Complex Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting problems with Enterprise Project Management (EPM) solutions can be a complex task due to the number of different log files the product’s components generate, Microsoft support engineers who might not be fully knowledgeable about the components, and poor documentation.

Confusing Logging

Troubleshooting requires examining the logs of many EPM components, including Project Server, Internet Information Service (IIS), SQL Server, and Windows SharePoint Services (WSS). Each component log captures slightly different information in its own logging format. Few components write all event information into the Windows event log for the Event Viewer. Even if they do, most of the events in this event log are undecipherable and provide almost no additional information on how to resolve the problem.

Consequently, managing an EPM installation in production will probably require a monitoring tool like Microsoft’s Operations Manager, which can aggregate information across multiple component logs and help organizations analyze the cause of a problem. Effective monitoring with Operations Manager will also require the add-on management packs for Windows SharePoint Services in addition to Project Server.