Microsoft EPM 2010 Functional Review

1. Technology Services the way we see it
Microsoft EPM 2010
Functional Review
What is new, what is exiting and what is not?
in collaboration with
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2. Contents
Management summary 3
Project Portfolio management tooling 4
What is Microsoft EPM 2010 all about? 5
What’s new in the EPM 2010 solution ? 8
Conclusion 19

3. Technology Services the way we see it
Management summary
Pull Quote-C Helvetica 75 Bold While many organizations increasingly getting work done by way of programs
10/12; can continue as needed. and projects at the same time they are looking for ways to optimize management
Duarboj kuris. Kvin bieroj gajnas of their project and program portfolios. Many software packages are developed
nau arboj, sed kvinhund kuris, and implemented while stating to do just that, but only a few are on the market
kaj tri malbela telefonoj acxetis that contain all the functionality to support the full arena of project management,
nau arboj. Multajmalpura radioj resource management, portfolio management and are capable to provide full
veturas. Duarboj kuris. Kvin insight in project (portfolio) data.
bieroj gajnas nau arboj, sed
kvinhund kuris, kaj tri malbela Originally coming from a stand-alone pc application Microsoft launched Project
telefonoj acxetis nau arboj. Server 2010, Office Project pro 2010 in combination with SharePoint 2010 as a
Multajmalpura radioj veturas. full project portfolio management solution.
In this document the members of the Capgemini EPM Community of Practice
state their vision on this product after a thorough investigation of the beta, RC
and RTM release of the solution.
Compared to Project Server 2007 much improved in Project Server 2010, especi-
ally parts like the full integration of portfolio management functionality, the User
Interface across the product which is in line with other Microsoft Office applicati-
ons and the workflow enhancements, however some other parts still need impro-
vement.
The Microsoft EPM 2010 solution is an end-to-end PPM platform which can be
used by organizations in a variety of broad industries to automate and support
their PPM processes.
Step-by-step implementation of functional areas such as resource capacity
management, schedule management or Time and task management – once the
envisioning of the near future is established in advance – can be done more easily
than with previous versions.
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4. Technology Services the way we see it
Project Portfolio
management tooling
Pull Quote-C Helvetica 75 Bold The ever-increasing penetration of projects as a way to organize work in many
10/12; can continue as needed. organizations necessitates effective management of multiple projects. This has
Duarboj kuris. Kvin bieroj gajnas resulted in a greater interest in the processes of project portfolio management
nau arboj, sed kvinhund kuris, (PPM), with more and more software tools being developed to assist and automate
kaj tri malbela telefonoj acxetis the process.
nau arboj. Multajmalpura radioj
veturas. Duarboj kuris. Kvin Today, project and portfolio management helps organizations improve visibility
bieroj gajnas nau arboj, sed and control across varied portfolios, align spending with strategic priorities, and
kvinhund kuris, kaj tri malbela drive team collaboration to deliver projects on time and within budget. To better
telefonoj acxetis nau arboj. serve the business, you need a solution which integrates data sources, providing
Multajmalpura radioj veturas. both a high-end overview for executives and drill-down details for managers.
Capgemini has done many surveys on this subject over the last years, most
recently in Sweden1. Based on the observations, consequences and requirements
of this study, Capgemini’s overall recommendation is to increase the focus on pro-
gram and portfolio management instead of on the individual project.
Last May, Microsoft launched the 2010 version of Office, including SharePoint
2010 and Enterprise Project Management (EPM) 2010. The last suite has
improved substantially in the field of Portfolio Management. This caused the
Capgemini EPM Community of Practice to review Microsoft EPM 2010.
1 Capgemini Study: Project and portfolio management Experiences taken from Swedish companies and organizations
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5. Technology Services the way we see it
What is Microsoft EPM
2010 all about?
According to Microsoft the architectural improvements implemented in Microsoft
Office Project 2007 provided a foundation for further improvements in EPM
2010, specifically in the following investment areas, evaluated in the sections
below:
n unified Project and Portfolio Management;
n simple and Intuitive User Experience;
n enhanced Collaboration and Reporting;
n scalable and Connected Platform.
Figure 1: PPM capabilities Microsoft EPM
Sele tics &
Dem agem
Ma
Anan lio
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n
and ent
o
ly
Portf
Pr
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an t
ag m rce en
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en es age
R n
t Ma
Business
Intelligence &
EPM Schedule
Management
Reporting Enterprise Project Management
Fin
io n M anc
an
am o rat ag ial
Te llab em
Issu gemen
Man
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ortin
Time
Risk
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Figure 1 pictures all the functional areas which are covered by Microsoft EPM
2010. In this document we concentrate more specifically on Portfolio Analytics &
Selection, Business Intelligence & Reporting, Scheduling, Time reporting,
Collaboration and the enhancements on administration, scalability and extensibili-
ty of the solution.
What is Microsoft EPM 2010 all about? 5

6. Technology Services the way we see it
Basic architecture of Microsoft EPM 2010
The EPM 2010 solution is built from/consists of the Microsoft products: SQL
server 2008, SharePoint server 2010, Project Server 2010 running on Microsoft
Windows Server 2008 (all 64 bit) and Office application Project pro 2010. At the
client side the solution integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Office. The basic
architecture of EPM 2010 is pictured below.
Figure 2: Microsoft EPM (Enterprise project Management) 2010
Project Web app (IE 7) Of ce Project Pro 2010
For all users Projectmanager, Of ce (Excel)
Exec, Projectmgr, Resmgr, Resource manager.
Resources, PSO
Project Server 2010
SharePoint Server 2010
SQL Server 2008
Project Server Db’s Share Point Db’s
Draft Publish Reporting Archive Content Con g Secure Report
Store Server
At a high-level, the key requirements for Project Server 2010 are as follows:
n the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 or Windows Server
2008 R2;
n Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise version;
n for a farm deployment, database servers must be the 64-bit version of
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Cumulative Update
2, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, or Microsoft SQL Server 2005 with Service
Pack 3 (SP3) ;
n Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 for Microsoft
Project Web App user access.
Project Server 2010 is (only) available in a 64-bit version, similar to Microsoft
SharePoint Server 2010 (which is an installation requirement). Project Server
2010’s move towards 64-bit architecture requires the following:
n Project Server 2010 must be installed on either 64-bit Windows Server 2008
SP2 or Windows Server 2008 R2;
n your database servers for a Project Server 2010 farm deployment must be the
64-bit version of either SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2008.
Having a 64–bit architecture for both the server and the database server provides
increased performance and scalability. Also, 64-bit architecture provides for
increased memory addressability because it is not limited to the 4-GB address
space limitation that 32-bit architecture is limited to.
While Windows server, SQL server and SharePoint have their own administration
and system management environment with accompanying tooling, which is stan-
dard in a Microsoft environment, Project Server (2010) has its own partly techni-
cal, partly functional administration environment.
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7. Technology Services the way we see it
Built on SharePoint Server 2010
Since version 2002, Project Server has been using SharePoint Sites for collabora-
tion and document libraries. Since version 2007 the application Project Server
itself was built on top of Windows SharePoint Services or Microsoft Office
SharePoint Services (MOSS). Next to Risks and Issues management, in EPM 2007
Deliverables were added to SharePoint.
While built on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 it combines all powerful busi-
ness collaboration platform services with structured PPM capabilities to provide
work management solutions for all types of teams.
Figure 3: Project Server 2010 – Built on SharePoint Server 2010
Demand Project Server 2010
BI & Reporting Management Portfolio Selection
Project Team collaboration Resource Management
Schedule Management
Project Professional 2010
Synch to SharePoint
Sites
Composites Communities
Insights Content
Search
SharePoint Server 2010
In EPM 2010 all SharePoint 2010 features and services are available, for example:
n the Business Intelligence platform to easily create reports and powerful
dashboards;
n workflow, to control document review and approval;
n enterprise search to find people and effectively mine project data (resources,
tasks, documents etc.);
n wikis, blogs, discussion forums and My Sites to connect teams and enhance
communication;
n creation of custom and project type specific Project Site templates;
n configurable webpages using many available SharePoint webparts;
n publishing of Project Professional 2010 schedules to SharePoint task lists and
roundtrip synchronization.
The look and feel of SharePoint, with a large and strongly growing user commu-
nity, is identical for EPM. This leverages user acceptance and reduces training and
support effort. Also Technical knowledge for administration and application man-
agement is similar to that for SharePoint.
We believe that SharePoint Server 2010 adds a lot of value to the EPM 2010 solu-
tion. As a collaboration platform SharePoint Server 2010 offers many capabilities
and also EPM benefits more from this.
What is Microsoft EPM 2010 all about? 7

8. Technology Services the way we see it
What’s new in the EPM
2010 solution?
As Microsoft states Project Server 2010 integrates more the functionality of the
Project Portfolio management processes within Project Server and SharePoint. In
EPM 2007 (strategic) Portfolio management and project management functionality
were handled by separate applications. In EPM 2010 the following capabilities are
included:
n Project Portfolio Management:
l Unified PPM techniques
l Project Initiation & Business case development
l Business strategy prioritization
l Portfolio selection, prioritization and optimization
l Capacity planning
l Single entry mode time reporting
n Business Intelligence:
l Reporting database
l Multiple OLAP cubes support
l Excel Server/PerformancePoint server/Secure Store
Throughout the solution the SharePoint user interface (e.g. “Ribbon”) is imple-
mented. The Project Server gateway is not needed anymore due to a common data
store.
Because Excel Server is also integrated in the SharePoint solution it provides a
Business Intelligence platform which allows to create reports and dashboards easi-
ly. Through extended workflow capabilities documents can be reviewed and
approved.
Project Server 2010 also provides a demand management module to capture all
work varying from simple tasks to complex projects and programs which can be
managed by governance workflows throughout their lifecycle.
In the following sections some capabilities of the product are reviewed in more
detail.
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9. Technology Services the way we see it
Unified Project and portfolio Management
This is undoubtedly one of the key improvements that is realized by Microsoft.
The portfolio management techniques in Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server
2007 are integrated into Project Server 2010, providing a single-server platform
with end-to-end PPM capabilities to support strategic planning and project
execution.
Figure 4: Unified Project & Portfolio Management
Create Select Plan Manage
Top Down
portfolio
Management
De anag
De ase ess
M
ma em
ion
C usin
nd en
nit
B
t
Portfolio Portfolio
Reporting Prioritization
Po ptim
O
ni ity
rtf iza
ng
an c
oli ti
Pl apa
o on
C
Pro port
Re
nt
jec ing
me
na rce
t
ge
Maesou
R
Time Portfolio
Reporting Scheduling
Tea llabo
Co
nt
m ra
me
na sk
an sues
ge
Ma d Ri
Is
tio
Bottom Up
n
Project
Management
What’s new in the EPM 2010 solution ? 9

10. Technology Services the way we see it
We believe that the portfolio management process incorporated in EPM 2010 is
really a best-in-class solution because it provides all of the following essential
capabilities:
n centralized proposal capture and project initiation;
n support for business unit specific business drivers and for consensus on priorities;
n objective prioritization of competing projects from multiple dimensions;
n portfolio optimization and what if analysis under varying budgetary constraints;
n portfolio optimization based on resource availability and headcount scenarios.
Microsoft has added the Portfolio Management process to EPM 2010, using the
following steps:
1. Define Business Drivers
2. Prioritize Business Drivers
3. Verify prioritization Consistency
4. Create the Portfolio of Project Proposals
5. Map the Projects to the Business Drivers
6. Perform Cost Analysis (based on the “Efficient Frontier” theory)
7. Perform Resource Capacity Analysis
Figure 5: Portfolio Analysis
During the portfolio management process, it is easy to navigate back and forward,
to add or correct information in previous steps. From most of the screens, exports
to Excel and prints can be created.
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Demand management
In business, the term Demand Management is used to describe the proactive man-
agement of work initiatives (demand) with business constraints (supply). In the
area of EPM - especially in ICT for example - demand sometimes means managing
applications or small business changes and the business constraints are - as always
- budget and resources.
As Project Server 2010 is based on SharePoint 2010, it can use all its workflow
capabilities. Using checkpoints and permissions to authorize specific actions, a
workflow may streamline the process and make users more aware and account-
able. For example: a proposal can only be approved for execution after the busi-
ness case and schedule have been approved by the responsible manager.
As a solution starter Microsoft provides for Project Server 2010 a (fully document-
ed) example of a demand management “module” to capture all work varying from
simple tasks to complex projects and programs which can be managed by gover-
nance workflows throughout their lifecycle. The module consists of a set of defi-
ned phases, stages and activities supported by workflow, project detail pages and
enterprise project templates for this management area. The governance workflow
includes definitions of the life cycle stages through which the project progresses,
such as proposal creation and initial approval. The workflow defines what infor-
mation is required or locked in each stage. For example, a workflow can lock
budget cost after the project is approved. A workflow can include necessary man-
ual approval or notification steps and add business logic to update other LOB sys-
tems. For example, a workflow can update an enterprise resource planning (ERP)
system when the proposal budget is approved.
Figure 6: Example of stages in an end-to-end workflow
Initiate Initiate De ne Select Plan Plan Manage Project
Checkpoint Checkpoint checkpoint Closure
Create Formal Business Final Finalize Final Analysis Final
project for evaluation Case evaluation project & evaluation of your checklist
proposal of your Develop- of your resource of project project for
in a proposal ment proposal Schedule schedule based on verifying
private based on including based on for your reports project
workspace description project portfolio project like stages
for future & schedule, optimiza- along project
develop- justi cation risk tion and with milostone
ment evaluation, selection resource Schedule
cost & assign- Variance,
bene t ments forecast
assess- for cost &
ments resource
What’s new in the EPM 2010 solution ? 11

12. Technology Services the way we see it
Organizations can use this Workflow, or adjust it, or add a number of customized
workflows applicable for different situations. For example: projects like Business/
Financial/IT project; or small/medium/large project, or R&D, Operations,
Maintenance project, etc. Each of these may have a different project management
process behind it, and thus different workflow steps with different phases, differ-
ent data to collect in these phases, different roles for authorization, etc. If useful,
this can be automated in a Workflow.
After reviewing this module we conclude that in combination with the functional-
ity for strategic planning and project execution the solution now really supports
the management of the entire life cycle from the emerging idea until project clo-
sure. However organizations must be aware not to “overdress” the solution to be
implemented with workflow which has too much subroutines in it .
Simple and Intuitive User Experience
As in Office 2007, the Microsoft Office Fluent™ User Interface or “Ribbon”,
has been introduced for Project (Pro) 2010, but also for Project Server 2010. As
always, for new users it is more convenient, and experienced users need to re-find
their way. In MS Project Pro the Ribbon can be customized to a user’s needs.
Figure 7: Fluent UI (“Ribbon”) in EPM2010 Project Center
In some cases in the Project Web App, checking out/checking in projects may be
a bit confusing: a user can easily switch to a completely different webpage, leaving
the transaction page checked out.
User-controlled Scheduling
For less-experienced users of MS Project, and for high level long-term “rudimen-
tary” planning purposes, it may be convenient to use the task setting “Manually
Schedule”: this more or less disables the scheduling engine in MS Project.
In an EPM environment the primary focus of the organization is on project
progress and resource capacity. The projects with manual scheduled tasks also
effect resource demand and availability information. We do not recommend the
extensive use of manual scheduling because:
n switching back to “Auto Schedule” will kick off the scheduling engine again,
resulting in moving a (large) number of the tasks back or forward;
n the need to reduce over allocations will impact the duration.
Time entry via PWA (Timesheet or Task Updates) on manually scheduled tasks is
not possible.
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13. Technology Services the way we see it
Timeline View
New and to our opinion useful in MS Project (Pro) 2010 is the Timeline View: a
high level (“one bar”) view of the schedule, that can be created, customized (e.g.
using colors) and to be maintained by the Project Manager. This Timeline View
can easily be copied into reports or emails.
Figure 8: Example Timeline View
Visual Team Planner
The Team Planner is a View in Microsoft Project 2010, and that shows graphically
which resources are assigned to which tasks and when, and tasks that have not
yet been assigned.
Figure 9: Visual Team Planner
Resource names turn red when they get over-assigned. Dependencies are respect-
ed, although they do not show in the Team Planner View.
We think this feature is convenient, especially for less-experienced users in small
projects and as a check for unassigned or unscheduled tasks. However using the
Team Planner may also be risky, because moving a task can accidentally create a
constraint date.
What’s new in the EPM 2010 solution ? 13

14. Technology Services the way we see it
Inactive Tasks
Projects tend to change during execution: additional tasks come and sometimes
tasks may go. The new feature “inactive tasks” is convenient, because you can “re-
move” a task without actually deleting it. Although visually the task is still there
(greyed out), Microsoft Project handles this as if the task (incl. assignments) was
deleted. Dependencies of an inactive task do NOT exist anymore, so a planner
should be aware to fix this (manually “bridge” this inactive task). Inactive tasks
are also very suitable for what-If analysis within a project for example for evalua-
ting alternative schedules for a certain subset of tasks.
Web Based Project Editing
With every new version, Microsoft extends more of the scheduling engine ca-
pabilities on the Project Server. This is very practical for the recalculation of the
tasks status, after (weekly) applying the actual hours; all web based. This was
already realized in the EPM 2007 solution.
EPM 2010 indeed enables some scheduling capability in Project Web App, with-
out using the client Microsoft Project Pro. However, this scheduling is at such
basic level, that one can hardly speak of a real schedule. For example: resources
can only be assigned full time. There may also be explainable differences between
Project Start Dates in MS Project en in PWA. We think most users feel probably
more comfortable in using the client tool to create and manage a real schedule.
Enhanced Collaboration and Reporting: Microsoft Business
Intelligence (BI) Platform
In EPM 2010 most reporting has been grouped under “Business Intelligence”.
Because Project Server 2010 is built on SharePoint Server 2010, users can take
advantage of all the tools included in the Microsoft BI platform, such as Excel
Services, PerformancePoint Services, Visio Services, PowerPivot for Excel, SQL
Reporting Services, and more.
Project Server 2010 includes a dedicated reporting database that stores project
and portfolio data to ensure access to up-to-date information;
n PMOs can satisfy LOB reporting requirements by using departmental cubes, so
decision makers can focus on their data, eliminate unnecessary clutter, and
ensure faster build times. The improved Business Intelligence Center in Project
Server 2010 includes a library of preconfigured best-practice template reports;
Figure 10: EPM Dashboard in BI Center
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15. Technology Services the way we see it
n nontechnical resources can get started quickly by customizing the templates in
a familiar Excel editor and then simply publish the report using Excel Services
to be incorporated into dashboard views. PMOs can create intuitive audience-
based dashboards to ensure that managers receive relevant and useful informa-
tion;
n resources who are more technical can use more sophisticated tools, such as
SQL Server Reporting Services, to create complex reports - for example,
monthly reporting packs - to meet the organization’s unique requirements.
The SharePoint pages in the BI Center can simultaneously contain reports and
dashboards from several sources. The Data Analysis reporting function, based
on the OLAP-Cubes of previous versions has not returned in EPM 2010, this is
replaced by Excel Pivot Tables.
We find reporting in EPM / SharePoint 2010 very powerful and considerably
easier than in many other PPM platforms, including such as e.g. CA Clarity. Often
additional tools (for example Business Objects) - and licenses - are needed to
generate custom reports and dashboards. This certainly requires more specialized
knowledge and more effort.
Time Reporting Enhancements
The timesheet architecture changed from EPM version 2003 to 2007, allowing
different processes and data collection for Timesheeting and Task Status (prog-
ress) updates.
In Project Server 2010 time reporting capabilities have been further enhanced by
a new Single Entry Mode to unify time and task status updates. It is also possible
to submit status updates to project managers in the middle of a timesheet period
without submitting an entire timesheet for approval.
Project Server 2010 also provides a new approval center for managing approvals
for timesheets, project updates, and administrative approvals. The information
captured in the timesheet and task management process can be shared with LOB
applications that use time and progress information for processing.
Figure 11: Project Server 2010 – Approval Center view
We believe that the single entry timesheet mode and the improved user interface
is a great enhancement that will certainly contribute to better user acceptance in
comparison with previous EPM versions.
What’s new in the EPM 2010 solution ? 15

16. Technology Services the way we see it
Scalable and Connected Platform
The last of the 4 major investment areas Microsoft speaks about is the platform
in terms of administration, scalability & deployment and extensibility. We will
discuss these items below.
Administration
Administration of EPM 2010 is enhanced by the following features:
n centralized administration for both top down portfolio management and bot-
tom up project management;
n departmental fields to enable the association of projects, OLAP Cubes, project
types, business drivers, resources and custom fields to a specific organizational
department. One limitation is that departments cannot be used in multi-level
hierarchy;
n reporting Cube Administration for easier management of cube settings and
content per department;
n elimination of ActiveX controls for simplified deployment both initially and
in case of updates or hot fixes;
n project permissions to empower project managers to control who can edit or
view their projects without having to rely on an EPM administrator for this type
of change;
n user Delegation empowers users to easily name colleagues to act as their delega-
tion when on vacation or for any other reason without assistance from an EPM
administrator.
All of these enhancements are recognized as feedback issues from previous de-
ployments we have performed for various customers and are very much welcomed.
On the other hand many more requests had been issued by our specialists for
example the possibility to empower PMO staff to add users to security groups and
at the same time protecting the administrators group.
Scalability & Deployment
The EPM 2010 Solution further builds on the architectural enhancements, such
as Active Cache and the Queuing Service, delivered in Project 2007. The Shared
Service Provider (SSP) design (from Project Server 2007) has been updated to
a Service Application model that helps to increase scalability by allowing more
services to run on the application tier.
Project Server 2010 architecture now requires 64-bit capability across all servers
in the farm, which inherently provides additional scalability and performance
advantages.
Similar to SharePoint Server 2010, a Project Server 2010 farm deployment can
vary in complexity and size. As a three-tier application, Project Server 2010 sup-
ports all farm topologies - small, medium, and large. As with Project Server 2007,
Project Server 2010 can be deployed on physical servers or on virtual servers. In
addition, organizations can configure Project Server 2010 for extranet access if
resources outside of the organization need to collaborate on projects.
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17. Technology Services the way we see it
Project Server 2010 requires SharePoint 2010 Enterprise Edition, both only avail-
able in the 64-bit version. This might be a threshold for some organizations,
sooner or later all business applications will only be 64-bit. The client Project
Pro and the browser, however, can be 64 or 32 bit. Although SharePoint 2010 is
accessible from several browsers (like Firefox and Safari), EPM 2010 does require
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 7 or higher. The choice in database technol-
ogy is limited to one: Microsoft SQL Server ( 64-bit).
A growing number of customers prefer the use of a hosted or cloud based solution
in order to proceed faster and have a working system up and running within days
instead of weeks or months. We have some good experience with hosted solu-
“ Often organizations customize
their PPM solution to automate
their unique requirements or to
tions however there still are some drawbacks in the field of accessing the report-
ing database by an external office data connection. This impacts the flexibility to
create new excel based reports.
effectively integrate with third-
party or homegrown systems Extensibility
to maintain data integrity. This is a very true statement and we have the experience of implementing EPM
Leading PPM solutions need for large organizations. Extensibility of the EPM platform was already greatly im-
to provide an open application proved with the introduction of the new architecture in EPM 2007.
programming interface (API) in
addition to developer tools and In EPM 2010 further improvements were made to the Project Server Interface (PSI):
resources to support custom n in EPM 2010, the number of Event Handlers and PSI’s webservices has been
”
development activities. further extended, in line with the Portfolio, Workflow and other new capabili-
ties; EPM 2010;
n the integration of Project Server 2010 with SharePoint Server 2010 enables eas-
Microsoft EPM solution guide
ier customization of many pages in Project Web App.
Similar to Project Server 2007, Project Server 2010 has a fully documented report-
ing database and Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) cubes that administrators
can query to build custom reports, dashboards, and key performance indicators
using SQL Server Reporting Services and PerformancePoint Services.
Project Server 2010 includes native interoperability with Exchange Server so team
members can choose to receive and update their tasks in Outlook. Project Server
2010 tasks are displayed in Outlook as tasks and are grouped by project name.
Team members can receive notifications and update percent complete, work done,
and remaining work values for tasks, and automatically sync the updates with
Project Server 2010. Exchange Server connection means that organizations no
longer have to install an Outlook add-in.
What’s new in the EPM 2010 solution ? 17

18. Technology Services the way we see it
Financial Features
One area where Microsoft Project Server 2010 is relatively weak is financials.
Microsoft Project and Project Server have abundant capabilities to contain costs
and budgets. However, as in EPM 2007 – some of the required fields need to be
configured manually; they do not show out-of-the-box. As a result, there is not
much of a pre-cooked financial process in EPM. EPM 2010 does not provide any
chargeback, invoicing and billing functions, nor can the system itself handle
multi-currency settings. So we can conclude there are no major improvements
here. The financial data are related to tasks and resources, and are primarily
costs, not revenue, or selling rates. EPM provides a lower level of connectivity
with financial systems than for example CA Clarity does.
For better financial management the following features should be considered:
n Definition of cost and benefit structures
n Support for organizational budgeting
n Cost center administration
n Time phased cost estimates and benefit forecasts
n Capture actual cost and reforecast
n Track benefits and compare with original forecasts
All of these features can be used in Microsoft EPM 2010 by using a third party
add-on. A very promising (we did not evaluate the product yet) tool is the UMT
Project Financial Server 2010. Fully integrated in Microsoft Project Server 2010
this product provides organizations with comprehensive cost and benefit manage-
ment capabilities across the project life cycle. For reporting a dedicated financial
cube is available as well.
Functional Breadth
The breadth and strength of the Microsoft Sharepoint collaboration platform give
the Microsoft EPM platform its greatest competitive advantage. No other PPM
product supports the range of solutions that the Microsoft EPM platform can
support. In fact it is difficult even to refer to any of the competing products as a
“platform”, while there is no question that Microsoft provides a customizable solu-
tion platform. This is an important distinction to remember when comparison
shopping.
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19. Technology Services the way we see it
Conclusion
In this document we discussed a number of enhancements and new functionality
of the latest Microsoft EPM 2010 solution.
There are several Portfolio Management tools in the market. To us it is clear how-
ever that having an integrated and workflow enhanced system for Project AND
Portfolio Management is a huge advantage, especially on executive level!
The investments on the user interface certainly brought the MS Project client fully
in line with other MS Office applications. This was considered a small drawback
of Project 2007. Application of the ribbon in PWA is also beneficial from a user
point of view. The PWA pages are more flexible and easier to adapt. Other invest-
ments like web based scheduling and user controlled scheduling do however have
some serious drawbacks. As a whole we will regard this area as improved, but the
progress made is not considered very spectacular.
The investments in the area of Collaboration and Reporting certainly pay off for
reporting capabilities and flexibility. Excel offers a familiar interface for most
users and creation of custom reports and dashboards can easily be realized by
PMO personnel with limited technical background. The single entry mode and
improved web interface for time writers and approvers will help drive adoption
of EPM 2010 as a timesheet system for all types of activities throughout the whole
organization. The fact that EPM 2010 is built on SharePoint Server 2010 should
be considered as a valuable asset with great possibilities and even more opportu-
nities for growth and customization.
The investments in the area of administration, scalability & deployment and ex-
tensibility will pay off eventually. Especially the administration improvements are
very much welcomed. For the growing popularity of cloud and hosted solutions
some additional efforts will be needed to fully benefit from all of the capabilities
of the new platform, especially in the field of reporting and business intelligence.
Step-by-step implementation of functional areas such as resource capacity
management, schedule management or Time and task management – once the
envisioning of the near future is established in advance – can be done more easily
than with previous versions. With EPM the customer can gradually replace his
current tools by EPM and keep its well running practices in place.
Conclusion 19

20. About Capgemini
®
Capgemini, one of the to get the right balance of the best talent
world’s foremost providers from multiple locations, working as one
of consulting, technology and outsourc- team to create and deliver the optimum
ing services, enables its clients to trans- solution for clients.
form and perform through technologies. Present in more than 35 countries,
Capgemini provides its clients with Capgemini reported 2009 global reve-
insights and capabilities that boost their nues of EUR 8.4 billion and employs
freedom to achieve superior results over 100,000 people worldwide.
through a unique way of working, the More information is available at
Collaborative Business ExperienceTM. www.capgemini.com
The Group relies on its global delivery
model called Rightshore®, which aims Rightshore® is a trademark belonging to Capgemini
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Copyright © 2011 Capgemini. All rights reserved.

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