Christophe Fiessinger's Blog

Microsoft Project Server 2007 Service Pack 2 Update

Following this post: Important Information on Project Server and SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2), please find an important update from the SharePoint team:

The public update to fix this issue is available for customers to download.  If you have any questions please send them here.

Post URL is here: http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2009/06/25/service-pack-2-update.aspx

Service Pack 2 Update.

The public update for the Service Pack 2 expiration date issue is now available for download. 

The update can be applied before or after Service Pack 2 installation.  If the update is applied prior to installing Service Pack 2 it will prevent the expiration date from being improperly activated during installation of Service Pack 2, if it is applied after Service Pack 2 it will remove the expiration date incorrectly set during installation of Service Pack 2.

The update is applicable to all of the products that this issue affected (see the list in the KB linked below).

Installation instructions and download links for x86 and x64 are available in this KB: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971620

The direct download link for x86 is: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/F/5/2F51AB71-1325-49D2-9CB9-18DEC4780E99/office2007-kb971620-fullfile-x86-glb.exe

And for x64: http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/B/B/5BBD34A9-C528-42B0-8A5F-9A8997B25C32/office2007-kb971620-fullfile-x64-glb.exe

We will be updating the existing Service Pack 2 download package with a new package that includes this fix within the next 4-6 weeks.

Related links:

• Project 2007 Service Pack 2
• Project 2007 Service Pack 2 recorded webcast and deck are now available on EPMConnect

Organizational Budget and Cost Modeling using Project Server 2007 - real customer implementation

Attached is a document written by Shawn Kim from Microsoft Consulting Services which provides great insight into the budget and cost management capabilities of Project Server 2007. This document is based on actual customer experience and is intended to be used as a guide for any organization that wants to do budget and cost modeling using Project Server 2007.

“This document is intended as a “how-to” guide for budget and cost modeling using Microsoft Office Project Server 2007.  Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 is a great tool for coordinating and managing project schedules and resources.  While many users know the schedule and resource management capabilities of Project Server 2007, most users are not familiar with the budget and cost management capabilities of Project Server 2007.  With Project Server 2007, you can set a budget to a project, and track costs against the set budget.  You can also group the projects so that budgets and costs can roll up to a program or portfolio level.

The budget and cost tracking model was used at a federal government agency client site and it can be applied at many organizations.  The model enabled the agency to use Project Server 2007 to track budgets and costs at a program level in a central location.  Previously, the agency had to access several separate systems (budget in one system, resource costs in another system, fixed costs in yet another system, etc…) in order to get all of the necessary information to see a clear picture of the program.  Project Server 2007 enabled them to very easily capture and report the budget and cost information from one central location in addition to providing them day to day cost and schedule visibility out of the box.”

Office 2010 The Movie – Backstage Interview

Funny interview!

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 and Microsoft Project Server 2007 Demo Image

Following the release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 and its out of the integration with Microsoft Project Server 2007, we are pleased to announce the release of the Project Finance and Controls demo image. This solution allows the support of more sophisticated projects through the use of multiple currency budgeting, invoicing and planning:

This demo image along with a recorded webcast, deck and demo scripts are available on the Microsoft Partner portal: https://partner.microsoft.com/productdemos

Email proj2007@microsoft.com for download instructions.

Related links:

• Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 and Project Server 2007
• Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 and Project Server 2007 Connector Information
• Microsoft Dynamics AX Positioned as a Leader in Midmarket and Tier 2-Oriented ERP Magic Quadrant
• Microsoft a Leader in Gartner 2009 Magic Quadrant for IT PPM

Microsoft Project 2010 Technical Preview Invitation

Fellow Project Partners,

Final call to those wishing to have access to the Microsoft Project 2010 client and Microsoft Project Server 2010 Technical Preview.

We have issued an invitation asking to show and expression of interest in gaining access to the Technical Preview of Project/Project Server 2010. The invitation was issued to all known EPM Specialized partners; Independent Software Vendors (ISV’s) that build on Project/Project Server; Project Most Valued Professionals (MVP’s) and  Project/Project Server courseware builders (books, Computer Based Training (CBT) DVD’s, instructor lead, on-demand).

There is only one invitation per company and it was sent to the company’s primary contact as registered in the Microsoft Partner Portal or through the Microsoft field providing contact details. Be aware as part of the process the person accepting the invitation must also sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement which applies to the individual and their company.

This is a final call to express and interest in receiving an invitation. If you fell that you company has not received this invitation (and should have based on the criteria given) please email proj2010@microsoft.com with your contact name, company name and email address.

For all other partners who are reading this and wish to participate in the Project/Project Server 2010 please email proj2010@microsoft.com with your name, company, email address, city, country and three sentence explanation why you should participate in the Technical Preview. Your name will be added to a wait list, there is not a guarantee that you will receive an invitation.

It is also worth noting that  as an added value to the Microsoft Project Conference registration at no additional cost to the conference ticket, you and your technical colleagues have been invited to attend the Microsoft Project 2010 Ignite Airlift which will be held on September 13-14, 2009 at the Phoenix Sheraton in Phoenix, Arizona, USA . This is a training workshop for EPM specialized partners and ISV’s who are looking for in-depth technical training on setting up the next EPM version: Project 2010.

See  http://blogs.technet.com/doug_mccutcheon/archive/2009/04/09/project-2010-readiness-be-one-of-the-first-off-the-line.aspx

How to upgrade your laptop/desktop to Windows Server 2008 R2?

Last August I did this post: How to upgrade your laptop/desktop to Windows Server 2008?, with the imminent release of Windows Server 2008 R2 (scheduled for next October), I recently upgraded my laptop (Lenovo T61P). It was a painless exercise, most drivers were found and I leveraged the following resources to complete the install and experience the Win7 enhancements:

• http://blogs.technet.com/keithcombs/archive/2009/05/02/installing-the-windows-server-2008-r2-rc-on-a-lenovo-thinkpad-t61p.aspx
• http://blogs.technet.com/roblarson/archive/2009/05/02/installing-windows-server-2008-r2-on-a-notebook-and-getting-all-those-required-drivers.aspx
• http://catalog.update.microsoft.com

Very cool to run the latest Hyper-V and Win 7 enhancements not to mention the latest version of Office :)

Unattended Microsoft Project Server and SharePoint Server Installation

Thanks to Janus Morthorst IT Architect at Progressive IT (also thanks to Brian Smith for contributing to the script), please find attached a script to do an unattended Project Server and/or SharePoint Server install.

The attachment contains the following three documented scripts (note each has a configuration file (XML):

Unattended Project Server Install	Unattended SharePoint Server Install	Unattended Project Server and SharePoint Server Install

Unlike these scripts I provided two years ago: Configuring Project Server 2007 using the command line: STSADM, the script above from Janus does it all (handles language packs, installs bits, provision and starts services etc…)

Janus has also done a great job documenting the script including important links to TechNet for instance to learn more about Project Server and SharePoint Server installation.

Moving forward expect to see more scripts to install these products using PowerShell.

Monitoring Microsoft Project Server Counters using CodePlex Performance Analysis of Logs (PAL)

I’m sure you are all actively monitoring your existing Project Server 2007 farm and specifically your Project Server’s performance counters. If not then it’s never too late! Check this latest update to the Performance Analysis of Logs (PAL) Tool from CodePlex, thanks to Michael Jordan from Microsoft Consulting Services, it now contains a Threshold File for Microsoft Project Server 2007 as shown below:

Microsoft Dynamics AX Positioned as a Leader in Midmarket and Tier 2-Oriented ERP Magic Quadrant

From our analysts site:

Magic Quadrant for Midmarket and Tier 2-Oriented ERP for Product-Centric Companies (Gartner, June 4, 2009) Microsoft Dynamics AX Positioned as a Leader in Midmarket and Tier 2-Oriented ERP Magic Quadrant. Despite mergers and acquisitions, there are many ERP offerings for midmarket companies and firms deploying Tier 2 ERP systems. This Magic Quadrant evaluates products that have a global presence and are specifically tailored for product-centric midmarket companies with roughly 100 to 1,000 employees.

and remember this as well Microsoft a Leader in Gartner 2009 Magic Quadrant for IT PPM + the fact that there is an out of box supported connector between the two Microsoft products, a perfect combination to manage projects!

Related links:

• Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 and Project Server 2007
• Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 and Project Server 2007 Connector Information

Microsoft a Leader in Gartner 2009 Magic Quadrant for IT PPM

Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management (Gartner Research, June 2, 2009) Gartner positions Microsoft in the Leaders’ quadrant in its Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management. The Project & Portfolio Management (PPM) market remains active in an adverse global economy. This year's Magic Quadrant acknowledges emerging IT planning and control and application lifecycle management integration support, two (but not the only) routes for expanding PPM systems.

Note our progress compared to others with respect to the 2008 report.

Time to purchase and deploy EPM 2007 :)

Online References:

• Microsoft Project 2007 home page: www.microsoft.com/project
• Microsoft Project 2007 blog – http://blogs.msdn.com/project/
• EPM Connect: http://www.epmconnect.com/US/Pages/home.aspx
• Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management Solution demo: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project/HA101672611033.aspx?pid=CL100627011033
• Microsoft Project 2007 Solution center: http://support.microsoft.com/ph/11381
• Microsoft Project User Group: http://www.mpug.org/Pages/Home.aspx

Solid State Drive/SSD and SharePoint Server, Project Server Demo Image Benchmark

Thanks to Dell, I recently got a Latitude E6500 with one Intel Core 2 Duo (T9400), 8GB RAM (see attached CPU-Z info.) and two hard drives: a Seagate Momentus 7200.3 and a Samsung SSD SATA 3.0Gb/s (Solid State Drive), and wanted to measure the performance gains of running my demo images (about 30GB VHD each) on a SSD drive versus a classic “rotating drive” since hard drive is typically the performance bottleneck.

I first reformatted the laptop with Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (yes Service Pack 2 is out!), added the Hyper-V role and that’s it (no other W2K8 role and no unnecessary services, just the minimum to run demo images using Hyper-V!).

Before testing three separate demo images/VHD I use often, I used the following two tools to tests the disks:  CrystalDiskMark 2.2 and HD Tune Pro 3.5 (note I have attached all the screenshots of the results as a blog post attachment). I ran CrystalDiskMark for 50MB/100MB/500MB/1000MB.

Samsung SSD SATA 3.0Gb/s Thin uSATA, 128GB	Seagate Momentus 7200.3, 160GB, ST9160411ASG

CrystalMark Results:	HDTune Results:

As expected the Access Time(ms) and hence Read [MB/s] is lighting fast on a SSD, why? See this explanation below from this article from Les Tokar: SSD Performance Comparison and a Review of Mtron's Mobi 3000 "World's Fastest" Drive

"Disk Access" – is probably one of the most important things to consider when deciding if you want to move to the SSD. It is measured in milli-seconds and is the reason there is such a great increase in speed for booting an OS such as Vista and being able to play within the system.  This speed is the time in which a piece of information is found on a sector of a drive, pulled up and read.  Most hard drives are in excess of 10ms, as shown in the 15.1ms time for the Seagate. Meanwhile, SSDs such as the Mtron are reaching new heights with less than 0.1ms access time.  The reason for this is because the hard drive has to wait for the disk to spin and information to become available whereas with NAND flash, it is available almost instantly.

I then used a .Net stopwatch and recorded the following actions for each of my demo image:

for each of the following demo image:

• Project & Portfolio Management (PPM V3), Windows 2003 x86, 4GB RAM, 2 proc, SQL 2008, Project Server and SharePoint Server SP2
• Innovation Process Management (IPM V3), Windows 2003 x86, 4GB RAM, 2 proc, SQL 2005, Project Server, SharePoint Server
• SharePoint Server and Project Server 2010, Windows 2008 x64, 6GB RAM, 2 proc (to learn about Project Server 2010 attend the Project Conference 2009 in Phoenix in September or to learn about SharePoint attend the SharePoint Conference 2009 in Las Vegas in October)

Demo Image/VHD results:

I think the results speak for themselves, running a VHD on a SSD is days and night compared to a classic 7200rpm drive (for instance executing the “warmup” script of each VHD which is disk intensive by definition yielded significant performance gains; not to mention the overall performance of running a demo and navigating the applications). While the price are still quite high for SSD drive, I believe the performance gains justifies the costs specially if you run a lot of demo images.

Doing demos will never be the same!

Related links “binging” around SSD drives/benchmark:

• SSD benchmarks using HD tune pro
• Samsung 64GB SSD performance benchmarks
• Results for Top 10 Hard Drives tested
• Solid state disk (SSD) technology in notebook PCs (HP whitepaper and benchmark)

Microsoft Project Demo, Demo, Demo

As Doug posted on his blog today: New CUSTOMER AND PARTNER DEMO ENVIRONMENTS AVAILABLE you can now click through our latest Enterprise Project Management (EPM) demo image without downloading anything on your laptop:

• Project and Portfolio Management
• Capital Planning and Investment Control for Federal Government
• Innovation Process Management

Happy test drive!

Microsoft Project and Portfolio Server Customer Evidence

As Doug mentioned, our colleague Tadd has been busy producing Enterprise Project Management evidence: Project server puts the fizz into coca-cola

Latest EPM case studies/evidence are:

You can find plenty more on the Microsoft site: http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/ (search “Project Server” or “EPM” for instance).

You can also BING “Project Server case studies” and you will find plenty more from our partner community. Bing it on!

Windows 2008 Server Replication and SharePoint Server

Reading this recent TechNet article: Configure disaster recovery across SharePoint farms by using SQL Server log shipping I saw this graph:

It’s another great reason to upgrade your SharePoint/Project Server farm to Windows 2008, the improvements in Distributed File System (DFS) and Copying Files are major between Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008.

Time to upgrade your farm today! See this for another great reason to do so and links to TechNet documentation to upgrade your farm: Announcing Project Server 2010 Preliminary System Requirements

Microsoft Project Server 2003 Mainstream Support Ended on April 14 2009

As a reminder, Microsoft Project Server 2003 Mainstream Support Retired on April 14, 2009, as show on our Microsoft Product Lifecycle site. This means that Microsoft Project 2003 and Microsoft Project Server 2003 customers should purchase Extended Support. I also recommend upgrading to Project/Project Server 2007 and not wait for Project/Project Server 2010. See this for more information: Best Practices for Migrating to Project Server 2007 white paper now available

For more information on Product Lifecycle support for Project Server 2007, Portfolio Server 2007, etc. check this post: Microsoft Support Lifecycle and Project Server