the effort of application deployment and user administration, while taking
full advantage of existing hardware and systems.

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Web-Based Project Management
Oracle has made tremendous enhancements to the Oracle P6 Web client. Not only is it easier to
use for both novice and experience users, but it includes new graphics, scheduling and analysis
options that will ensure that the Web client becomes the primary environment for planning and
scheduling.
The following new capabilities are available in the Oracle Primavera P6 v7Web Client:
Improved Activity Gantt
The Activity Gantt view includes many new robust configuration options so that all required WBS-
and activity-related information can be displayed, accessed and analyzed on one screen. The
following items are new for P6 v7 activity Gantt:
• New grouping options: group Gantt chart by date intervals such as day, week,
month and financial period.
• More flexible filter definitions: increased the number of filter criteria from 5 to 10.
• Access more project information from one screen: additional activity detail
windows for documents, codes, expenses, feedback and WBS, are available from
the Activity Gantt view; detail windows can be tabbed, floated, or tiled for a consistent
look and feel that does not interfere with the activity table and Gantt chart,
maximizing screen real estate.
• Easier activity navigation: jump to successor and predecessor activities from within
activity detail windows.
• Formatting: new options for selecting the font and font size of text in activity table.
• Performance improvements when displaying baseline and earned value
information.
Benefit: The new options in the Activity Gantt view provide greater usability, analysis and
customization options, providing efficiency when creating, updating and analyzing projects.
Columns can
be
customized
Easily move up
and down the
Activity list
Quickly jump
between
related activitie

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New Activity Gantt Bar Customization Options
The Activity Gantt also includes new options for customizing the bar area:
• Display a third bar on the Activity Gantt.
• New bar definitions for planned date bar, float bar, free float bar, and display percent
complete.
• “Neck” the bars to show activity and/or calendar non-work time.
• Customize the height of each of the three available bars.
• Customize font and size of bar labels.
• Color-code bars based on activity code.
• Non-driving relationships shown as dashed line.
• Expanded and collapsed state of groupings now saved during each session in the
activity Gantt.
Benefit: The new bar formatting options enable planners and schedulers to use the Web client to
create an improved and more complete graphical representation of the project schedule using
formatting options previously only available via the Windows client.
Progress Line
A new progress line can be shown on the Gantt chart to graphically communicate variances in
project progress. The progress line can be displayed with activity current bars and display
schedule variance. In addition, the progress line can be drawn on top of baseline bars, plotting
the progress point of each activity on its baseline bar. The progress line shows where the
progress should be relative to the data date. (This feature is also available in the P6 Windows
client.)
Display up to
three bars
Customize
bar size and
bar label font
Neck bars for
non-work
time
Color bars
by activity
codes

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Benefit: The new progress line makes it easy to see, at a glance, which activities are ahead of
schedule, on schedule or behind schedule.
Improved Project Gantt Portlet
A new dashboard option displays the baseline bar in addition to the current bar in the Project
Gantt Portlet.
Benefit: Incorporate the updated Portlet in dashboards that adhere to industry standards. The
new display option provides an easy way to identify whether project milestones are ahead or
behind schedule.
New Calendar View
The new Calendar view displays the upcoming project work in a familiar calendar format. This
view has the same filtering capabilities as the Activity Gantt view. It can also have the activity
detail windows displayed for making resource assignments, updating progress of activities,
modifying other activity information, and even navigating to predecessor and successor activities.
Benefit: The Calendar view provides team members with an intuitive view for displaying their
activities along with the required information to perform the work. Project managers can
understand project work occurring during specified time periods.

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New Activity Network View
Project managers and schedulers can now view the project WBS, activities and project logic
through an interactive Web-based activity network. It is easy to collapse WBS elements for a
summary view, or expand WBS elements to drill down to the activity details such as steps,
relationships and resource assignments. Customize activity boxes as well as specify how
activities are to be grouped. In addition, non-driving relationships can be toggled on and off.
Benefit: This view makes it easy to analyze schedule logic at both a summary level and a detailed
activity-by-activity level. It provides an alternative look into the dependencies between the various
WBS elements and the project activities.

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Web-Based Import and Export
Project plans can be exported to a variety of formats, updated offline, and then imported back into
P6 to update existing project plans. P6 v7 provides Web-based capabilities to import and export
project information using the following formats:
• Export to Primavera XML, Microsoft Project or Microsoft Excel
• Import from Primavera XML and Microsoft Project to add new activities and/or update
existing activities in the project.
• Import from Microsoft Excel to add new activities to the project, supporting additional
import fields.
Note that Microsoft Excel can be used to add new activities to the plan and also for analysis of
current project data, allowing individuals flexibility with the tools they use.
Benefit: Enables individuals to use familiar desktop software to list activities that will become part
of a project, to update work, and to do additional project analysis.
Addressable P6 Web URL
The P6 Web client can be passed customized URLs with internal project IDs to navigate
individuals directly to the project section.
Benefit: Custom applications and business intelligence tools can build URLs from internal project
IDs and navigate individuals directly to the project section, displaying their default view with the
appropriate projects opened.

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AutoVue Integration
For organizations that have deployed P6 and Oracle’s AutoVue Enterprise Visualization, project-
related design documents can be accessed directly from within the P6 web client. AutoVue Web
Version enables viewing, reviewing and collaborating on technical documents and information
across the enterprise. AutoVue delivers a network-friendly method of sharing large CAD data
even over low bandwidth networks.
Benefit: A single interface for project participants to access project schedule information, along
with related design documents, to more effectively manage, communicate, and execute on the
project plan.
Improved Content Management Integration
In addition to JackRabbit, P6 v7 can use Oracle Universal Content Management (UCM) and
SharePoint as a repository for project documents. Documents can be uploaded through the P6
and stored in UCM or SharePoint. Additionally, individuals may search documents in the content
management system, as well as link documents to projects and activities. Document review
workflow is supported through the native workflow capabilities of UCM and SharePoint, but will
no longer be available with JackRabbit.
Benefit: Companies may take advantage of existing enterprise content management systems
through P6 to maintain, control and access project documents.

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Planning and Scheduling Enhancements
Planning and Scheduling Enhancements in Both the P6 Windows Client
and the Web Client
Work Day Definition
P6 v7 will provide a system-wide option to convert durations between hours, days, weeks,
months, and years based on new calendar settings. In addition to the existing Admin
Preference, each calendar will have its own settings for the number of hours in a day, week,
month, and year. There will be a new option to determine if the conversion is based on the
Admin Preference settings or each calendar’s settings.
Benefit: Provides more flexibility, consistency and control over viewing and communicating
project time lines and duration of work.
Shown below are the Hours per Time Period which can be defined for each calendar.
Grouping/Summary Duration Calculations
Summary and grouping band durations will now be calculated based on the corresponding
activity- or project-level calendar. Durations that are displayed in grouping bands on layouts,
views and reports will now be calculated using the following logic:
Project- and resource-level summary durations will also be calculated according to their
assigned calendars, that is their respective default project calendar or resource calendar.
Benefit: Provides more flexibility, consistency and control over viewing and communicating
project time lines and duration of work.

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Adding Code Values on the Fly
Individuals can now add new code values to the dictionary while assigning codes to activities,
without having to navigate to the activity code dictionary. They will simply be prompted to
specify the activity code value and description.
Benefit: This improvement will enable users to assign new codes to activities in a more
efficient and productive manner, thereby reducing the time to create project plans.
Copy Baseline
A new copy option will be available for creating a new baseline from an existing project
baseline.
Benefit: This option reduces the steps required to create a new baseline from an existing
one, thereby making it easier to maintain multiple baselines.
New copy baseline
option

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Improved Feedback and Communication
P6 v7 provides activity-level feedback capabilities so that the project managers and
schedulers can collaborate with field personnel on an activity-by-activity basis. Project
managers are notified when notes have been added from the field, and then may easily view
and respond to the notes. The field personnel will then have access to the feedback. The
feedback field is also time-stamped with non-editable history to maintain an accurate audit
log.
Benefit: Real-time communication, with accurate history, minimizing delays in the execution
of project work.
Planning and Scheduling Enhancements in the P6 Windows Client Only
Activity Usage Histogram
The activity usage histogram has new ability to spread usage over the late dates in addition
to the early dates. This late-date spread is shown as histogram bars and cumulative S-
curves, and may be combined with baseline, budgeted, actual and early-date spreads.
Benefit: Improves resource analysis by modeling resource and cost utilization according to
late dates.
Activity ID Renumbering
New renumbering options are available when pasting a set of activities, as well as for
renumbering existing sets of activities. Options include incrementing existing numbers, auto-
renumbering and replacing the prefix.
Benefit: This option provides greater usability and convenience when creating and modifying
project plans.

15

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Business Process Automation
Oracle continues to deliver business automation features that help you run your business more
efficiently and profitably. Oracle Primavera P6 v7 is event-enabled to facilitate automated
workflow with other enterprise systems.
Events
Event enablement is a key component needed for organizations to create workflows to automate
business processes within one system or across multiple, disparate systems. P6 v7 delivers
events capabilities as part of the Web client, Integration API and Web Services. Organizations
may create automation within P6 and orchestrate processes across other systems in the
enterprise.
For example, a project manager schedules a project in P6. The scheduling action triggers an
event as follows: Web service publishes a message outlining information about the project and
that it has been rescheduled. Any messaging system that subscribes to this type of event would
be aware of it. The messaging system queues the message and passes the information in the
proper format to another system, such as a workflow engine to initiate a process. The workflow
engine might then trigger a series of predefined steps, such as routing an approval form to an
ERP system to ensure materials are available when they are needed on the project.Once the
form is approved, a similar event chain could result in a notification sent to the project manager
through P6 with information that materials are available and reserved for the project.
The following events in P6 can be triggered when related business objects are created or
modified through the P6 web client, Integration API or Web Services.
Activity Project Resource
Activity Code Assignment Project Code Assignment Resource Assignment
Activity Expense Issues Resource Code Assignment
Activity Step Risk User
Baseline Project Relationship WBS
In addition to the business objects, there are special operations which can also be configured to
trigger an event. Those operations are:
Project Scheduling Apply Actuals Store Period Performance
Project Summarizing Approving Timesheets Run Project Architect
Benefit: Automation of business processes ensures that project decisions, changes and updates
are part of broader business processes that are key to the business’ successful operations.
When project management is appropriately integrated with other systems in the enterprise,
companies can expect greater benefits such as reduced operating costs, faster times to market,
and increased customer satisfaction.

17
User Administration, Security, and Deployment
Oracle Administration and Security Support
P6 v7 supports Oracle Identity Management and Access Management Suite and provides a new
option for user provisioning through Oracle Identity Management (OIM). OIM assists
organizations to centrally create and provision users across multiple, disparate systems, reducing
the need for the added work of creating users in each system they need access to. Efficiencies
can also be gained by single-sign-on capabilities.
P6 v7 supports Oracle Access Manager (OAM), which centrally manages security and access to
various systems through single-sign-on that provides one common logon for all applications and
removes the need to enter the login credentials for each system. This reduction in login
credentials creates a more secure environment. Also supported is Oracle Identity Directory which
is a central resource directory repository that helps organizations support single logon and single
sign-on, reducing the cost of application management.
The P6 solution will also leverage Oracle Configuration Manager (OCM) to assist Oracle Support
as they help organizations deploy and maintain their P6 investment. OCM is an automated
method to collect valuable configuration information to help Oracle understand customer
environments.
Benefit: Cost of user administration and security can be reduced be centrally management
across applications.
Activity Field-Level Security
P6 v7 introduces new field-level security for project activities. Each user can be assigned
edit privileges to only the activity fields they are required to update, while all others are read
only.
Benefit: The activity-level security gives the flexibility to allow individuals to update fields
such as actual start and finish, percent completes and remaining effort, while limiting those
same individuals to read-only access to other activity-level fields.

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Excel Import Security
The security privilege for importing from Excel has been separated from the privilege of
importing XER, MS Project and P3 file types.
Benefit: This security option enables a user to import from Excel file types only, while also
ensuring that global dictionary information is not modified when importing XER, MS Project
and P3 file types.
Standardized Server Platform
The timesheet Group Server has been moved to the Java platform, removing the requirement
of being a Windows-based service on a Windows server.
Benefit: Common and independent platform support for the timesheet server.
Scalability, Performance, Availability
P6 v7 includes new technologies to help further improve scalability, performance and
availability. Support for WebLogic JRockit JVM has been added for improved performance
and scalability. Also, improved support for WebLogic clustering has been added to increase
availability and scalability of the P6 solution. In addition, the Java server platform has been
moved to version 6 of Java, which provides better performance and scalability for P6.
Benefit: Increased performance, scalability and availability.
Increased Standardization for P6 Web Services
P6 v7 Web Services now supports the following Web Services specifications:
WS-Security
WS-Security provides ways to secure your services above and beyond transport level
protocols such as HTTPS. Through a number of standards such as XML Encryption, and
headers defined in the WS-Security standard, it allows you to:
• Pass authentication tokens between services
• Encrypt messages or parts of messages
• Sign messages
• Timestamp messages
P6 Web Services v.7.0 supports passing authentication tokens using UsernameToken Profile
and timestamping messages. Encrypting and signing of messages may be supported in the
future.

19
WS-Policy
The WS-Policy framework provides a general purpose model and syntax to describe the
policies of a Web Service. For example, a company may require transport-level security for
protecting web service messages. This requirement can be defined by using a policy. For
detailed information on WS-Policy and the syntax for writing policy expressions, please visit
http://www.w3.org/Submission/WS-Policy/.
P6 Web Services has the ability to enforce policy assertions via the underlying CXF services
framework. The policy assertions are defined in a single file called policies.xml (see user
guide for enabling WS-Policy). For the shipped version of P6 Web Services we officially
support policy assertions for enforcing WS-Addressing and transport level security. When
transport level security is enabled (by enabling the policy), P6 Web Services will only service
requests that are invoked via an HTTPS connection.
WS-Addressing
WS-Addressing is a standardized way of including message routing data within SOAP
headers. When WS-Addressing is enabled, P6 Web Services will only accept client requests
that contain addressing information in the SOAP headers. One benefit of using WS-
Addressing with P6 Web Services would be a case where asynchronous processing of
messages is required. In this case, clients will send messages to P6 Web Services and can
specify the endpoint where P6 Web Services will send the response. This endpoint can be
the original endpoint that sent the request or a different endpoint.
Platform Support
Oracle continually delivers extended and new platform support to leverage new advances in
technology and provide organizations with flexible options. For P6 v7 there are new platforms
supported to increase the value of your P6 investment while minimizing cost of ownership. The
major additions and updates are listed. For full details, see the tested configurations document.
Firefox and Internet Explorer (IE) 8 will be supported browser platforms in addition to existing IE 7
support. IE 6 support will be dropped.
Oracle HTTP server is now a supported web server (new for 6.2.1).
Oracle Universal Content Management (UCM) – In addition to existing Jackrabbit support for
content management, Oracle UCM will be supported.
Oracle Enterprise Linux – Oracle Enterprise Linux will replace Red Hat Linux support (new for
6.2.1).
Oracle XE – Oracle Express will replace Microsoft SQL Server Express for standalone desktop
installations.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 will be added as a supported RDBMS for P6 v7.0. Microsoft SQL
Server 2005 will continue to be supported and SQL 2000 will be dropped.

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