Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Unleashed [Paperback]

QuantumPM LLC (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0672329212 | ISBN-13: 978-0672329210 | Publication Date: November 1, 2007

Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Unleashed provides a comprehensive and in-depth overview of Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 and Enterprise Project Management (EPM). This book should be used as a reference to guide you through system capabilities and the use of more advanced product features in the context of your business processes. In this book you will find cutting-edge information, including the necessary framework and approach to implement a complex project management software product. Find practical, real-world guidance on how to plan, install, configure, deploy, use, manage, and customize your EPM Implementation. This book is your only in-depth source for Microsoft Office Project Server 2007!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

QuantumPM, LLC is a project, program, and portfolio management product and services firm that helps its clients create pragmatic and valuable solutions to address real-world problems. The company combines state-of-the-art tools from Microsoft and other technology leaders, its own expertise, and industry best practices to create solutions that support the way its customers work. QuantumPM products and services include management consulting, technical consulting, training, hosting services, earned value management, and business intelligence solutions.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction to Enterprise Project Management

Throughout this book, you will see that Enterprise Project Management (EPM; also called Enterprise Portfolio Management) is made up of two components: philosophy and tool. Although the book is primarily technical in nature, it is impossible to separate the technology from the environment in which it works. This software is not a "magic bullet" that will solve all process problems. Although it is great software, it has limitations, and the primary one is that it is only as good as the processes that surround the tool.

Why We Wrote This Book

The Sams Publishing Unleashed series is intended for both beginner and intermediate audiences. The primary purpose of this book is to provide knowledge to the reader of the capabilities of Microsoft Office Project Server 2007, a robust EPM software application. It does not provide a step-by-step cookbook answer but rather provides the logic and approach that should be used for implementing a complex project management software product. Unlike other server products, EPM requires extensive knowledge of the project management domain and the business goals to install and configure it in the most optimal manner.

Much of the material covered in this book is simple enough for a beginner to understand but it also allows you to grow with the book as more advanced topics are covered. The intermediate user will find that the material is new and interesting and provides practical tips, tricks, and guidelines based on this team's experience of hundreds of successful EPM installations and implementations for thousands of users.

This book is comprehensive enough to be a source of powerful and meaningful information but is not meant to be a "cradle-to-grave" guide of all things possible with this software. It does need to fit in a briefcase or next to your desk!

The team is excited to offer you the opportunity to get into the consultants' heads and get some practical and real-world examples on how to plan, install, configure, deploy, and manage an EPM implementation.

How This Book Is Organized

This book is divided into six parts designed to be of interest to a wide variety of readers. Some of the chapters focus on planning and organization, whereas others focus on technology details. The following information should help you decide which chapters are important for your role.

Part I—Initiating Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Implementation

Part I is an introduction to the software application and to the philosophy of approach to EPM. It is intended for all audiences to provide context for successfully planning and managing the EPM environment.

Chapter 1, "Enterprise Project Management Overview," describes enterprise thinking and what it takes to be successful with deployment of a software tool. The tool is not a magic bullet that will solve all problems regarding people, process, and environment.

Chapter 2, "Understanding Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 as an Enterprise Project Management Solution," is an overview of the major features of the EPM tool and how these features are integrated within the tool.

Chapter 3, "Initiating Your EPM Implementation," discusses what you should do and understand before beginning your EPM implementation planning. In addition to reviewing organizational factors and processes that you need to consider, the chapter details business justification, scope development, and obtaining authority to proceed as necessary steps before starting the planning process.

Part II—Planning Your Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Implementation

Part II discusses what your business and IT staff must do to properly plan and prepare for the implementation. Chapters in this part detail organizational processes and roles, Project Server 2007 architecture, and the technical design of the solution integrating your business processes.

Chapter 4, "Planning the Organizational Processes and Roles," helps the reader approach the implementation of this tool realistically by first understanding the key focus areas. In addition, you will understand how Project Server 2007 features and functions address the main usage scenarios, the planning of Project Server 2007 users and roles, planning project phases to be integrated into the solution, planning the actual deployment of the tool, migration planning, development of operational policies and processes, and finalizing and communicating implementation scope.

Chapter 5, "Understanding Microsoft office 2007 Project Server Architecture," provides the high-level view of the software components, the solution architecture, and considerations for scalability and security.

Chapter 6, "Designing the Enterprise Project Management Solution Architecture Details," provides an in-depth look at design requirements that must be considered when planning an EPM implementation.

Part III—Implementing Microsoft Office Project Server 2007

Part III discusses the steps necessary for implementing Microsoft Office Project Server 2007. The intended audience for the chapters in this part are members of the implementation team.

Chapter 7, "Installing Microsoft Office Project Server 2007," focuses on the high level steps and checklists, as well as useful references to already existing materials for installing Microsoft Office Project Server 2007. In addition, it provides a post-installation validation checklist that verifies the success of the installation—a crucial step prior to configuring the solution.

Chapter 8, "Configuring Your EPM Solution," provides an introduction to configuring the solution as well as reminds the implementation team to revisit business requirements to ensure that the solution addresses the key user needs and functionality.

Chapter 9, "Configuring Security Model Settings," addresses the security options and capabilities of the software. This important chapter helps the reader create a security model that is both robust and flexible so that it does not require a great deal of administrative time to maintain.

Chapter 10, "Configuring Enterprise Custom Fields," describes the core configuration elements of the software. Configuration models vary from organization to organization based on the complexity of the setup and the needs of the business. This chapter discusses the options available for the user.

Chapter 11, "Configuring Resources Attributes and Resource Pool," discusses the details of configuring the resource breakdown structure and configuring the resource pool, including resource types, matching skill sets, and synchronizing with Active Directory.

Chapter 12, "Configuring Calendars," explains the various settings and functionality of the Enterprise Global calendars and design considerations for various ways to configure the solution.

Chapter 13, "Configuring Task and Time Management Settings," explains the difference in the functionality of task and time management and the configuration options available to your organization to best fit your business model and processes.

Chapter 14, "Standardizing Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007 Global Settings," discusses ways to standardize views, tables, toolbars, forms, maps, and other elements across your organization.

Chapter 15, "Configuring the Microsoft Office Project Web Access 2007 Interface," details the configuration options for the look and feel elements of the web-based Project Server 2007 component, Project Web Access.

Chapter 16, "Configuring Operational Policies," provides details for configuring and handling alerts and reminders, enterprise settings, server-side event handlers, Active Directory synchronization, project workspace management, and provisioning settings.

Chapter 17, "Configuring Reporting and Analysis," explains how an organization can set up views of the data and reports to meet the needs of di...

Product Details

• Paperback: 1320 pages
• Publisher: Sams (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672329212
• ISBN-13: 978-0672329210
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #543,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you're implementing Project Server, THIS IS THE BOOK, April 14, 2008

By 

Michael Deherrera (Denver) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Unleashed (Paperback)

This is actually one of the best books I have seen in support of a product. Not only does it provide in depth information, it is specific to certain 'views' about the product, including technical, business, adoption, etc. If you are implementing Project Server, this will be one of the wisest decisions you could make to purchase this book.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of best book regarding WPS, December 16, 2008

By 

Sollies - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Unleashed (Paperback)

The one of the two best book regarding WPS.
The other one is Implementing and Administering Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 (Epm Learning)