Acumen & ARES: Simplified Cost & Schedule Integration

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Agenda• Company Introductions• Acumen & ARES G2 Partnership• Delivering Value through our Partnership

– Schedule Validation– Cost Management from Estimating to Time-phased

Budgets

Coffee Break

– Accurate Forecasting and Change Management– Analyzing your Data

• Wrap & Questions

© 2011 Acumen & ARES Software. All Rights Reserved.

9/19/11 3

Acumen: Proven Project Analytics

Passion and dedication to

helping to improve the

practice of CPM scheduling

& analysis

• 2o Year+ PPM legacy

across multiple industries

• Oracle, Deltek &

Microsoft partner

• Based in Austin, Texas

• Global presence

World Renowned Risk Assessment

Workshops

Oracle Accredited Training

Acumen Fuse

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Acumen DNA

acumen s1 > s5

S1

• Schedule Basis• Reflects latest scope/contractor updates

S2

• Critiqued Schedule• Structurally sound, no contingency,

sound logic

S3• Risk-Adjusted Schedule• Estimate uncertainty, risk events

S4• Optimized Target Scenarios• Reduced hot spots, higher confidence

S5• Team Validated Scenario• Buy-in on mitigation plans

Schedule is King…

Metrics: “Analytics leverage

data in a particular functional

process (or application) to enable

context-specific insight that is

actionable”

acumen DNA

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BrazilSao Paulo

ARES Software is a full-service global Project Management provider

Extensive industry-wide perspective (Oil & Gas, Mining & Metals, Energy, Construction, Aerospace, Defense)

ARES products are used all over the world with over 250 commercial accounts with more than 5,000 user projects worldwide

Proven ability to manage and sustain growth (e.g. hire qualified resources)

$130M in revenue and growing

Excellent employee benefits program, including profit sharing

95% repeat business

ARES Software

© 2011 ARES Software. All Rights Reserved.

9/19/11 6

BrazilValeOnca Puma

USAAlyeska PipelineAmerican Electric PowerBechtelCarter-BurgessCH2MHillDenver Regional Transit DistrictFluorKaiser-HillNASA International Space StationParsonsParsons BrinckerhoffPort of PortlandPortland General ElectricU.S. Department of EnergyWestinghouseWGI

Singapore PEC Tech

CanadaBP ExplorationCanadian National Resource Limited (CNRL)London HospitalEnCana NexenShell CanadaSuncor EnergySyncrude (Alliance 21)TransCanada PipelinesVale-IncoMEG EnergyNewmontNalcor

ChileAker SolutionsAngloAmericanBarrick Gold CorporationBHP BillitonCodelcoCompania Minera Dona Ines de CollahuasiCoprimFluorJRIMinera los PelambresPenta Sur

ItalyTotal Project Management

MexicoInstituto Mexicano del Petroleo

MalaysiaPetronas

Czech RepublicKoch Glitsch

PeruAntamina Gold Fields Yanacocha

BoliviaAPEX Silver

IcelandCentury AluminumHRV

IndonesiaPEC TechPetronasPetrosea

GhanaNewmont Gold CompanyLycopodium

SurinameBHP Billiton

UAESama Contracting

South KoreaSKEC

HungaryOlajterv

MongoliaCenterra Gold MongoliaIvanhoe Mines

TaiwanCTCI

PanamaMinera Panama

PhillippinesFCF Minerals

* Representative Sample

South AfricaAngloAmericanAngloPlatinumAureconBatemanEskomIES ConsultingGoldFieldsLonminMurray & RobertsProjectLinkRSVRSVENCOSasol PetroleumSSPTMP (TWP-Matomo)TWPVhumbanani (DRA-TWP)Xstrata (services)

ChinaSNPTC-ShawRio Tinto INDUSTRIES

• Aerospace• Construction• Energy• Mining & Metals• Nuclear• Oil & Gas• Public Utilities• Transportation

Over 5,000 users at ~250 customers around the world.

Worldwide Clients


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Only Complete Solutions Provider


Integrated Project Management

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The Acumen & ARES Software Partnership

Dr. Dan Patterson, PMP


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Acumen & ARES Software Partnership

CPM Schedule

Ares Prism G2

Acumen Fuse Platform

Integration launch date: October 18 2011 at Acumen Summit

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Scenario Outline

P6/

MSP

• Create Schedule

Fuse

• Schedule Critique

PrismG2

• Develop cost estimate• Create time phased budget (integrate with schedule)

PrismG2

• Update actuals; update forecast• Update changes

Fuse

• Analyze performance

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Schedule Critique



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Scheduling tools are an

excellent means of

modeling these moving

parts.

But…They do little for

making sure the

building blocks are

used correctly….

CPM Building Blocks

Project Defines start or finish of the jobEncapsulates the defined work

Activities Defines duration for a given scope of work

Logic Links Defines sequence of work

Calendars Defines when an activity/resource can work

Constraints Defines date overrides

Resources Defines who/what is available to execute work

Resource Assignment

Links the “executors” to their work

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Sound Logic

• Use of FS, FF, SF, SS links• SS links don’t account for durations• Lags hide schedule detail• Leads cause reverse dates• Circular logic between projects• Out of sequence updates• Open start/finish: hidden open ends• Logic Density™• Logic Hotspot™• Redundancy Index™

A

B

C

redundant

New: Driving Logic analysis

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• Average Float• Maximum Float• Float ratio (# of days float per day of work)• Float Map™

Float Analysis

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• Metrics are useful but don’t give overall picture

• Scorecarding: group individual metrics into single score

• Schedule Quality Index™

• Scores can be either:– Activity based: number of activities that fail a test (less detailed,

higher scores)

– Metric based: number of metrics that fail a test (more detailed,

lower scores)

• Weight importance of metrics

April 10, 2023

16

Scorecarding

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Sound Planning Equals Project Success…

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

R² = 0.602996639659581

Schedule Quality Index™

Fini

sh C

ompl

ianc

e In

dex™

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Cost Management with PRISMG2

Britt Creer


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Introducing PRISMG2


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Introducing PRISMG2


• Reduce Risk & Detect Potential Problems

• View real-time cost tracking, variance analysis and forecasting

• Exceeds all Federal Government (ANSI 748) requirements for Earned Value Management

• Built for the Enterprise‒ Enterprise, Program, and Project reporting‒ Multi-language, Multi-Currency, Remote Access, Dashboards‒ Full integration to Oracle® Primavera P6, Microsoft ® Project, SAP®,

Oracle EBS, & JD Edwards

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• A time-phased representation of the project execution plan to determine:‒ The feasibility of the plan

‒ The ability to predict project success

‒ Address resource funding requirements

• A time-phased budget represents a Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB)

• A tool to measure cost and schedule performance against the plan

…. and prevent surprises!

Value of Time-phased Budget

April 10, 2023 21

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Performance Measurement Baseline

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• Two typical methods used in developing a PMB

1. Cost loading schedule activities

2. Developing a “Time-phased Budget”

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Method 1 – Cost Loading a Schedule

Cost / Schedule Integration

April 10, 2023 23

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Issues with Cost Loading a Schedule

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• Difficult to match up based on granularity of estimate vs. schedule

• It is a very time-consuming process to setup‒ Project must start with a schedule before budget can be established

• It is a very time-consuming process to maintain• Difficult to manage intangibles – such as indirect costs• Difficult to manage cost changes• Difficult to manage contingency

The costs exceed the benefits

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Method 2 – Developing a “Time Phased Budget”

April 10, 2023 25

Cost / Schedule Integration

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Time-phased Budgets Advantages

April 10, 2023 26

Removes estimate/schedule granularity issues Quick and efficient setup Much easier to maintain Manage performance on Approved and Control Budgets Efficient use of distribution curves for spreading costs Addresses issue on how indirect costs are spread Addresses issue on spreading of contingency Easier to manage changes in scope and forecast

Improvements Over Cost Loaded Schedules

Efficient and Effective PMB Development

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Coffee Break


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Accurate Forecasting with PRISMG2


Britt Creer

9/19/11 2929 © 2011 ARES Software. All Rights Reserved.

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Analysis and Forensics



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• Traditional measures include:– Earned value: heavy time investment to implement

– Earned schedule: similar to EV

– Percent complete: what does this really tell us?

– Ahead/behind baseline: too granular a scale…

• Baseline Compliance™– Used to determine how close a schedule is planned and

executed against it’s baseline

– Measure of well the plan is being executed

– More than just date comparison

– Looks at period-compliance

Metrics for Execution Baseline Compliance™

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Compliance Scenarios

Feb March April

Excellent

Scenario 2: Started Early, Finished On-Time

Scenario 1: Started Early, Finished Early

Scenario 3: Started On-Time, Finished On-Time

Scenario 4: Started On-Time, Finished Late

Scenario 5: Started Late, Finished Late

Baseline

Poor

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Compliance Metrics

Group Metric Jan-11 Feb-11 Mar-11 Apr-11 May-11 TOTAL

Baseline Scheduled/Baselined to Start 4 1 4 0 1 10

Scheduled/Baselined to Finish 2 1 4 0 3 10

Updated Schedule

Start/ed 2 4 1 2 1 10

Finish/ed 1 3 1 3 2 10

Statistics Start/ed on Time 2 0 0 0 1 3

Start/ed Early 0 0 2 0 0 2

Start/ed Late 2 1 2 0 0 5

Finish/ed on Time 1 1 1 0 2 5

Finish/ed Early 0 0 1 0 1 2

Finish/ed Late 1 0 2 0 0 3

Start/ed on Time, Finish/ed Late 0 0 1 0 0 0

Compliance Start Variance 2 1 4 0 0 7

Cum Start Variance 2 3 7 7 7

Start Compliance 50% 0% 0% N/A 100% 30%

Finish Variance 1 0 3 0 1 5

Cum Finish Variance 1 1 4 4 5

Finish Compliance 50% 100% 25% N/A 67% 50%

9/19/11 34341-Jan 1-Feb 1-Mar 1-Apr 1-May 1-Jun 1-Jul 1-Aug 1-Sep 1-Oct 1-Nov 1-Dec

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Example Baseline Compliance™ Analysis

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Wrap-up & Questions


Dr. Dan Patterson, [email protected]

Britt [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




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More Information:Fuse Trial & White Papers:

www.projectacumen.com

PrismG2 Information:

www.arescorporation.com

http://www.projectacumen.com/

http://www.arescorporation.com/

Business

Acumen & ARES: Simplified Cost & Schedule Integration