1. The Marshall University Experience with Implementing Project Server 2003
August 9, 2005
Presented by: Chuck Elliott, M.S. Associate Director, Customer Services Marshall University Computing Services
Yanzhi Wu, M.B.A. Senior Office Administrator Marshall University IT Administration
This presentation is online at: or

2. West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005
Agenda
Introduction
Marshall IT Project Management
Demo
Known problems
Concerns and Challenges
Recommendations
Recommended Online Resources
Q&A, Discussion, and Next Steps
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

3. West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005
Introduction
The Marshall Environment
A Microsoft Campus
16,000 students including graduate and medical school
1100+ faculty and staff
200 plus departments
4400+ computers
4 campuses and numerous satellites
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

4. Marshall IT Project Management
Lacking an enterprise project management system, Marshall IT Administration created a centralized repository for project information.
IT Projects Page.
Pros
centralized information store
sharing of information
increased visibility
Cons
difficult to maintain
lack of a centralized comparative view
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

5. What do other schools use?
Spreadsheets
Databases
Decentralized project management software
Enterprise project management software
Various other methods
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

6. West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005
Demo
Simple project demonstrating the Microsoft EPM solution
Project Plan Development
Enterprise Resource Pool
Enterprise Global template
Publishing a project to Project Server
Project Web Access integration with Outlook
Project Management using Project Server
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

7. West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005
Known Problems
Outlook integration
Tasks show as appointments, it was designed this way and takes getting used to
Updating tasks in Project Web Access can generate conflicting data in Outlook
Outlook integration may not be best solution
Migrating database to new project server
Permissions administration
Very important to understand roles and needs
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

8. Concerns and Challenges
Enterprise Resource Pool
The larger and more complex the pool, the more resources are required to administer and maintain
Enterprise level Portfolio management, and Resource management, are dependent on standards and consistency
Establishing and enforcing organizational standards
Maintenance of the data, adding new types of data
new people, new skill sets, new coding schemes
Tracking leave, sick-leave, training, travel etc.
Will this be a centralized or dispersed responsibility?
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

9. Concerns and Challenges
Enterprise Global template
Allows published projects to use the same custom settings
fields, tables
views, reports
groups, calendars
enterprise-only fields
Better organization-wide reporting and analysis
Standardizes organization breakdown structures
Planning is important
What standards do we need?
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

10. Concerns and Challenges
Hardware
Our current single-server environment may support up to 250 users and/or projects
Licensing
An issue mostly for use on non-MU equipment
consultants
third-party team members
Client Access License (CAL) required to use Project Web Access without Project Professional
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

11. Concerns and Challenges
Training
Role based is preferred.
Costs – both dollars and staff time
Project Management Office (real or virtual) members should be “expert” at using Project Professional
Project Managers and team members will benefit from training
Just-in-time training for team members
Knowing Project Professional not all that helpful to learning Project Server
Systems Admin skills very helpful on Project Server admin
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

12. Concerns and Challenges
Organizational Culture
Effective implementation will require a change in culture (positive ones)
PMs will have to use prescribed calendars, global template, and work within the system
An effective PMO will control and negotiate standards
Performance Analysis
Earned Value analysis – Project supports only Percent Complete and Physical Percent Complete
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

13. Recommendations: Implementation
Full implementation
Phased process
Prototype
Test the prototype
Develop training materials
Pilot test
Identify new groups to train and bring into the system
Establish a test environment
Hardware costs
Administration
Testing Plan and staffing
Disaster Recovery
Strategies, planning, backup and recovery testing, hardware costs
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

14. West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005
Recommendations: PMO
Consider establishing a Project Management Office (real or virtual) with appropriate FTE
Advise executives on project-prioritization
Advise executives on at-risk projects, provide early-warning
Maintain documentation on the environment, policies, and procedures
Administer and coordinate Enterprise Resource Pool and Enterprise Global template
Support Projects and Project Managers
Recommend server configuration changes
Design or assist Executives in the design of Views and Reports
Provide training or training resources
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

15. Recommended Resources
Webcasts
TechNet Webcast: A Proven Approach for Success: An Introduction to the EPM Workshop Series (Level 200)
Microsoft Executive Circle Webcast: Building a PMO with Microsoft's Enterprise Project Management Solution
Other Microsoft Project Events and Webcasts
Documentation
The Project Server 2003 Resource Kit
Web Pages
Project 2003 Home Page
Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution Overview
Planning your EPM Solution implementation
MPA - the Official Industry Association for Microsoft Project
Project Management Institute
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

16. West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005
Conclusion
Microsoft Project Server 2003 may be a good solution for your environment
It’s not perfect
As a Microsoft Campus, it may be a bargain for Marshall
Project Server environment will continue at Marshall for the foreseeable future
Project management can be successful without high-end project management software
Each organization is different and should consider options
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

17. Q&A and Discussion, Next Steps
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005

18. Thank You !! This presentation is online at: www.marshall.edu/it/
or via to
August 9, 2005
West Virginia Statewide Technology Conference 2005