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| Enterprise Features Enhance Project 2002 |
| Apr. 29, 2002 |
Project 2002, the latest version of Microsoft’s project management software, is aimed at enterprises that need to manage numerous projects simultaneously, define and locate enterprise resources that can be applied to any project, and manage project documentation. Leaving Project’s desktop roots behind, Project 2002 can potentially serve thousands of team members, hundreds of projects and project managers, and innumerable senior managers who need to track multiple projects and companywide project resources. This new functionality comes at a cost, both financially and technically: not only has the price of the product increased but enterprise project management also requires a three-tier architecture and well-trained administrators to tap Project 2002’s full power. Three Separate Products Project 2002's predecessor, Project 2000, was a desktop product that included an add-on Web server application (Project Central) for coordinating project teams. Project 2002, in contrast, is a line of three separate products:
The bulk of Project 2002's new features come with Project Server and Project Professional, which together comprise a true multi-tier application that could scale to large numbers of users. Project 2002’s document management features are provided by SharePoint Team Services, an existing Microsoft product that is included with Project Server and is used to create workgroup intranet sites. Finally, SQL Server, which must be obtained separately, is required for some enterprise functions. (For a graphical representation of the enterprise architecture, see the illustration "Project 2002 Enterprise Architecture".) Server Enables Enterprise Project Management Project Server differs substantially from Project Central, which was introduced with Project 2000. Project Central was effectively a preconfigured intranet Web site that provided an alternative to communicating project status and task updates to project managers by e-mail. Project Server and the Professional client go well beyond status updates. They can help an organization provide consistent project management standards and enable project managers to search for resources or skills that might be available elsewhere in the enterprise. In particular, a company can do the following:
All of these resources can be stored in Project Server and used across multiple projects. More consistent project management also enables companywide reporting on project status. Project Server enables managers to consolidate data from multiple projects and create cross-project reports on that data, such as average weekly utilization of a type of resource. Project Server can store multiple versions of projects and allow managers to create reports that compare versions. For example, managers can create models of projects for different scheduling options (such as use of overtime or different assumptions about how long a particular task will take) and view the impact of such changes on project cost and schedule. Project 2002 can use SQL Server’s online analytical processing (OLAP) features to provide custom views of the data, allowing managers to modify models or compare different models. Working with Teams Project Server controls access to enterprise projects to ensure that individuals can see and modify only data for which they are authorized. It can maintain its own database of users, asking them to log on each time they connect to the server, or it can use Windows log-on services to authenticate users and control their access to data created by the Professional client. Project managers can check out and check in projects stored on the server. A project manager can also copy a project (including enterprise resources) to a workstation and work on it offline. Team members who access the project while it is checked out will see a read-only version, and the project will be updated when the manager reconnects and saves it to the server. Project 2000 relied on e-mail based on Microsoft’s Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) to communicate with team members, but Project Server can notify team members with Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) mail, which eases communication with team members who don’t use Exchange. Like Project 2000, Project 2002 provides a browser-based client (called Project Web Access), which enables team members to view and update project status even if they don't have the Project client on their workstations. Integration and Customization Through SOAP and XML Project 2002 lowers the bar for integration with other enterprise applications by adopting XML, a technology that is becoming increasingly prevalent in Microsoft's products. (See "XML to Glue Applications Together" on page 8 of the Mar. 2002 Update.) Project Server 2002 can communicate with other applications by exchanging messages in the XML-based Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). SOAP is the primary communications protocol for Web services, and the SOAP interface in Project could be used to integrate Project with other applications, such as a timesheet or expense management solution. A Project SDK, to be released shortly after Project 2002 ships, will give developers access to such features. Project Server also uses XML to communicate with its clients, which opens new possibilities for customization. For example, the new Project Guide, the default display for projects, is actually a set of ActiveX controls that exchanges XML data with Project Server. Microsoft supplies XML schema and HTML templates for the Project Guide, and organizations can modify the Project Guide by modifying the schema or the HTML that describes it. Document and Issue Management Project Server ships with SharePoint Team Services (STS), a set of Web server extensions for collaborative Web sites. Companies can use STS to manage project information, such as documents and contact lists, and organize online discussions of the project. When a project is published to the Project Server, the server can optionally create a Web site for the project on an associated STS server (e.g., creating http://projects/project1 on the STS site called http://projects/) and set appropriate permissions on the new site for project team members. Documents can be uploaded to STS Web sites directly from Office applications using the Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) protocol. Project managers can also use STS to manage "issues" associated with a project. An issue is a collection of thematically related documents, tasks, discussions, and contacts in STS. For example, documents, tasks, and discussions about how poor drainage on a site affects a foundation, landscaping, and the amount and type of fill required could be collected in an issue called "drainage requirements." Interface Changes Not all of Project's new features rely on Project Server. Microsoft has updated the user interface in the Project 2002 Professional and Standard desktop products, giving users more control over the formatting and sizing of columns and rows used to enter data about tasks and resources, better grouping of tasks and resources, and other features. Smart Tags, which first appeared in Office XP, also play a minor role in Project 2002, such as popping up a list of options (shorten duration, add new work, or reduce work rates) when a new resource is added to a project. The Project Smart Tags are not compatible with the Office version and can’t be extended with the Smart Tags SDK for Office. By default, projects appear in a Project Guide, which not only displays project details in one window but also provides a "goal-based" menu of common tasks that users can choose from depending on the context in which they view the project, such as viewing tasks, resources, or reports. (See the illustration "The Project Guide".) Training, Migration Complicate Upgrades Taken together, Project 2002’s enterprise and server features are significantly more powerful and complex than those in Project 2002. Organizations that want to fully exploit these features will want to provide special training for the Project Server administrator, whose skill at configuring the product will have a significant bearing on how well it works and how consistently it is applied across the enterprise. Project 2002 retains the same file format as Project 2000, but certain features, such as enterprise resources and multiple project managers, are not supported by Project 2000 and therefore will not be visible in the older product. Project 2002 files can be "round-tripped" in their native format to Project 2000 and can be saved from Project 2000 (but not with "Save As...") without losing the hidden Project 2002 fields. Project 2002 can read Project files created by Project 98, but it cannot access Project 98 databases. Project Central databases can be rolled forward to Project Server, but Project Server 2002 supports only Microsoft SQL Server databases, unlike Project Central, which also supported Oracle databases. To be migrated to Project Server 2002, Oracle databases in Project Central must first be converted to SQL Server (using SQL server’s Data Transformation Services, for example) and then upgraded to Project 2002 in place. The desktop clients are still capable of writing to Oracle databases using the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) API, but enterprise project and resource management is only possible when using Project Professional, Project Server 2002, and SQL Server together. Some data could be affected by the upgrade. For example, before migrating Project 2000 databases to Project 2002, organizations should standardize calendars for all projects that will be upgraded. Tests are advised to ensure that older files and databases upgrade correctly. More Options, Higher Prices Project 2002's split into Project Server and the Professional and Standard desktop clients forces customers to make some decisions. To get all the new enterprise features and STS, companies need Project Server 2002 and the Project Professional 2002 client, a combination Microsoft calls its Enterprise Project Management Solution. The Standard 2002 client lacks most of Project Professional’s features for working with Project Server, although it can store some project information, such as team members’ task assignments, in Project Server. The Standard 2002 client is best suited for customers who use Project strictly as a desktop product for standalone project management. The Professional and Standard clients require Windows 98 or later and Internet Explorer 5.01 or later. Project Server requires Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 1 or later and most installations will need SQL Server. (Project Server and STS can technically use the SQL Server Data Engine, but the full SQL product is required to get enterprise scope, performance benefits, and the ability to generate OLAP cubes and views.) Microsoft has substantially increased estimated retail pricing for this Project upgrade. Project 2000 cost US$499 for a full license and included one copy of Project Central and one Client Access License (CAL) (additional CALs cost US$199). In contrast, Project Server 2002 will cost US$1,499 per server and Project Professional will cost US$999. The Project 2002 Standard client will retail for US$599. Professional and Standard each include one CAL for Project Server, and Project Server includes five CALs of its own (for browser access). Additional CALs cost US$179 each. Resources The Project home page is www.microsoft.com/office/project/. Microsoft Solution Offerings are described at www.microsoft.com/business/solutions/. Information about the Microsoft Project Solution Provider Program can be found at www.microsoft.com/office/project/resources/partners.htm. |
