This white paper outlines the integration of Project Server 2010 with SAP work Actuals, integrating the actual time reporting from SAP with the time phased planning and resource forecasting power of Project Server 2010. This is an example successful integration is both cost effective and a way to enable the source of record Actuals (both Cost and Time reporting) to bring actuals to the planning activities that Project/Program Offices or Scheduling groups use Project Server 2010 for. This connection module and process enabled a large national company to drastically reduce the time spent in planning and trying to map the actuals directly with the way that the organization schedules work, enabling the feature rich reporting capabilities of Project 2010 Professional, Project Server and SharePoint and put that planning and reporting directly in the hands of the end users.
Note: This paper is not a Detailed Technical Systems or programming write-up, but a customer solutions case study focus on the value of systems integration that addressed via a technical perspective, the business need of a Project and Resource Planning Organization.
SAP
In 2004, Fortis Inc., the largest investor-owned distribution utility in Canada, acquired all the distribution, transmission and generation assets of the West Kootenay Power and Light Company and renamed it FortisBC Inc. In 2007, Fortis Inc. purchased Terasen Inc., which included the Terasen Gas group of companies, from Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc.
In July 2010, Terasen Inc. and FortisBC Inc. started sharing the same leadership team. Then, on March 1, 2011, the Terasen group of companies began operating under the FortisBC brand name. Today, the natural gas and electricity businesses continue to operate as before, as separate legal entities, while sharing the name FortisBC.
Business Situation
The key challenge that was presented to Advisicon Inc. (a Microsoft Gold Certified Project Management partner) was how to provide timely and cost effective Resource Forecast Business Intelligence, through integration with corporate ERP and other LOB Systems. The customer utilizes SAP as the corporate system where Timesheet Actuals and Planned Workload are centrally gathered.
This customer also leverages additional external planning and forecasting scheduling systems (Clicksoftware) to help identify crew assignments workload, resource availability. All their ERP and LOB systems were not connected and did not meet their workload forecasting, resource demand planning and detailed scheduling needs.
Solution Delivered
Microsoft Project Server 2010 was introduced to provide comprehensive Work and Resource capabilities to the scheduling and planning teams. It was seen as a software solution that could bridge the complex and difficult to report, track, map actuals to scheduled work and resources.
Benefits
- Resource Planners time Reduced by 50% allowing for additional work on forecasting and growing the business
- Reduced time to analysis of actual work performed by resources from weeks to daily impact analysis as needed, enabling the ability to review work team performance
- Project Server enabled What if scenarios with no additional costs (other ERP Modules had significant costs associated with adding, removing and utilizing forecast analysis)
- Process eliminated the 80% manual effort in building collecting the reporting information and re-allocated resource planners and program coordinators time to analyzing and addressing work related activities
- Customer loved the Project Professional 2010 interface that allows them to build grouping, views and reports in minutes and respond to Senior Managements need for graphical reporting
Software and Services
- Project Server 2010: provides innovative capabilities across the entire lifecycle to help organizations understand demand, effectively initiate, select, plan and deliver projects on time and on budget.
- Project Professional 2010: is the PC based client that provides both resource and scheduling management capabilities, as well as a visual interface that provides a configurable rich graphical display of data.
- SharePoint 2010: provides the ability to create Web sites to share information with, collaborate on documents, manage lists such as Risks or Issues, and provide Business Intelligence and Reporting across the enterprise.
- SAP (CATS): is the CATS is used to track employee working times. Time data is recorded and can be transferred to corresponding applications and components of the SAP Business Suite.
- SQL Server: is a relational database server whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, running on another computer across a network (including the Internet).
- Clicksoftware: is scheduling software used to capture resource availability/non-availability with their calendar information.
Users
- Oracle users
- SAP users
- ClickView users
- Sr. IT Managers
- CIOs
- Sr. Management
- PMOs
Full White Paper
You can read the full white paper online at Microsoft’s TechNet site or download a copy of our case study (in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat format) below.