Lessons Learned: Using the Experience of Others to Avoid Common Project Server Mistakes LaDonna Carpenter Technical Lead Product Support Services Microsoft Corporation

Topic Top 10 mistakes made when planning, deploying and implementing an Enterprise Project Management solution.

Number 10 Problem: Size Limit errors when attempting to submit Status Reports Mistake: User is attempting to copy full RTF text from MS Word into the ActiveX control. Solution: Copy smaller portions of text or copy text only so as not to exceed size limits.

Number 9 Problem: Reports in Portfolio Analyzer are not interactive. Mistake: A Microsoft Office 2003 licensed product is not installed. Solution: Install any MS Office 2003 product. Microsoft Project 2003 Professional counts, too!

Number 8 Problem: After installing WSS, the Project Server site or pages with grid controls won’t load. Mistake: Users install Windows SharePoint Services after Project Server. Solution: Install WSS first or add Project Server and MSADC to the exclude list

Number 7 Problem: After upgrading from STS to WSS, Issues did not migrate. Mistake: After running OWS1002.exe, user did not re-run STSWiz.exe Solution: Run STSWiz.exe before running PSMIGRAT.exe

Number 6 Problem: Spooler Error 0x80040E14 when publishing new assignments. Mistake: User has just assigned a resource to the same task to which a resource has self-assign himself. Solution: Avoid this by developing a process around self-assigning or by installing the hotfix.

Number 5 Problem: Login failure using PWA Outlook Addin to download new assignments. Mistake: IE security settings for Trusted Sites restricted User Authentication to “Automatic logon only in the Intranet zone”. Solution: IE User Authentication must be set to “Automatic logon with current user name and password”

Number 4 Problem: Default Tracking Method is changed in PWA but the Timesheet still uses the old method Mistake: Project Managers did not re- publish assignments Solution: Open all projects and Republish Assignments.

Number 3 Problem: OLAP cube fails to build Mistake: Enterprise Resource Pool or Enterprise Outline Codes contain special characters. Solution: Don’t use special characters in outline codes or resource names.

Number 2 Problem: After installing hotfix #XXXXX, Project Server is broken Mistake: Failed to read the instructions thoroughly. Solution: Thoroughly read all installation instructions and install in a test environment first.

Number 1 Problem: Any variety of performance problems. Mistake: Poor planning Solution: Plan, plan, plan. And when you think you’re done, plan some more!

Top 10 Resources 1.Help Files 2.Solution Developers Kit 3.Support Center 4.Webcasts 5.Resource Kit 6.Training Docs 7.Microsoft Newsgroups 8.Books Online 9.Office Online 10.Knowledge Base

Q & A

Bibliography How to troubleshoot issues with Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) "The page cannot be found" error message when you connect to Project Error messages when you access a Microsoft Project Web Access page that Microsoft Project Solution Developer Kit Microsoft Project Support Center Support Web Casts Microsoft Project 2002 Training Documents Microsoft Newsgroups Books Online Office Online Microsoft Knowledge Base

© 2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This presentation is for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, in this summary.