MSP Best Practices White Paper[1]

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Copyright 2010 Oracle Corporation

All Rights Reserved

ORACLE WHITEPAPER

Oracle Project Management

MSP Integration Best Practices

Creation Date: 30-Dec-2009

Last Updated: 7-Jan-10

Oracle Corporation Confidential - For Oracle internal use only Page 2 of 27

Table of Contents

1. Definitions.............................................................................................................................................4

1.1 Terms .........................................................................................................................................4

1.2 Abbreviations.............................................................................................................................5

2. Introduction..........................................................................................................................................6

2.1 Overview....................................................................................................................................6

3. Project Structures ................................................................................................................................7

3.1 Overview....................................................................................................................................7

3.2 Structure Types ..........................................................................................................................7

3.3 Recommendations......................................................................................................................8

4. MSP Integration Architecture ............................................................................................................9

4.1 Benefits of Using MSP ..............................................................................................................9

4.2 Integration Architecture .............................................................................................................9

4.3 Project Structures and Integration..............................................................................................9

4.4 Managing Summary Information.............................................................................................10

5. Project Management Lifecycle .........................................................................................................11

6. MSP Integration Best Practices........................................................................................................12

6.1 Creating Projects......................................................................................................................12

6.1.1 When to Create New Projects In MSP .................................................................................................... 12 6.1.2 Creating a Project Using MSP................................................................................................................. 13

6.2 Scheduling Projects..................................................................................................................16

6.2.1 When to Schedule a Project in MSP........................................................................................................ 16 6.2.2 Scheduling a Project in MSP................................................................................................................... 16

6.3 Collecting Project Progress......................................................................................................20

6.3.1 When to Collect Progress Using MSP..................................................................................................... 20 6.3.2 Collecting Progress In MSP .................................................................................................................... 21

6.4 Updating and Rescheduling Projects ............................................................................................23


6.4.1 When to Update or Reschedule Using MSP............................................................................................ 23 6.4.2 Updating or Rescheduling a Project in MSP ........................................................................................... 23

6.5 When to Manage Financial Plans in MSP ...............................................................................25


1. Definitions

1.1 Terms

Term Definition

Link Projects A project is considered linked when you send project information from MSP

to OP or when receiving a project from OP to MSP and enabling the Retain

Link to Oracle Projects option in the Receive Project page.

Receive Project A project file is received from OP to MSP

Send Project A project file is sent from MSP to OP

Resource List Resource lists are groupings of resources to assign to tasks for a project. You

attach resource lists to projects to effectively budget project cost and

revenue, to track resource usage, and to view cross-project reporting.

WBS Work Breakdown Structure, also called workplan

FBS Financial Breakdown Structure, also called financial plan or financial

structure

NSTBM / Split

and Mapped

Non-Shared Task Based Mapping Structure shared between WBS and FBS.

The task and structure of both are completely different. However the

workplan task are mapped to financial task. Many workplan tasks can be

mapped to one financial task but not vice-versa.

NSNM / Split

and Unmapped

Non-Shared No Mapping. The task and structure of WBS and FBS are

completely different. And the workplan tasks are not mapped to financial

tasks

FSS Fully Shared Structure. The task and structure of WBS and FBS are

identical. There cannot be a different financial structure, as the workplan

structure is shared by the financial structure.

PSS Partially Shared Structure. Part or portion of the tasks and structure of the

WBS are identified as FBS task. There cannot be different financial

structure, as the portion of workplan structure is shared by financial

structure.

Split Structure One of the non-shared workplan structures (eg, Non-Shared Not Mapped or

Non-Shared Task Based Mapping)

Project

Template

A template you define and use to create new projects. Information on the

template defaults to a new project when you create a new project from a

template.

Template Level Attributes to be used in a project are defined on the project template, which

are then defaulted to each new project created from the template.

Scheduling Scheduling is the identification of task dates, priorities, dependencies and/or

milestones and assigning and managing resource assignments.

Summary

Values

Calculated amounts for a parent task based on the amount values of the

related child tasks.

Actual Cost Costs associated with the workplan from actual expenditure transactions,

such as time cards, processed for the project.

Estimate to

Completion

The remaining effort to complete the work for a task resource assignment

Physical

Percent

Complete

The amount of effort already completed for a task resource assignment.


1.2 Abbreviations

Abbreviation Meaning

OP Oracle Project Management

MSP Microsoft Project

NSTBM Non-Shared Task Based Mapping Structure

NSNM Non-Shared No Mapping Structure.

FSS Fully Shared Structure.

PSS Partially Shared Structure

WBS Work Breakdown Structure

FBS Financial Breakdown Structure

ITD Inception To Date

PTD Period To Date

UOM Unit Of Measurement

ETC Estimate to Completion

PPC Physical Percent Complete


2. Introduction

Oracle Project Management (OP) is an effective and comprehensive set of tools used by

customers around the world to manage medium- to large-scale projects. Schedules and budgets

can be setup and monitored during the life of your project, which helps you insure your projects

are completed on time and on budget.

When you use OP, you may also use Microsoft Project (MSP) to help you manage projects

through an out-of-the-box integration feature. The integration allows MSP and OP to manage the

same project while providing security and controls for sharing information between the two

applications.

The benefits of using MSP integration are best understood when you know what type of project

information you plan to manage using OP. Since OP can manage information in both the project

workplan and the financial plans, the structure you select for your project determines how the two

types of plans are related.

The objective of this document is to provide you with recommended best practices for selecting a

project structure and how to use features in MSP that are integrated into the overall project

management lifecycle that you manage with OP.

2.1 Overview

The integration between MSP and OP is intended to be a tool to help you manage your project. It

is not expected nor recommended for you to use MSP separately and independently to manage

individual project plans or distinct portions of a project. Such segregations require a more robust

integration interface to reconcile and report on differences or impacts of changes between plan

types (financial or work plans) or project versions, which is not supported by the integration.

The features you use in MSP depend upon the type of information you need to manage about

your project in OP, size and complexity of the project workplan, your existing business processes

and the structure of your project.

To decide what features to use and how the use of those features is supported by the MSP

integration, you first need to know the type of information you need to manage about your project

and understand the project structures available for managing your project work plan and financial

plans. The structure type you select is an important decision when determining what MSP

features to use since the integration process can handle structures differently. The most important

differences are discussed in this document, but for a detailed description of the differences, you

should review the MSP Integration Troubleshooting Guide.

You also need to understand how the integration is intended to support the standard project

lifecycle. Because the integration is flexible, you can share project information at any point in the

project lifecycle. However, some data and calculations are either not handled by MSP, handled

differently in OP and MSP or your project data may not retain it’s integrity if you transfer project

data in a different sequence than what is recommended.

So, the recommended practices when using MSP integration depend on the information you want

to manage, the project structure of your project and the practices in your organization used to

manage projects.


3. Project Structures

3.1 Overview

In order to understand what benefits you achieve by using MSP integration, you must understand

how OP manages different types of project information. OP uses a concept called project

structures to segregate the types of information you need to manage about a project.

In OP, you create different plan types for managing the work and the financial aspects of your

project. Then you specify a project structure to define the relationship between the workplan (ie,

the tasks required to complete the project) and the project’s financial plans (ie, budgets and

forecasts).

MSP does not support the concept of different plan types or project structures.

3.2 Structure Types

You have several options and the best option to use depends on the nature of the project, the type

and level of information you need to manage and the business processes you use in your

organization.

Since the structure you choose impacts how the features work when you use OP integrated with

MSP, the decision on what structure to use is a key step in determining what information to

manage using MSP.

When your project is best managed by using a fully shared structure (FSS), it is because you

manage both work schedule and financial information about your project for the same tasks at the

same level of detail. With a FSS, the workplan and all financial plans have the identical task

structure. Therefore, any change you make to the tasks affects both the workplan and current

financial plans.

When your project has a single overall task hierarchy for the workplan and financial information,

but you only need to maintain summarized financial information, you should use a partially

shared structure (PSS). You designate the level of the workplan that is shared with the financial

plans, and all financial information lower than the selected level is summarized in your financial

plans. Changes you make to tasks may affect both workplans and financial plans, (depends

whether such task is identified as financial task or not), but the effect may be different depending

upon the level of the task in the hierarchy that you modify.

When you cannot use a PSS because your project or business practices do not allow you to

maintain a single task hierarchy and resource assignments, but you still want to summarize

financial information based on the workplan tasks, you use the non-shared task based mapped

structure (NSTBM)*. You map tasks in the financial plan to tasks in the workplan. Financial

information for tasks at a lower level than the shared task in the workplan is summarized for the

mapped task in the financial plan.

Lastly, when your project workplan cannot be logically mapped to tasks in the financial plan or

the cost of mapping tasks in the plans exceeds the benefits, you use the non-shared, non-mapped

structure. Since plans are not related changes you make to the workplan do not affect the financial

plan and workplan information is not summarized or shared between the plans.


* Note: As of the publish date of this document, NSTBM structures are fully supported on Oracle

Project Management Release 11i RUP4. Support in other release versions is planned but not

scheduled.

3.3 Recommendations

In summary, let the type of information you need to manage, guide you in selecting a project

structure.

Structure Type Pros Cons Best option for:

Fully Shared Workplan and financial plan

tasks are kept in tight synch

New tasks added to the

workplan are automatically

added to the financial plan

Financial plans are usually not

kept as detailed as workplan

tasks which are usually more

granular

Actuals must be entered in the

financial plan

Easiest to setup and administer in

Oracle Projects, most features

Most in depth detail for Earned

Value

Medium to small size projects

Professional Services firms

Partially Shared

Workplans can be kept in

more detail than financial

plans

Actual and ETC values can be

entered in the workplan when

updating progress

Financial still have to roll up

to the same top tasks as the

workplans

New tasks added to the

workplan must be manually

added to the financial plan

Plan v. actual reporting is

available only in the financial

plan

Firms that track financials to

milestones only, not details, such

as Engineering & Construction

and manufacturing firms

Large projects

Require Earned Value reporting

on projects

Non Shared,

Mapped

Workplans can be kept in

more detail than financial

plans

Multiple workplan tasks can

be mapped to single financial

plan tasks

Useful when transitioning

from a legacy system where

WBS is not setup correctly

Allows financial reporting

rollups in a different format

than workplan schedules

More complex and time

consuming to setup and

administer

Plan v. actual reporting is

available only in the financial

plan

Customers that create workplan

structures in a different format

than their financial structures

Require Earned Value reporting

on projects

Small to Medium projects

Good when transitioning from a

legacy system

Non Shared, Non

Mapped

Structures are completely

separate which means no

upkeep of structure

synchronization

Useful when transitioning

from a legacy system where

WBS is not setup correctly

Actual and ETC values can be

entered in the workplan when

updating progress

Forecasting cannot use

workplan schedules and

resources

Workplan progress collection

does not get reflected in the

financial plans

Customers who do not need to

share any details of their work

schedule with their financial plans

Do not require Earned Value

tracking of projects

Large projects

Good when transitioning from a

legacy system


4. MSP Integration Architecture

The architecture of the MSP integration is designed to leverage key benefits of MSP while

allowing you to manage enterprise-level projects using the robust and integrated set of features in

OP and the eBusiness Suite.

4.1 Benefits of Using MSP

Because MSP is a standalone, desktop application and widely used in many project management

organizations, it can be effective when paired with OP.

• MSP users can save, share and manage individual project files. This can be very useful

when you have distributed project teams and managers who do not have ready access to

view, use and edit project information online.

• The costs to implement MSP and train users are generally less than implementing Oracle

Projects which is an enterprise-level application with integrated project management

features. The savings may be greater if MSP is already in-use throughout your

organization.

• The MSP user interfaces (UIs) are simple and easy to navigate since information is not

stored and managed centrally for use by other project team members. Some types of

updates, particularly when there are a large number of tasks or resource assignments, are

easier to manage using the simpler MSP UIs.

4.2 Integration Architecture

The integration of MSP and OP is based upon sharing information between a MSP project file

and a specific OP plan version. In OP, the plan may be a financial plan or a workplan, but in MSP

the plan is always a project file. When you send a project file from MSP to OP, data you enter in

your MSP project file is sent to OP and automatically entered into the associated location in the

linked OP project plan. The link is between the MSP file and a specific OP plan version, so each

time you send and receive project information between MSP and OP for the same MSP file or the

same OP version, the link is used to identify the corresponding file or version.

You can send only one MSP file for each project plan version. So, if you want to use MSP to

perform specific project maintenance tasks, you must establish the link between the plan version

and the MSP file. If you want to link your MSP file to a new version, you must establish a new

link by selecting a different plan version when you send your MSP updates to OP. Unless you

specify a different plan version, updates you make in MSP are always transferred to the linked

plan version. If you make changes directly to the plan version in OP and then send in changes

from MSP, the MSP changes will update the changes previously entered.

If you want to link different MSP files for different versions, you must enable versioning for your

project by setting the versioning option on the OP project template you use to create the project.

4.3 Project Structures and Integration

Since project structures affect how information is managed between plans and MSP and OP are

integrated to manage specific plans, the project structure you use impacts what features you

should use in MSP. In most scenarios, the integration allows you to control the type of

information you want to update when sharing plans between MSP and OP.


The task structure of a plan is made up of tasks organized in a task hierarchy. If your project

structure is shared or mapped, tasks will carry both workplan information and financial

information. Tasks that are not shared or mapped will be used only for workplan information or

for financial information.

When you receive a plan in MSP and make updates, MSP does not distinguish between a

workplan and a financial plan and you can update any information available in the plan file in

MSP. So, other than projects with a FSS, you are allowed to specify which information will be

updated in OP by specifying the plan type when you send and receive a project in MSP.

If your project uses a FSS, there is no difference between the workplan and the financial plan

structure. When you link a file to a plan for an FSS project, you can specify which plan version to

update, but you cannot specify whether to update only a workplan or financial plan. Tasks you

add or remove from a project file in MSP are updated in both plans when you send a linked file to

OP.

When you use a PSS, NSTBM or NSNM structure and link a plan to a MSP file, you specify

whether it is a financial plan or a workplan. When you send a plan file to OP and specify the type

of plan it is, only the information related to the plan type is updated in OP. If you create or

receive a financial plan in MSP and update the financial information on tasks, changes are made

only to the financial plan. Once the file is linked, you cannot change the type of plan that is linked

(eg, you cannot link a file to a plan as a workplan and then change it to a financial plan later).

If you are using PSS or NSTBM structures, you must pay special attention when removing

workplan tasks. You are not allowed to remove tasks that have actual financial information (eg,

actual cost or revenues).

4.4 Managing Summary Information

In many cases, you may want to manage workplan information at a lower level of detail than you

do in your financial plan. The standard option in OP for such cases is to use the PSS or NSTBM

structures. Such structures maintain a relationship between the workplan and the financial plan,

so values in your workplan are summarized and used in the calculations necessary to maintain

your financial plan.

However, when you send a project to OP from MSP, you also have the option to send information

and maintain a plan at a summary level in OP. This option allows you to maintain a lower level of

tasks in MSP for a workplan or financial plan than you maintain in OP.

Transferring the plan at a summary level does not achieve the same effect as a partially shared or

mapped workplan structure. When you use a partially shared structure (PSS), you actually

maintain a complete and detailed task structure in the workplan the portion up to the selected

level is shared between the two plans. When you use the NSTBM structure, you maintain

summary level tasks in the financial plan and map the summarized tasks to tasks in the workplan

hierarchy. So the workplan remains detailed while the financial plan is summarized.

When you send summary information from MSP to OP, it summarizes the values in a single plan

and only creates the plan structure in OP up to the selected summary level. The details of the

workplan or financial plan are maintained solely in MSP. Once you send that level to OP, you

cannot change the level during subsequent transfers for the same project file. If you decide you

want to work at a different level in future transfers, you must send the file from MSP to OP as a

new version. This new version will have a separate file link and can be maintained at a different

task level.


5. Project Management Lifecycle

To determine whether it is best to manage some project activities using MSP you must consider

the structure of your project, the standard supported project lifecycle, your existing business

practices and what project information is best managed using MSP.

For most projects, you perform the following activities when you create new projects.

Phase Activities

Create a Project • Enter project dates, options and settings

• Enter project tasks

• Determine the resources that will be used for a

project

Schedule a Project • Organize tasks (set dependencies, milestones, etc.)

• Assign resources to tasks

• Enter estimated costs and revenues

Publish a Project Workplan • Make the workplan available to the project team for

collecting progress

• Set a baseline to generate financial plans

Create a Financial Plan • Create financial tasks or identify shared tasks

• Assign resources

• Set and approve a baseline plan (budget)

Collect Progress • Track progress for tasks and resource assignments

• Use progress to generate forecast updates

Update the Project Workplan • Modify task or resource assignment dates

• Update task details

• Add or remove tasks

Generate Forecasts • Apply actuals to the forecast

• Apply spread curves to adjust future period ETC

• Calculate new ETC

You use workplans to create and manage a project schedule, insure you have appropriate

resources to complete the project and communicate project status. You create a baselined

workplan to help you control a project and track progress. Once you create a workplan, you create

financial plans to use for controlling project expenses and revenues. The budgets and forecasts

you create help you manage your project and can be used to control project changes, make

accounting adjustments and communicate financial results.

The recommendations and best practices in this document are organized based on the project

lifecycle.

Other than publishing a plan, you can manage any of the standard lifecycle activities using MSP.

However, using MSP integration involves additional steps and there are differences in how MSP

and OP calculate values and process updates.


6. MSP Integration Best Practices

6.1 Creating Projects

6.1.1 When to Create New Projects In MSP

The integration features allow you to use either MSP or OP for creating a new project. In

some cases, using MSP to create a new project has benefits over creating it in OP.

Transferring a project between MSP and OP requires additional steps, so you should only

consider starting your project in MSP when you can recognize the benefits.

You should start your project in MSP when:

• You create your project workplan by collecting entries from multiple sources

who are not expected to use OP for ongoing project management. You collect,

cut, copy and paste workplan tasks into a single project file using MSP

interfaces. Once the workplan is complete, you transfer it to OP using a project

template to create your project.

• You want to schedule the project as you create it. In some industry practices, a

detailed estimation cycle precedes the creation of a project workplan. Or, you

may have a large, detailed and complex workplan with many constraints,

dependencies and milestones that impact the tasks you decide to include in the

workplan. Importing your workplan estimates into MSP in order to schedule

the workplan and assign resources eliminates the steps of creating the workplan

in OP first and then receiving a file in MSP for scheduling.

• You are planning to use a NSTBM or NSNM structure and you have a detailed

financial plan. If your financial plans have a large, complex structure, the same

benefits apply to the creation of the financial plan using MSP. You collect and

organize your financial plan tasks using MSP, then transfer the plan to OP. If

you are planning to use a NSTBM structure, you map tasks once your

workplan and financial plan are sent to OP.

There are benefits of using OP to create a project because you can use a template during

the creation process. MSP does not have a template management feature, so when you

start a project in MSP, you start with a copy of another project or enter a project from

scratch. Then, when you send the project file to OP for the first time, you specify an OP

template and values from the template are applied to the project when it is created in OP.

When you start your project in OP, you can setup project templates and use those

templates to create new projects. The project template is designed to make the project

creation process more efficient. Using project templates has three primary benefits that

you cannot achieve when you create your project workplan in MSP.

• You can default many project attributes from the template, so you do not need

to enter the details for each new project. If you are creating your project in

MSP, you must enter the required details and some of those details could be

defaulted from a template if you create your project in OP.

• You can default attributes from the template to each new task or resource

assignment added to a project and view that information as you enter tasks and

assignments.


• You can setup attributes for business rules on the template that control how

projects created from the template will behave. This allows you to categorize

your projects, create a template for each category, then default common

business rules to each new project created from the template

Therefore, you should not start your project in MSP if you need to view and modify the defaulted

values as you add tasks and assignments. Similarly, if you need the business rules available in the

OP template as new tasks and assignments are added, you should start your project in OP

The table below provides a summary of recommendations when you should start your project in

MSP or OP based upon:

• The accessibility of the user to various applications,

• Who in your organization typically creates new projects, and

• Whether you use templates to create new projects.

Criteria Finance Creates

Projects

PM Creates

Projects

PM has OP access OP MSP or OP

PM has no OP access OP MSP

Create projects from templates OP MSP or OP

Create projects from copy OP OP

6.1.2 Creating a Project Using MSP

Before you begin using MSP, you must first set up MSP and OP for integration. By enabling the

integration in OP, you add features to MSP that allow you to send and receive project plans

between the two applications. Once MSP is enabled, the MSP tool bar has a new menu option

entitled “Oracle Projects”. You use many of the options in the Oracle menu to manage the

integration process.

When you use MSP to create a project you must perform the following activities:

1) Enable MSP Integration

2) Setup MSP for Integration

3) Setup OP for Integration

4) Create the project file in MSP

5) Send the project to OP

6.1.2.1 Enable MSP Integration

To enable MSP integration, you use the Setup option and select the Microsoft Project Integration

Installation task after logging into Oracle Projects with the seeded Projects Superuser

responsibility. In Microsoft Project Integration Installation window select the MSP Version. You

must select one of the currently supported MSP versions: 2000, 2002, 2003 or 2007.

You must also insure your browser is Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater and your browser option

settings are enabled for ActiveX controls. After you enable MSP for integration, an “Oracle”

option will appear in your MSP toolbar menu. You use the “Preferences” option to set OP

preferences and controls for integration.

6.1.2.2 Setup MSP for Integration

After you enable MSP integration, you need to setup MSP and OP preferences for controlling the

integration.


You use the “Tools” > “Options” menu in MSP to setup MSP preferences and controls for

integration. Set the following options based on your user or business preferences:

• View

• General (setup default rates)

• Edit (preferences for units, days, hours)

• Calendar (control resource assignment dates)

Use the “Oracle” > “Preferences” menu in MSP to setup OP preferences and controls for

integration. Set the following preferences to determine how your data is controlled when sending

files between OP and MSP:

• Send Work Breakdown Structure (determine the level of task you want to send

to OP)

• Assign Oracle Projects "Task Number"

• Calculate Cost Method (see “Resource Rates” in the Scheduling section

below).

• Send Time-phased Data

• Send Oracle Percent Complete

After you send a project to Oracle Projects, you cannot change the preferences. To change the

preferences you must create a new linked file.

6.1.2.3 Setup OP for Integration

Before you start creating your project in MSP, you need to create setups in OP that you will use

in MSP to assign values to your tasks.

• Create resource lists that you will use to create resource assignments when you schedule

a project in MSP.

• Create project templates that you use to send a new project to OP. A project template has

many settings that control the creation and management of your project. Key attributes

that affect a project you create in MSP include the project structure, enabling versioning

and the option to default task duration on all resource assignments.

6.1.2.4 Creating the Project File in MSP

When you create a project in MSP, the tasks you enter in MSP are the tasks you need to manage

your project workplan or financial plans. When you enter tasks, you also enter the required task

details.

• You enter task numbers or use the MSP outline number assigned based on the preference

option you set up. If you want to assign your own task numbers, use the Column Text 5

field to enter the values. You can also select to use the MSP Outline Number or the

Unique ID in your setup preferences.

• Pay careful attention to the dates that are generated for your tasks based on your MSP

calendar definition. Not all calendar definitions you can setup in OP are available in MSP

(see “Calendar” in the Scheduling section below).

• You enter planned values for each period for your project if you enabled the time phasing

option in your setup.


• You can enter values based on a lookup table of values from OP. You need to enable the

LOV in the Oracle Projects menu in the “Receive from Oracle Projects” > “List of

Values” option. The task values may apply to workplan tasks, financial tasks or both.

Task Attribute Plan Type Value

Service Type Financial

Item Workplan

UOM Workplan

Task Type Financial and Workplan

6.1.2.5 Sending the Project to OP

After you enter all of your workplan tasks, you can send your project to Oracle if you do not plan

to schedule it in MSP. You must specify a project template when you send your project to OP.

You cannot send a new project to OP if you do not select a valid template that exists in OP. To

send your project to OP, you perform the following steps:

• Initiate the send process from the MSP “Oracle Projects” menu

• Select a valid OP template to use in creating your project in OP. You can select any

available template in OP.

• Enter the project name /number field

• Select the type of plan you want to create in OP.

• Specify the type of file version you want to send using one of the 3 “send” options. Use

the publish option if you do not expect to make any further updates in OP after you send

your plan.

When your file is sent to OP the template-level setups are used to create the new project and the

tasks and plans are copied from your MSP project file.

• If you selected a level in the “Send Work Breakdown Structure” option, you select an

“Up to Task Level” to send the WBS. Only summary task values are sent to OP for the

tasks at the specified level.

• Task numbers are assigned if you did not enter any or did not elect to use the default

MSP outline number.

• When you send the file to OP the first time, a link between the MSP project file and the

OP project is established and used to transfer data between the two projects during the

project lifecycle. Once this link is established, you cannot update it. You can have more

than one linked MSP project file for each OP project, but only one for each plan version.

The link is stored in the “0” summary row, so be sure not to update or remove the top

summary row of the project file in MSP.

• Depending upon the structure of the selected template and the value you select for the

type of data to send, different data is sent to OP. For example, when you select a project

template with a FSS structure, both workplan and financial plan are created when you

send the file to OP since the structures of both plans are fully shared. So for FSS

structures, you cannot select the plan type.


6.2 Scheduling Projects

6.2.1 When to Schedule a Project in MSP

Scheduling involves the entry of task dates, priorities, dependencies and/or milestones and

managing resource assignments. As noted above, one of the reasons to use MSP for creating a

project is when you want to schedule the project as part of the creation process. However, it may

be better to create your project in OP first then transfer it to MSP for scheduling.

In either case, there are benefits to using MSP for project scheduling depending upon the type of

project schedule you need to maintain. These benefits become greater as your need for more

detailed schedule information increases and for projects with large numbers of tasks in the

workplan

Use MSP for scheduling when:

• Your schedule needs to include task level information, such as task constraints and

milestones (with no duration). Although you can use your OP workplan to organize a task

hierarchy for summarizing workplan information at multiple levels, maintain task dates

and durations, and set task priorities, you cannot maintain some scheduling information,

such as constraints and milestones.

• You need to identify and resolve workplan schedule conflicts.

• Your workplan is detailed, large and complex. The simple and easy to navigate UIs in

MSP may be more efficient when you are working with a very large number of detailed

tasks and resource assignments. In MSP you can quickly add, remove, copy and update

multiple records quickly.

• When the scheduling process involves inputs from multiple sources. In MSP, you can

save, manage and merge MSP project files without risking overwrites between project

records before sending the workplan to OP for publishing.

If you do not intend to track detailed task dependencies, milestones or constraints and your

workplan is not very detailed, you should start your project in OP, assign task dates and make

resource assignments.

The table below provides a summary of recommendations when you should schedule your project

in MSP or OP based upon:

• Your project size and value

• The complexity of your project task structure

Criteria Small

Project

Size

Medium /

Large

Project Size

Low

Project

Complexity

Medium/

High

Project

Complexity

Low Value Project OP OP / MSP OP MSP

Medium Value Project OP MSP MSP MSP

High Value Project MSP / OP MSP MSP MSP

6.2.2 Scheduling a Project in MSP

When you schedule a project in MSP, you enter the details you need to manage your project

workplan or financial plan and then send your project file to OP.


If you are scheduling your project as you create it, you enter the plan tasks and the schedule

information and both the project and the scheduling information are created when you send your

file to OP. Otherwise, you receive your plan in MSP before you schedule it and send it back to

OP.

6.2.2.1 Receiving the Project in MSP

Unless you are creating your project in OP, you must receive a project plan in MSP to update it.

You must define the following parameters each time you receive a project from OP:

• Whether to receive a working version or the latest published version. Select the working

version if you started your project in OP and schedule it in MSP. You select the latest

published version if you are intending to reschedule or update the workplan or financial

plan using MSP.

• Whether to receive the workplan or financial plan.

• Whether to create a new MSP file from the existing file in OP or from a project template.

If you are creating your project and scheduling it at the same time in MSP, you need to receive a

resource list from OP to make resource assignments. To receive a resource list, select “Oracle

Projects”> “Receive From Oracle Projects” > “Resource List” in the MSP menu. You must

decide the following when you receive a resource list:

• The project template associated with the resource list. When you send the project to OP,

you are not limited to using the template you selected when you received the resource

list. You can select a different template to use for creating your project.

• Whether to receive a workplan or financial plan resource list.

6.2.2.2 Entering Scheduling Information

You may need to enter any of the following information to schedule your project:

1) Task dates and durations

2) Task dependencies and constraints

3) Task priorities

4) Resource assignments

5) Milestones

You can assign task-scheduling attributes by using lookup values from OP. To enable the look

up, select the Oracle Projects menu, then select “Receive from Oracle Projects”> “List of

Values”. The attributes may apply to the workplan or the workplan and financial plan. The

lookup values are received when the project or resource list is received from OP.

Task Attribute Plan Type Value

Task Manager Financial and Workplan

Task Type Financial and Workplan

Priority Workplan


6.2.2.3 Scheduling Considerations

When you work with schedules in MSP and send the schedules to OP, consider the following

important recommendations:

6.2.2.3.1 Using Time Phased Data

Time-phased data are the values assigned to a resource for the periods of the assignment

duration.

6.2.2.3.1.1 Receiving Time Phased Data in MSP

Time-phased data cannot be received in MSP from OP. The assignment data is

received from OP as lump sum amount and by default is spread by MSP for the task

assignment duration based on the MSP flat contour. When resources are assigned to

tasks, you can check the setup for work contour by viewing the Task-Resource

assignment in MSP. From the MSP tool bar, select “View” > “Resource Sheet” then

double-click on task-resource assignment.

6.2.2.3.1.2 Sending Time Phased Data to OP

To modify the spread in MSP, you can select a different spread method or update the

periodic values manually. After you send the time-phased data back to OP, the spread

curve recorded for the resource assignment is “Null” signifying that MSP used its own

spread logic for this resource assignment. You can send time-phased data for all 4

types of workplan structures.

If you want to send your periodic data for a resource assignment from MSP to OP,

from the MSP tool bar select the Oracle Projects menu, then select “Preferences”. The

checkbox for “Send Time-phased Cost and Work Data for Resources” must be

checked.

Because of the differences in spreading logic between MSP and OP and the fact that

MSP spreads data in the flat contour by default when you send data to MSP from OP

(it is received as a lump sum and re-spread), you must be careful when transferring

data when actuals are already collected for tasks. If you applied actuals to the current

working version of a workplan, you are prevented from sending time-phased data

from MSP to OP when there is periodic data before the “ETC Start Date”. You’ll

receive a message that the data can be modified for periods on or after ETC date and

the Project, Task, Resource as well as the ETC date is provided in the message so you

can easily identify the resource assignment details and correct the data for periods

before the ETC date. Once corrected, the time-phased data for resource assignments

can be sent successfully to OP.

Consider the following example

120 hours of Resource R1 is assigned to Task T1 of a project. Task

T1 has start and end dates as 01-Jan-09 to 31-Dec-09. Workplan has

GL periods as the basis for time-phasing. The resource assignment

has even spread curve. The periodic distribution for the assignment

shows 10 hours from Jan-09 to Dec-09.

Now apply 10 hours of R1 is actual effort. After distributing the

effort and summarizing the actuals, the progress is applied to the

current working version. The periodic distribution for the assignment


shows period Jan-09 to June-09 as closed and the remaining effort

(ETC) is distributed from Aug-09 to Dec-09. Jul-09 would show

planned as 10 hours and actual as 10 hours.

Once the data is received from OP in MSP for the current working

version, MSP re-spreads the planned effort of 120 from Jan-09 to

Dec-09 based on the flat contour algorithm. Therefore if the ETC

date is 20-Jul (the progress as of date in OP), MSP spreads the effort

before 20-Jul. In this situation, when the time-phased data is sent

from MSP to OP, an error message is triggered because the periods

from Jan-09 to June-09 are closed in OP.

To correct this, you should delete any periodic data before the “ETC Start Date” and

spread the planned data on or after that date.

6.2.2.3.2 Calendar Definitions Used in Scheduling

As part of Oracle eBusiness Suite (EBS) OP has an extremely flexible calendar definition

and not all OP calendar settings are available in MSP. Therefore, when you receive a file in

MSP, the default calendar is always the standard calendar definition since there is no

mapping between the calendar definitions in MSP and OP. You need to update the calendar

setting in MSP for your project before performing any scheduling.

Additionally, while there are other possible definitions available in OP, MSP only considers

a 5-day work-week unless you use elapsed days (e-days or calendar days). You cannot use e-

days to define duration in OP. Only business days are counted in the duration when you send

your project to OP. To achieve the same effect, you can change the standard MSP calendar

to have 24/7 working (similar to the concept of elapsed days).

6.2.2.3.3 Resource Rates and Cost Calculation

Resource rates (along with UOM) are used to calculate costs for resource task assignments

in MSP. When you receive a file in MSP, the existing rates in OP are sent to MSP where

you can view them. After updating the Quantity and sending the file to OP, these rates are

used to calculate resource costs in the workplan. When you are using one of the split

structures, you can work separately with the workplan, so you have the option to enter

override rates in MSP and use those rates to calculate cost. To enter and use these rates, you

select “MSP” as the Cost Calculation Method. This option is available only when you are

working with the workplan costs and not available for FSS or PSS structures.

6.2.2.3.4 Milestone Tasks

If you define milestone tasks in MSP, they are assigned a duration of “0” by default. Since

tasks cannot have a value of “0” in OP, new tasks created in OP that are marked as

milestones and which have a “0” duration will be automatically assigned a duration of “1”.

However, the task weighting for any such tasks is automatically set to “0”, so the overall

value of the task will not affect the summarized plan values.

6.2.2.4 Sending the Project to OP

If you did not send your file to OP after creating it or received a file in MSP to schedule a project,

you must send your file to OP to update the schedule information for a project. The same process

and recommendations apply to sending the project to OP if you send the file after scheduling it. If

you did not create your project while scheduling and received a project in MSP to schedule, only

schedule information and resource assignments are created in OP.

When you send a file to OP, you must make the following selections:

1) Whether to create a new plan version. If you send a new version, a new file link is created

in your MSP file.


2) Whether to publish the plan when you send it.

3) Whether to send project data or budget data. Unless your project uses a FSS (fully shared

structure) only task information associated with the plan type is sent to OP. You cannot

select budget only data if your project has a FSS.

4) Whether to send the “.mpp” file as an attachment.

6.2.2.5 Publishing a Project

You cannot publish a project in MSP since publishing is an OP concept. So, you determine

whether to publish a project each time you send a workplan file to OP. Unless you plan to make

additional scheduling updates in OP, you should publish the plan when you send it from MSP.

You can only have one published version in OP. When you send a published version the previous

published version is updated.

If you do not send it as a published version, you must publish the plan in OP in order to:

• Enter task progress or update task statuses

• Complete task structure updates after you send a project to OP from MSP. If you send

your plan as a working version, deleted tasks are not removed from the OP plan until you

publish it.

• It is mandatory to have at least one published version to send percent complete (a

progress measurement) to OP.

6.3 Collecting Project Progress

6.3.1 When to Collect Progress Using MSP

You collect progress for a plan to track your project and to re-calculate Estimates to Completion

(ETC). You must collect progress in order to calculate ETC and generate a new forecast in OP.

Progress is specified as the Physical Percent Complete (PPC) for a task. You can use MSP to

capture or calculate PPC, but the ETC and forecasts are calculated and produced in OP after you

send your progress updates from MSP.

Some of the same benefits that make MSP a useful tool for creating and scheduling a project also

apply when collecting progress.

Using MSP for collecting progress is recommended when:

• When team members do not (or cannot) enter progress online and report progress

centrally. The file sharing benefits of MSP are useful to collect, summarize and review

progress updates before publishing them in OP.

• When you want to want to review and report interim progress updates on a working

version of the workplan. Since progress can only be sent from MSP to OP to a published

version of a project workplan, you cannot create a working version of the plan and send

interim updates from MSP to OP as progress is gathered and then review and publish the

final updates in OP. You must either collect, review and approve the final progress

updates for a workplan in MSP and publish it to OP or team members must use OP to

post their progress updates against the latest published workplan.


• If you want to make scheduling updates as progress is collected. If you typically make

scheduling changes as progress is entered and you are using MSP to manage your

schedule, you should use MSP to collect progress.

The table below provides a summary of recommendations when you should schedule your

project in MSP or OP based upon:

• Team member access to OP

• Size and structure type of your project

Factor Collaborative

Progress

Collection*

Centralized

Progress

Collection

PM / Team do not have access to OP N/A MSP

Small / Medium size projects OP OP

Large projects OP MSP / OP

Shared structure OP MSP / OP

Split structure OP MSP / OP *Requires the use of Oracle Projects Collaboration

6.3.2 Collecting Progress In MSP

The Physical Percent Complete (PPC) for a resource assignment or task is how progress is

tracked. If you are using MSP to collect progress, you perform the following activities:

1) Receive a plan from OP to MSP. This insures the latest updates from your published plan

are used when making progress updates in MSP.

2) Enter progress values to calculate new PPCs.

3) Send the plan to OP for forecasting.

6.3.2.1 Receiving a Plan to Collect Progress

When you receive your plan in MSP from OP, in addition to the standard plan information, you

can receive percent complete (PPC) values for all structure types and for all the tasks both

Financial and Workplan. The latest PPC values are received in MSP when you receive your

project. The OP PPC is stored in the “Text 19” field in MSP. When you update progress values in

MSP, the OP value is updated. The value in the “%-Complete” column is calculated by MSP.

MSP calculates the %-Complete based on the completion of the task duration.

If you want to view current actual and forecast values during the progress collection process, you

can receive Actual Costs, Actual Effort and ETC Effort. Values can be received for all structure

types.

The selected amount type from OP populates the Actual Cost column in MSP and Labor Hour

populates the Actual Work column.

6.3.2.2 Collecting Progress

All tasks have a PPC, even summary tasks. There can be some differences in the MSP and OP

PPC rollup calculations for summary tasks. If you prefer to see the OP PPC in the %-Complete


field, you can copy the OP PPC from the “Text 19” field using the “Copy Oracle Progress Fields

to MSP Progress” option. You can choose to retain both values for comparison, but only one

PPC can be sent to OP.

You may also update task attributes as you collect progress. If you update task attributes shared

with OP, you should receive and use the appropriate List of Values to insure you are using valid

OP values.

• Priority

• Progress Status

• Task Status

6.3.2.3 Sending Progress to OP

If you prefer to use the OP PPC values when you send your project updates to OP, you must

insure your MSP preferences in the “Oracle Projects” menu is set “Yes” for “Send Oracle Percent

Complete”.

Percent complete can be sent for all structure types and for all the tasks both financial and

workplan. However for version-enabled projects, it is mandatory to have at least one published

version to send percent complete to OP.

Actual Costs are not sent from MSP to OP, but planned effort is sent. Actual Work and

Remaining Work are sent to OP for split workplan structures only when you send progress to OP.

Actual Work is mapped as Actual Effort in OP and Remaining Work is mapped as ETC Effort in

OP. Therefore Actual and ETC values can only be sent from MSP to OP for split workplan

structures.

Some task attributes are updated on workplan tasks and others in both the workplan and financial

plan tasks as noted below. Workplan updates are sent when you send “Project” data. Financial

plan updates are always sent for FSS and when you send “Budget” data for other structures.

Task

Attribute

Attribute Type

Priority Workplan

Progress

Status

Workplan

Task Status Financial and Workplan

Remember, you cannot publish a project in MSP so you determine whether to publish a project

each time you send a workplan file to OP. You must publish a version in order to complete

progress updates and delete tasks. When you send a published version the previous published

version is updated.


6.4 Updating and Rescheduling Projects

6.4.1 When to Update or Reschedule Using MSP

Since rescheduling a project involves many of the same activities as scheduling, the benefits are

the same. Therefore, in most cases, if you are using MSP to schedule a project, you should also

use MSP for rescheduling.

Since the projects you manage using MSP are likely to have a large number of tasks with

complex details, you should also consider using MSP for updating task details when you use it for

scheduling.

It is critical to implement adequate business controls when you have multiple users maintaining

your schedule and task information in OP. It is possible that the workplan schedule can be

updated and even re-published in OP after you send a project file from MSP. Therefore, to insure

you are working with the most recent details in your project plan the next time you perform

updates in MSP, it is recommended that you receive the latest published workplan in MSP before

starting the rescheduling process. Otherwise updates made in OP since the previous upload may

be overwritten.

It is also important to remember that you can update and send different plan types from MSP. So,

you must specify the right plan type to correctly make your updates to your plan. When you are

using a project with a structure other than FSS, you can only send project data or budget data with

each file. If you are making updates to financial information on your tasks but send as project

data, your updates to financial attributes will be sent to OP.

6.4.2 Updating or Rescheduling a Project in MSP

When you reschedule and update a project you perform the following activities:

1) Receive the project plan file in MSP with actuals to insure the latest updates from your

published plan are used when making updates in MSP.

2) Update task scheduling information

3) Update task details

4) Send the project plan file to OP to implement your updates

6.4.2.1 Receiving a Plan to Reschedule and Update

The process of receiving the plan for updating the schedule is the same as when you perform the

original scheduling. However, when you are maintaining the schedule and task attributes you may

want to receive the latest task attributes (in the event updates are made in OP) and view actuals

from OP as part of the process.

You determine the task attributes to receive by setting the correct preference in the send options

using the Oracle Projects option in the MSP menu. The values for these attributes are

automatically received when you receive the project in MSP from OP if there are values assigned

to the tasks in OP. If you enter a value manually and it does not match to any valid value in OP,

the process will result in an error and entered values will be ignored when updating OP with your

changes. To avoid this error, you should receive the LOVs from OP and use them to assign

attribute values.

• Service Type

• Task Manager

• Priority


• Progress Status

• Item

• UOM

• Task Type

• Task Status

• Work Type

To receive actuals, from the Oracle Projects menu select “Receive From Oracle Projects”>

“Actuals Data”. Before receiving actuals in MSP, you should run the summarization processes in

OP. You can select any of the following actuals to receive

• Amount Type: Raw Cost, ITD Burdened cost, ITD Revenue

• Receive Cost Amount

• Receive Labor Hour

If the workplan is enabled for versioning and the working version is the plan linked to your MSP

file, then the progress updates made in MSP are not updated on the working version until the

progress is applied from latest published version. Therefore it is strongly advised to Apply Latest

Progress to the current working version whenever there is a need for re-planning, rescheduling or

modifying a project in MSP.

6.4.2.2 Updating a Plan

You update scheduling information manually or use the MSP rescheduling tools to update task

and assignment dates. You can also update task structures by adding or removing tasks or

assignments. To maintain task information in MSP, you update task attributes using the LOVs.

You may delete a task in MSP, but the deletion is not finalized until you publish the associated

workplan in OP and the deletion is validated. This insures tasks with existing transactions are not

deleted (which is not allowed in OP).

To delete a task in MSP, you enable the delete task UI by pressing the delete key or selecting

from the menu, “Oracle Project” > “Delete Task”. The selected tasks will be marked for deletion

(if there are no other exceptions like expenditure transactions on the task). When you transfer the

file to OP tasks that are marked for deletion are still visible in the working version until it is

published.

When you use the self-service application of OP, you can only delete tasks directly on a working

version, not a published version. Tasks marked for deletion but not yet deleted are marked with a

small blue circle indicator until the working version is published.

6.4.2.3 Sending an Updated Plan to OP

Similarly to scheduling, task attributes received from OP and updates sent to OP depend on the

structure you use and plan type of your transfer file. If you select “workplan” when you first

create your MSP project file, only updates to workplan attributes are sent to OP when you

transfer the file back. If you select “financial plan”, only financial plan attribute updates are sent.


Generally, when you send the workplan and choose to send “project data”, the following

information is sent to OP to update your plan:

• Workplan task attributes that were entered, updated or removed. The only task

attribute not updated is Service Type, which is only an attribute for financial tasks.

• Resource assignments

• Task dependencies

• Added or deleted workplan tasks

If you send a financial plan and choose to send “budget data” the following details are sent:

• Financial plan task attributes

• Updates to financial plan resource assignments

• Cost information

• New or deleted tasks (except for PSS projects)

When you send the financial plan and send “project data” only updates to workplan attributes that

are also held on the financial task are sent (such as Task Manager, Task Type, Task Status and

Work Type).

You are not permitted to send a workplan and select to send “budget data”.

In OP, you are not permitted to delete tasks with transactions. Since task mappings between plans

for projects with PSS or split structures and transactions are only maintained in OP, tasks you

delete in MSP cannot be actually deleted from your plan until you publish it in OP (or send it to

OP as a published plan).

Some information in OP is unaffected when you send an update from MSP because the data is not

transferred from MSP to OP, such as Actual Cost.

6.5 When to Manage Financial Plans in MSP

Other than standard forecast and budget updates to incorporate actuals and progress, there are

typically two points in the project lifecycle where you manage financial plans:

• Creation of a financial plan after the workplan is created, and

• Update of financial plans when the workplan structure is modified

If your financial plans are tightly associated with your workplan, you should create your financial

plans in OP using the workplan as the starting point. OP has numerous options to control and

configure this process. You typically use this process to create a FSS or a PSS structured project.

You can decide the level of summarization you need for different types of financial plans.

If you are creating NSTBM or NSNM structured projects, the benefits of using MSP to create

financial plans are the same as for workplans. Once you send your files to OP, you complete your

mapping in OP if you are using the NSTBM structure.

Since the primary benefits of using MSP integration involve large, complex plan structures,

unless the financial plan is similar in nature, there are not many benefits of managing financial

plan updates in MSP. It is not possible (and generally not required) to maintain a lower level of

detail in your financial plans than in your workplan.


There are recommended usages for managing financial plan information in MSP, but generation

of budgets and forecasts should always be done using OP. Consider using MSP for the following

activities related to financial plan management:

• Use MSP to manage updates to large, complex financial plan structures. You can add

new tasks, delete unused tasks, update resource assignments and update task details

more easily using the MSP UIs.

• Create multiple plan working versions to perform ‘what-if’ analysis. By sending

multiple working versions with different types of plan information, you can create

multiple different plan scenarios.

After receiving the financial structure in MSP and adding a new resource assignment, you select

“Budget Data” in your sending options to send financial plan updates back to OP (except for FSS

projects). You can send as many versions as required for the same plan type with different

combinations of data type options:

• Send task level cost only

• Send Resource Assignment Work and Cost: Both task level and resource level cost

are sent

• Send Resource Assignment Work: Only resource level cost is sent and not task level

cost.

• The version may be sent as ‘working’, ‘current’ or ‘baselined’.

• The cost may be stored as raw cost or burdened cost.

Financial plans can be managed using MSP without managing a workplan in OP, but it is not

recommended since it is typically a workplan that drives costs and revenue in the financial plan.


Oracle Project Management

December 2009

Authors: Parag Lawate, Michael Dean Herback, Susan Rawlings

Oracle Corporation

World Headquarters

500 Oracle Parkway

Redwood Shores, CA 94065

U.S.A.

Worldwide Inquiries:

Phone: +1.650.506.7000

Fax: +1.650.506.7200

www.oracle.com

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. Various

product and service names referenced herein may be trademarks

of Oracle Corporation. All other product and service names

mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Copyright © 2009 Oracle Corporation

All rights reserved.

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