Christophe Fiessinger's Blog The latest news you need to know about Microsoft Project
I am pleased to announce the release of a white paper written by Symmetry Corporation entitled: How to Leverage Project Server 2007 with PerformancePoint Server 2007 Monitoring and Analytics.
This white paper provides an overview of the Microsoft PerformancePoint Server software and how it can be used to develop dashboards with the existing relational and analytical databases created with Microsoft Office Project Server 2007. In addition to detailing some advanced techniques for creating analytically rich scorecards, it covers how to organize Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and other best practices.
Sample data files (PerformancePoint Builder Workspace and ProClarity Briefing Book) are also provided for using with corresponding sections of the white paper (see the Readme file for more information).
Other Project Server + PerformancePoint Server resources
TechNet Virtual Lab: Enterprise Project Management and Data Visualization using Microsoft BI Tools and Solutions
After completing this lab, you will be better able to understand how to extend Enterprise Project Management (EPM) data using Microsoft business intelligence tools and solutions.
TechNet live webcast: Performance Management Using Project Server 2007 and PerformancePoint Server 2007 (on demand webcast)
In this webcast, you learn how to use the PerformancePoint Server 2007 to augment the suite of built-in operational reports within Project Server 2007 to deliver a broad range of analysis to the entire organization.
Finally in case you have missed it I recommend you read the latest Microsoft Business Intelligence announcement regarding PerformancePoint Server: Microsoft Brings Business Intelligence to the Masses With SharePoint.
Last November Microsoft Ramp Up Program: Just Launched SharePoint for Developers Track Part1, Part 2 has just been launched!
It’s a great opportunity to learn about SharePoint development free of charge! Since Project Server is a SharePoint application I highly recommend learning the fundamentals using Ramp Up.
Part 2 includes:
Starting February 18th, 2009 at 11 am (EST) we will be running a webcast series every Wednesday that will show how the Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution and related Microsoft technologies can be deployed to meet varying horizontal scenarios.
Why should customers attend the webcast series?
Please note these webcast are targeted at customers not partners.
Microsoft and UMT Consulting Group invite you to join this complimentary webcast to learn how Microsoft’s Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution can help identify and select project portfolios that best align with your organizations business strategy whilst optimizing costs.
Registration and Schedule
Microsoft and Robbins-Gioia invite you to this complimentary webcast to learn how the Capital Planning & Investment Control (CPIC) Solution can help government agencies improve decision making, and effectively control investments throughout their lifecycle.
You are invited to join this complimentary webcast to learn how Microsoft’s Innovation Process Management (IPM) Solution can help organizations to manage the end-to-end innovation process with greater transparency, coordination and discipline.
Microsoft and Pcubed invite you to join this complimentary webcast to learn how Microsoft’s Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution can help organizations to improve project and portfolio execution, eliminate costly overruns and enhance operational efficiency and agility.
Microsoft announced last week important changes to our PerformancePoint Server product roadmap, check the following blog post to learn more:
Hello my colleague Jan has just announced on the Project Programmability blog a series of upcoming Project Server developer webcasts you might want to attend to either ramp up on Project Server development or review the fundamentals.
8:00 A.M Pacific Time
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Related links:
I posted this set of sample SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) reports almost a year ago: New SQL Reporting Services Sample Reports for Project Server, and due to popular demand finally documented the required custom fields and lookup tables to run the following two reports:
If you are looking for a sample database with the required fields, check this: Project Server 2007 Sample Databases
So basically you’ll have to add the listed lookup tables and custom fields first (see the Excel attachment at the bottom of this post), then update the metadata for projects and the reports will run. As mentioned in this post: How to deploy the Timesheet Compliance Report
In the end the best way to troubleshoot a SSRS report is to run the queries directly in SQL using the query editor. Until you get the results expected in the query window no need to work in SSRS!
As usual with MSDN blog postings the code is supplied “AS-IS”, with no warranties or support and could probably be improved to optimize performance.
I have recently seen this question on how many databases are created once the Project Server and Project Portfolio Server are installed? My first answer was: “it depends!” Here is why. Assume we are installing both Project Portfolio Server and Project Server on a SharePoint Server farm and that they all share the same SQL server instance:
“(n)” simply means that you could have multiple databases depending on your configuration (number of PWA instances for instance).
So in the end for one Project Web Access instance setup on a SharePoint Server farm with Portfolio Server and SQL Reporting Services all sharing the same SQL Server instance you will typically have 18 relational databases. If you have another PWA instance, other SharePoint site, other SSP, PerformancePoint Server, etc… expect additional databases… I recommend you carefully plan your EPM deployment and architect your solution based on the above recommendations and the latest TechNet content for all these products; involve a trained Partner as well if you are not familiar with all the products. So in summary “it depends” but hopefully this gives you a good starting point :)
It works! I downloaded the ISO from MSDN and followed the instructions to deploy SharePoint Server 2007 and Project Server 2007 on Windows Server 2008, and it works like a charm on R2 (notice the Windows 7 similar toolbar at the bottom with the big PowerShell icon)!
What’s new with Windows Server 2008 R2 check these two links:
Also check this related post if you want to experiment with our upcoming OS: Windows 7 Beta and Project Professional 2007
Please find here an announcement for a 20-part webcast series on virtualization targeted at IT Professionals.
Please find below a list of EPM 2007 webcast in the coming months as well as on-demand webcasts (recorded in the past 4 months) . These webcast are primarily targeted to IT Professionals and will present in details key aspects to consider when you evaluate, plan, deploy, and operate Project Server 2007. On February 12th, Larry Duff will present the recently released Solution Connector for Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007 on MSDN Code Gallery to the developer community. You need to register to each webcast by clicking their respective link (all free of charge); then you get emailed a link to sign on and participate in the web cast on its date and time.
Each webcast is recorded for later viewing (on-demand) which should be through the same registration URL. For a listing of all EPM webcasts check the following link: http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/epm.aspx
Monday, January 19, 2009
1:00 PM Pacific Time
8:00 AM Pacific Time
11:00 AM Pacific Time
This webcast covers Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Server Disaster Recovery options and best practices. We discuss how to recover from a catastrophic failure on your SharePoint/Project Server far;, this includes what are the options to recover from a loss of any component of your SharePoint/Project Server farm: SQL server, Application Server, Disk etc … We present farm and database restore options. This webcast is part of a webcast series targeted at IT professionals. In the series, we present in detail key aspects to consider when you evaluate, plan, deploy, and operate Project Server 2007.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 - Virtualization
This webcast covers Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Server Virtualization best practices using Windows Server 2008's Hyper-V. We discuss deployment best practices with respect to virtualization, including optimum architecture configuration (which component should be deployed on a virtual environment and which ones should be deployed on a physical environment), and how to architect a high availability virtual farm. This webcast is part of a webcast series targeted at IT professionals. In the series, we present in detail key aspects to consider when you evaluate, plan, deploy, and operate Project Server 2007.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
On-Demand Webcasts