MS Project Add-On Products

1. MS Project Add-On Products Jon Smith, PMP MPA Washington, DC Meeting Global Tools Manager October 5, 2005 Keane, Inc.

2. MS Project Add-On Product Sources • MS Project Solutions Providers - http://directory.partners.extranet.microsoft.com/project/ProjectPartners.aspx • MSDN - http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/program/project/2003/default.aspx • Microsoft Download Center - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Browse.aspx?displaylang=en&productID=A1D023A3-F612-4DA2-ACB8-FDA8F850D645 This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

3. Microsoft Presentation Wizard • Free product from Microsoft – available at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5a4d6d5b-069a-401c-9de1-440546836b85&DisplayLang=en • Only works with Project 2003 Standard or Professional • Only works with PowerPoint 2003 This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

4. Microsoft Presentation Wizard • Companion product – Project Status Report available at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC011417231033.aspx • Companion product – Training on Distributing Project Information at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011454741033.aspx • Companion product – Effective Communication with Project Stakeholders article at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011466281033.aspx This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

5. Microsoft Presentation Wizard • Adds a toolbar to Project This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

6. Microsoft Presentation Wizard • Produces output with user selection of tasks and fields • User may alter the output file • Standard template file that can be altered is C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Tools\Project Report Presentation • Display shows 7 lines of a plan at a time • Wizard can only display 2 levels deep in your plan This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

7. Microsoft Presentation Wizard • Demo This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

8. eTaskMaker • A work estimating wizard to develop job plan definitions to export to MS Project • Consists of two products: • Estimating Wizard – user runs a script (estimating module) to produce an output file • Module Editor – user creates estimating module for estimators to use • Useful for: • Repetitive type projects • Junior project managers • Weak estimators This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

9. eTaskMaker • Designed by InterPlan Systems • Available at www.interplansystems.com • eTaskMaker Lite retails for $495 per user and includes the Estimating Wizard and the Module Editor • Product developed for the petroleum industry, so the examples use that industry • Uses the critical path method of scheduling • Schedule logic follows the PDM (Precedence Diagramming Method) guidelines This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

10. eTaskMaker Benefits • Generates estimate quickly • Regular users can be easily prevented from changing the estimating module (script) • Uses a question and multiple choice answer method • Estimates can be Fixed Hours or Scalable Hours • Very easy adaptation to iterative programming lifecycles This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

11. eTaskMaker Potential Issues • Defines tasks in Duration, rather than Work (workaround – copy Duration into Work immediately upon entering Project) • Cannot easily add tasks – rather the designer must leave a “marker” task for later manual editing • Decisions can have up to 3 possible choices, so you may have to chain them together • Variables can have up to 5 possible choices, so you may have to chain them together • Software has no WBS capability, so you have to insert placeholders and indent This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

12. eTaskMaker Module Editor • Module Editor flow chart consists of 4 basic components: • Query Block (decision node, up to 3) • Variable Block (parameter definition, up to 5) – accepts user input • Task Block (estimate details) • Query Complement Block (repeat query) This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

13. eTaskMaker Demo • Demo of Module Editor • Demo of Estimating Wizard This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

14. @Risk • A tool to replace uncertain values in your project schedule with the results from probability distribution functions • Useful for: • Quantifying uncertainty in your project schedule • Improving estimate results to include multiple scenarios • Significantly reducing risk to your project schedule This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

15. @Risk • Designed by Palisade Corporation • Available at www.palisade.com • Standard version retails for $995 per user • Product uses Monte Carlo simulations to show you possible outcomes of your project and to tell you how likely they are to occur • The user introduces uncertainty into their project plan and can quantify it either in numbers or ranges • Product has a distribution viewer to allow you to preview the probability distribution (i.e. bell curve, triangular, uniform, 38 in all) before selecting it This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

16. @Risk • Adds a toolbar to Project This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

17. @Risk Benefits • Probabilistic branching – where branching between tasks can change during a simulation based on the probabilities you enter • If/Then conditions – values in Project fields can change if specified events occur (ex. If Construction[Duration]>50d Then Branch=Temporary Office Procurement) • Probabilistic calendars – working and non-working calendars can change based upon probabilities you enter • Global variables – apply across multiple plans • References – allows you to use fields from tasks in your project plans as arguments to distribution functions This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

18. @Risk Potential Issues • Can be complicated • Can require extra training on understanding uncertainty values and how it benefits your project plan • Takes extra time in developing your project plan • Custom field Text1 is reserved for the @Risk Functions • Requires that the PM and Team members actually have to think about their project schedule and estimates • But it significantly reduces your estimating risks in your plan This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

19. @Risk – Situations of Risk Examples • After switching to a new computer system, how long will it take for employees to reach acceptable productivity levels? • How many hours will a team spend designing a new product? • What is a realistic delivery date for a product? • How will new government regulations affect production? This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

20. @Risk – Monte Carlo Simulation • A simulation is an analytical method to imitate a real-life situation • Without the aid of a simulation, spreadsheet models produce only a single outcome, usually an average • A Monte Carlo simulation randomly generates values for uncertain variables over and over to generate a model (think roulette wheel) • For each uncertain variable you define the possible values via a probability distribution • The simulation calculates multiple scenarios for the uncertainty values and uses those values for the results This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

21. @Risk Process • Developing a Model - by defining your problem or situation in Project format • Identifying Uncertainty - in entries in your project and specifying their possible values with probability distributions, and identifying the uncertain Project results you want analyzed • Analyzing the Model with Simulation - to determine the range and probabilities of all possible outcomes for the results of your project • Making a Decision - based on the results provided and personal preferences This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

22. @Risk Results • Starts with a triangular result (worst – expected – best) • Determines the correct range of the value of the uncertainty and factors that into the estimate • Shows the probability of occurrence This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.

23. @Risk Demo • Demo of @Risk This information may be reproduced freely for the express purpose of educating Project Managers, but is not warranted by MPA or Keane, Inc.