CA Project & Portfolio Management and MS Project Integration: Tips, Tricks and Why's New for You

World®
’16
CA Project & Portfolio Management
and MS Project Integration: Tips,
Tricks and What's New for You
Shannon Thoke, Director – Technical Sales, CA Technologies, Inc.
Dan Greer – President – Rego Consulting
AMX68E
AGILE MANAGEMENT

2 © 2016 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLD
For Informational Purposes Only
Terms of this Presentation
© 2016 CA. All rights reserved. All trademarks referenced herein belong to their respective companies.
The content provided in this CA World 2016 presentation is intended for informational purposes only and does not form any type of
warranty. The information provided by a CA partner and/or CA customer has not been reviewed for accuracy by CA.

Abstract
Join this session for the latest on MS Project
and CA PPM. This session will highlight the
latest MSP connector.
Shannon
Thoke
CA Technologies, Inc.
Director – Technical
Sales
Dan Greer
Rego Consulting
President

Agenda
WHAT’S NEW IN THE MSP INTERFACE?
DEFAULT PROJECT SETTINGS
CASE STUDIES & BEST PRACTICES
PERFORMANCE
FIELD MAPPINGS
SCHEDULING
1
2
3
4
5
6

Why was there a New MSP Interface Beginning in 14.x?
§ Microsoft has not supported the OLE framework (which is
what the old driver utilized) in many years.
§ The new driver provides the following:
– Tighter integration with MSP
– Ability for Microsoft to fix reported bugs (over 17 bugs reported
and many fixed already)
– Better performance

What’s New with the MSP Interface?
§ For master projects there is no longer a resource pool!
– All resources will be displayed on the master resource sheet.
§ We no longer will save custom views in the MPP file.
– Recommend using Global Views
§ Save-As no longer supports overwriting an existing project.
Save-As still works to create a NEW project with support for
project ID auto-numbering
§ We do not automatically map Pending ETC, Pending Actuals,
or charge code to MSP

What Else is New with the MSP Interface?
§ Less task constraints
§ The progress dialog can now be seen in MSP and not
as a popup
§ Improved logging, troubleshooting, and benchmarking
§ Mapping support of lookups (static) – both OOB and custom.
Multi-valued and Dynamic lookups are not supported.

Project Default Settings
§ Setting your project defaults for each MSP user will reduce
scheduling inconsistencies across your user base. This is a
critical step in normalizing your MSP to be ready for
integration with PPM
§ When you are setting or checking your project default make
sure you have all projects closed (including project1)

Mandatory Default Settings

CA PPM is the Primary Owner of the Following
Data Elements
§ Project Plans
§ Resources who work on these projects
§ The rate matrix used to generate the project budget and costs
§ Resource Calendars
§ Attribute Defaults (such as Open for Time Entry,
Loading Pattern, etc).

Performance Tips and Tricks
§ Open the project in .xml and note the time. This is how long
Microsoft takes to open the project!
§ You can have a deep project (with many tasks), or you can
have a wide project (with tasks with a longer duration).
But stay away from a Deep and Wide project!
§ In general the longer the task duration, the longer it will take
to export the project. Keep these type of tasks at a minimum
§ Review each task and set realistic start and finish dates.

Performance Tips and Tricks (Continued)
§ Remove any unnecessary assignments.
§ Do not use bucket tasks (assign all team members to a
single task)
§ Only export the current baseline to MSP, as the baseline is
a snapshot of the project plan.
§ Use Uniform Loading Pattern

The Project Object
§ There are 2 main areas where PPM Project Information is
stored in Microsoft Project
– The Project Properties
§ File>Info>Project Information > Advanced > Properties >
Summary Tab
– The Project Summary task (Task 0)
§ File > Options > Advanced
– Select the “Project Summary Task” checkbox

The Task Object
§ The Gantt is the best view to review your task information.
The following is a list of non-standard mapped fields:
PPM Field MSP Field
Key Task Flag 1
Task ID Text 1
*PPM Reserved Text 3
* Text3 is a reserved field which
contains the unique ID, track
mode, open for time entry and
other important PPM information.
This field should not be edited.

The Resource and Team Objects
§ The resource sheet view gives you the best view to review
your resource information. The following is a list of non-
standard mapped fields:
PPM Field MSP Field
Resource ID Initials
Category Group
Resource Type Type (work, material, cost)
Rate (from rate matrix) Std Rate
IsRole Generic
Max % Team Allocation on Today’s Date
* Text 3

The Assignment Object
§ The MSP task usage View is the best view to find
Assignment information.
PPM Field MSP Field
ETC Remaining Work
Total Effort Work (actuals + ETC)
Loading Pattern Work Contour
Max% Load Units
* Text 3

Field Mapping
§ There is a new page in CA PPM that will allow admins to
create their own field mappings to MSP. Customers will no
longer need to have their DBA do this work!
§ The MSP Field Mapping page can be found in the Project
Management section in the Admin tool.

Field Mapping
Using the MSP Field mapping page, customers will be able to
map attributes from the following objects:
§ Object
§ Resource
§ Team
§ Task
§ Assignment
§ MSP view
§ Resource Sheet
§ Resource Sheet
§ Gantt
§ Resource usage view
(NOT task usage)

Field Mapping
You can map both existing fields and custom fields!
PPM Data Type
§ Date
§ Number
§ Boolean
§ String
§ Static Lookups!
MSPField
§ Date1 – Date10
§ Number1 – 20
§ Flag1 – Flag20
§ Text1 – Text30
§ Text1 – Text30

Field Mapping
Field mappings are even easier beginning in 14.4. All mapped
lookups will have a dropdown picklist!

Project Scheduling
§ MSP is a scheduling tool. Its job is to schedule the project
EVERY time the project is opened from PPM.
§ Factors that will affect the project schedule include:
– Timesheet posting
– Assignment changes, such as modifying remaining work (ETC), adding
team members to tasks, and changes to allocation
– Resource Calendar changes
– Assignment Loading pattern

Loading Patterns
§ Loading Patterns determine how to distribute the remaining
work (ETC ) on the assignment
§ Uniform Loading Pattern is recommended for the most
consistent and predictable work distribution
§ The assignment Work Contour field in MSP maps to the
Loading Pattern field in PPM

Task Types
§ We support the 3 MSP task types, Fixed Work, Fixed Unit
and Fixed Duration. Fixed units is the more reliable
(predictable) task type.
§ You can set a task to be fixed duration in Clarity. Add the
“Fixed Duration” field to the task properties.
§ You must set “Fixed Work” task types in MSP.

Loading Patterns (Continued)
§ When opening from PPM:
– Fixed (PPM) becomes Contour (MSP)
– Uniform (PPM) becomes Flat (MSP)
– Front (PPM) becomes Front (MSP)
– Back (PPM) will becomes back (MSP)
– Contour (PPM) will map to Contour (MSP)
§ Note: Fixed loading pattern uses ETC in a “use it or lose it”
method. Any ETC not used that week after posting will not be
redistributed, but removed.

Team Allocations
§ The Team member’s allocation will calculate the resource’s
ETC on their assignment. For example, if the resource’s
calendar is 8 hours per day, and they are allocated 100% to a
project, they will be scheduled 8 hours per day by default
when they are added as an assignment to a task.
§ If they are allocated 50% to the project, they will be
scheduled at 50% of their availability, so in this case, it will be
4 hours per day.

Team Allocation (Continued)
§ PPM also allows you to create allocation segments for a
resource, which means you can allocate a team member for
100% for a month, and the next month 50%. When you assign
the resource to a task, the ETC will be 8 hours per day for the
first month, then decreased based upon the allocation
segment at 4 hours per day
§ NOTE: Allocation segments are recommended only when
resource & project managers are comfortable understanding
and setting the default allocation.

Setting an allocation for a team member in PPM:

NOTE: The default allocation in PPM does not map down to the Max% field on the
resource sheet in MSP. The number shown is always based upon today’s date.
For example if today is 12/14/2015
Shows as 25% in MSP.

Assignment Units
§ The Assignment Units field in MSP, shows the percentage that
represents the assigned resources' allocation to a task.
§ For example, in MSP if you have the Max% set to 100% (8
hours per day), when you change the units on an assignment
to 25%, the Remaining Work distribution will be 2 hours per
day on the assignment.
§ By default, when a resource is assigned to a task, the units will
reflect what the Max% is shown on the resource sheet.

Max % Load
In PPM, instead of assignment units, we have a assignment field
called Max % Load. This field can be added to the assignment
section of the task properties page. It essentially works as the
assignment unit in MSP does.
With me so far? Now it’s time to throw a wrench in the works!

Allocations, Units, Max% Continued
§ To make things very interesting, we have a new option in the
Project Management settings in the admin tool.
§ When this is checked, PPM’s Max % Load will map to MSP’s
Assignment units field.
§ When this is unchecked, the MSP Assignment Units field will be
based upon the Team member’s default allocation.
§ Be sure to understand how both settings work before
recommending to a customer.
– With the Legacy interface, this setting only applies to assignments with
uniform loading pattern.

Work = Units x Duration

Fixed Duration Task Types
§ If the assignment has remaining work, yet the task finish date
is reached, the finish date will move to accommodate the
remaining work.
§ WARNING: Even with fixed duration task types, Microsoft will
want to try to resolve overallocations on fixed duration task
types, and if your assignment is overallocated, Microsoft will
increase the duration of a fixed duration task type with a
warning.

Impact of Timesheet Posting
§ When you open your project in MSP, it will be scheduled.
Actual hours posted against a timesheet will cause task dates
to shift, which will affect the overall project plan.
§ This can be challenging for new users to PPM who have used
MSP in the past and are used to instant feedback to updating
actuals in MSP manually.

Impact of Timesheet Posting (Continued)

Marking a Task 100% Complete
§ It is important to know the correct way in MSP to mark
a task 100%.
§ If you mark the task complete, MSP may add actual hours to
your task automatically! These actual hours will be discarded
upon save to PPM because PPM will only allow actuals to be
entered from timesheets.

What to Do if You See an Unanticipated
Scheduling Change
§ When you encounter a scheduling change when you export a
plan to MSP, try to recreate the issue in MSP standalone from
scratch before reporting the issue to PPM Support.
§ When you do report a scheduling anomaly to PPM Support,
please send in screenshots of the plan in PPM, steps to
reproduce the problem, the .mpp file, and what you expect to
see. This information will allow PPM Support to be able to
diagnose and resolve the issue faster.

Case Studies & Best Practices

Case Study #1
• Project Managers responsible for task
classification, but they did not fully
understand the impact
• Poor data quality on capital/expense
classification on tasks
• Missed opportunity for capitalization
• Created standard templates with
minimum phases and tasks
• Created a process to automate the
population of cost type on detailed
tasks
• Held one-day training for Project
Managers
• Project Managers improved adoption and
understanding (took a couple months)
• Labor capitalization more accurate
• Time-tracking improved and senior
leaders began to use the timesheet data
for more predictive planning
• A little bit of automation goes a long
way in perception
• Train project managers on the
“why” as well as the “what” – they
need to understand
• Increased data quality = higher
leadership buy in
DRIVERS
LESSONS
OUTCOMES
APPROACH

Case Study #2
• Business unit was moving from
Microsoft EPM into an enterprise
CA PPM instance
• A critical success factor was to
allow Project Managers to
continue using MSP for scheduling
• Trained a core group on how to migrate the
plans from EPM
• Migrated all plans 1 week prior
• Held One-day training for Project Managers
• Included high-touch support for Project
Managers for following month
• Migration was successful with
strong support and adoption from
project managers
• Very few issues with plans being
migrated, resulting in no work
disruption
• Microsoft EPM connection and the MSP
Connector don’t play well with each other
• Leave plenty of time to test and confirm
the migration approach
• High-touch support was critical for high
scheduling maturity managers
DRIVERS
LESSONS
OUTCOMES
APPROACH

Case Study #3
• Complex schedules with enforced
details for financial controls, time
tracking, and health – leading to
poor adoption
• Wanted to find a way to increase
adoption without giving up some of
the complexity
• Provided a few options with pros and
cons for scheduling
• Conducted “conference room pilot”
with internal team with a few options
• Conducted pilot with a few users with
chosen option
• Implemented a “compromise”
schedule with some complex and other
simple elements
• Increased adoption and acceptance by
project managers
• A project schedule will not solve non-
schedule-related issues
• Project Managers must have the ability
to control their schedule – if not, they
will continue to use MSP offline
• Sometimes its best to use a “try before
you commit” approach
DRIVERS
LESSONS
OUTCOMES
APPROACH

Best Practices
§ Automation can improve data quality and increase leadership buy-in
§ When Project Managers understand the complete picture—the
“why”, not just the “what”—they are more likely to adopt
§ Training and high-touch support should be planned to get users over
the learning curve
§ Project Managers must have the ability to control their schedule –
adoption depends on schedules being used mainly for scheduling
§ Invest in migration planning – test and “try before you commit”

Recommended Sessions
SESSION # TITLE DATE/TIME
AMT02S CA PPM Vision & Roadmap 11/16/2016 at 12:45 pm
AMT03S Seven elements for strategic portfolio management
success: How and why Agile plays a key role in
investment strategies and portfolio management.
11/17/2016 at 12:45 pm
AMT07S
Pleasing customers with portfolio management that is
both strategic and agile
11/17/2016 at 4:30 pm

Must See Demos
Management
Insights
CA PPM Theater #6
– Agile Management
Connect
Strategy to
Execution
CA PPM & Agile
Central Theater #6 –
Agile Management
Adaptive
Project
Manager
CA PPM Theater #6
Align Strategy
& Portfolios
CA PPM Theater #6

Questions?

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Thank you.

CA Project & Portfolio Management and MS Project Integration: Tips, Tricks and Why's New for You

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