Part 1: Visualization of project lifecycle with help of Dynamic Workflow solution starter and FluentPro EPM Pulse for Project Server 2010

It this post, I will try to provide a step-by-step instructions how to a full create environment with simplified workflow using Dynamic Workflow solution starter and later in next post we will visualize information using dashboards created in EPM Pulse. This will be a pretty big post - but it will allow users to get started with Project Server 2010 with workflow and great data visualization. Be prepared for some reading and couple hour of manual creation of configuration elements in Project Server (if you do not use FluentBooks for Project Server 2010).

This post will cover several sections:

• Installation of Dynamic Workflow solution starter
• Definition of Workflow
• Create Fields & Lookup Tables
• Define and create Drivers and Driver Prioritization
• Create PDPs
• Create Phases
• Create Stages
• Create Workflow
• Create EPT

Assumptions

• You have some experience of administering of Project Server 2010
• You have Project Server administrator rights
• For simplicity we will not use Departments feature in Project Server 2010
• This post assumes that you have resource pool built and maybe using generic resources along with work and cost resources

Installation of Dynamic Workflow solution starter

I will assume that you have a Dynamic Workflow Solution Starter that you compiled and is ready for installation. If you don't:
- please go to http://archive.msdn.microsoft.com/P2010SolutionStarter, click on downloads and download source.zip
- open solution with Visual Studio 2010 and compile the Solution Starter
- You need to have following files in order to deploy Solution Starter:

Open the DeployPowerShell.Cmd file and edit its content - you need to edit Site URL:

--------------

@echo off
Set DeploymentPackageFolder="."

Set SiteUrl="http://w2008r2ps/demo2"
Set SolutionFolder="./"
Set SolutionName="DMDynamicWorkflow.wsp"
Set FeatureName="DMDynamicWorkflow_DynamicWorkflow"

cd %DeploymentPackageFolder%
PowerShell -file .\Deploy.ps1 %SiteUrl% %SolutionFolder% %SolutionName% %FeatureName%

pause

---------------

In my case, the URL with PWA where it will be deployed is http://w2008r2ps/demo2.
You need to log to the computer as farm administrator and run this script DeployPowerShell.Cmd from command line:

We strongly recommend to run RestartServices.bat after Dynamic Workflow solution starter install. This will restart IIS and Queue services.

To make sure that Dynamic Workflow in up and running, go to your browser and type the following URL:
http://w2008r2ps/demo2/_layouts/WrkSetng.aspx (replace http://w2008r2ps/demo2/ with you PWA url):

Click on Add a workflow:

In the window that displayed you should see the DM DynamicWorkflow  - that means it was installed and we expect it to be functional.

Designing a Project Server Workflow

To make things a slightly simplified, we will create a workflow with 5 Phases and 5 Stages (one phase can contain one or more stages, but we should be good with just one stage per phase). Our workflow will be potentially ready for the Portfolio Analysis and will include all the required elements:

Phase	Stage	PDPs	Description
Project Initiation	Project Initiation	- New Project Information  - Strategic Impact	On this phase / stage, project request is initiated by users; All requests are captured so they can be later prioritized and only selected projects will go to detailed planning / execution. On this stage, initial planning is performed.
Project Selection	Project Selection	- Project Summary  - Strategic Impact  - Schedule  - Project Selection Dashboard	On this stage, the portfolio analysis component can be "plugged-in". In our scenario there will be no portfolio analysis, and only projects that are selected will move to the next stage.
Project Planning	Project Planning	- Project Summary  - Project Key Performance Metrics  - Schedule  - Strategic Impact  - Planning Summary Dashboard	On this stage, detailed plan should be create, project should be resourced
Project Execution	Project Execution	- Project Summary  - Project Key Performance Metrics  - Schedule  - Project Status Information  - Strategic Impact  - Execution Dashboard	Project Execution and Tracking
Project Closing	Project Closing Stage	- Project Summary  - Project Status Information  - Schedule  - Statistics Dashboard	Project is completed or canceled. PMO, Mamangement and Project Managers shoud analyze information and perform a "lessons learned" exercise
Project Closed	Project Closed	- Project Summary  - Project Status Information  - Schedule  - Statistics Dashboard	Project is closed. This is the terminal stage of the project.

As you can see, I've listed all the Phases, Stages and PDPs that will be visible on those stages - and to make system more flexible, we will have different sets of PDPs for each stage.

There is one element that is missing in this table. It is possible also to control a "read-only" status of fields on specific workflow stages. Again, for simplicity, in this scenario we will make all the fields read-only on Project Closing and Project Closed stages.

So, our workflow structure is defined (designed), now we will get a technical section - creation of all elements.

Creating Custom Fields and Lookup Tables

Custom fields are created via Server Settings -> Enterprise Custom Fields and Lookup Table section

we will create following lookup tables with values:

Lookup Name	Value
FP Indicator	Black
	Green
	Red
	Yellow
FP Project Type	Program
	Project
Portfolio	Portfolio A
	Portfolio B
	Portfolio C
Program	CM tools
	FluentPro Audit Family
	FluentPro Data Visualization Family
	FluentPro PS Customization
	FluentPro Web Tools
	Project Site Tools Family
Resource Role	Business Analyst
	Coordinator
	Developer
	IT
	Manager
	Project Manager
	Quality Assurance
	Training Lead
	Vendor

On the next step, we will create following fields:

Field Name	Entity	Type	Lookup Table
Budget (Provided)	Project	Cost
Budget (Requested)	Project	Cost
Budget Document Reference	Project	Text
Business Objective	Project	Text
FP Project Type	Project	Text	FP Project Type
Go-Live Date (Actual)	Project	Date
Go-Live Date (Forecast)	Project	Date
Major Accomplishments Current Period	Project	Text
Major Accomplishments Next Period	Project	Text
Portfolio	Project	Text	Portfolio
Program	Project	Text	Program
Project Description	Project	Text
Project Notes (General)	Project	Text
Project Progress Notes	Project	Text
Project Scope	Project	Text
Resource Role	Resource	Text	Resource Role
Status - Budget	Project	Text	FP Indicator
Status - Quality	Project	Text	FP Indicator
Status - Red Explanation	Project	Text
Status - Resources	Project	Text	FP Indicator
Status - Schedule	Project	Text	FP Indicator
Status - Scope	Project	Text	FP Indicator
Status - Update Date	Project	Date
Status - Yellow Explanation	Project	Text

Creating Drivers and Driver Prioritization

For our scenario - I will create 4 drivers and we will prioritize them - so we can define in future strategic impact for each of the projects.
To create drivers, to to PWA and click on Driver Library link in main menu on the left.

You will get to the page with drivers (it should be empty by default):

Use buttons on ribbon to create new drivers

Please note that you should define and create your own drivers that are specific for your organization.

To prioritize drivers, click on Driver Prioritization in PWA main menu. To create new prioritization, click on New on the ribbon. Window will appear where you need to enter prioritization name and select drivers that will be included into prioritization:

Then click on Prioritize Drivers and system will walk you via several steps of prioritization, depending on number of drivers included.

Creating PDPs

As next step, we need to create PDPs. PDPs are SharePoint pages that can display information from project level custom fields with help of special web part, called Project Fields web part. Users can place other webparts to PDPs - standard or custom. We will create 3 types of PDP:
 - PDP for project creation
 - PDP that will host EPM Pulse Dashboards
 - PDPs that will display information from project

We will create the following PDPs:

• New Project Information
• Project Selection Dashboard
• Planning Summary Dashboard
• Execution Dashboard
• Statistics Dashboard
• Project Summary
• Project Information
• Project Key Performance Metrics
• Project Status Information

To create new PDP:

1. Go to Server Settings -> Project Detail Pages

2. Click on Ribbon on a Documents Tab and then on New Document

3. On displayed page enter PDP file name and select layout template (I prefer to use Full Page, Vertical;  other users prefer different layouts) and click on Create:

On displayed page, click add webpart and from dialog select a webpart:

- for Dashboard Pages, select EPM Pulse Simple Viewer webpart

- for "normal" PDP Pages select Project Web App -> Project Fields Webpart and select click on Add button.

Webpart will be added to the PDP.

To add fields to Project Fields web part, click on small dropdown arrow on webpart in top right corner and then click on Edit Webpart - > Modify (in Displayed Custom Fields Area) and then select fields that need to go to that web part. Below is a table with all fields for specific PDPs:

New Project Information

Business Objective

Finish

Owner

Portfolio

Program

Project Name

Start Finish

Description

Key Performance Metrics

% Complete

% Work Complete

Actual Finish

Actual Start

Baseline Cost

Baseline Duration

Baseline Finish

Baseline Start

Baseline Work

Budget (Provided)

Budget (Requested)

Budget Cost

Budget Work

Cost

Cost Variance

CPI

Duration

Duration Variance

Finish

Go-Live Date (Actual)

Go-Live Date (Forecast)

Remaining Duration

Remaining Work

SPI

Start

Work

Work Variance

Project Status Information

Major Accomplishments Current Period

Major Accomplishments Next Period

Project Notes (General)

Project Progress Notes

Status - Budget

Status - Quality

Status - Red Explanation

Status - Resources

Status - Schedule

Status - Scope

Status - Update Date

Status - Yellow Explanation

Project Summary

Budget (Provided)

Budget (Requested)

Budget Document Reference

Business Objective

Finish

Go-Live Date (Forecast)

Owner

Planning Start Date

Portfolio

Priority

Program

Project Departments

Project Name

Project Scope

Start

Description

Create Workflow Phases

To create Phases, go to Server Settings -> Workflow Phases and click on "New Workflow Phase" button. In displayed window, enter the name of the Phase, Description ( Optional) and click on Save Button.

Phases that should be created listed below:

Phase

Project Initiation

Project Selection

Project Planning

Project Execution

Project Closing

Project Closed

Create Workflow Stages

As the next step, we will create Workflow Stages. To to Server Settings -> Workflow Stages and click on "New Workflow Stage":

Enter the Stage Name, Select appropriate phase and select and add PDPs that should be displayed on this Stage. At the bottom, you can select fields that should be required and read-only.

Please get list of PDPs for each stage from the following table:

Phase	Stage	PDPs	Description
Project Initiation	Project Initiation	- New Project Information  - Strategic Impact	On this phase / stage, project request is initiated by users; All requests are captured so they can be later prioritized and only selected projects will go to detailed planning / execution. On this stage, initial planning is performed.
Project Selection	Project Selection	- Project Summary  - Strategic Impact  - Schedule  - Project Selection Dashboard	On this stage, the portfolio analysis component can be "plugged-in". In our scenario there will be no portfolio analysis, and only projects that are selected will move to the next stage.
Project Planning	Project Planning	- Project Summary  - Project Key Performance Metrics  - Schedule  - Strategic Impact  - Planning Summary Dashboard	On this stage, detailed plan should be create, project should be resourced
Project Execution	Project Execution	- Project Summary  - Project Key Performance Metrics  - Schedule  - Project Status Information  - Strategic Impact  - Execution Dashboard	Project Execution and Tracking
Project Closing	Project Closing Stage	- Project Summary  - Project Status Information  - Schedule  - Statistics Dashboard	Project is completed or canceled. PMO, Mamangement and Project Managers shoud analyze information and perform a "lessons learned" exercise
Project Closed	Project Closed	- Project Summary  - Project Status Information  - Schedule  - Statistics Dashboard	Project is closed. This is the terminal stage of the project.

Creation of Workflow using Dynamic Workflow solution starter

To create new workflow using the Dynamic Workflow Solution starter, go to URL


http://w2008r2ps/demo2/_layouts/WrkSetng.aspx (replace http://w2008r2ps/demo2/ with you PWA url):

Click on Add a workflow:

Click Next. Select a Workflow Stage from the drop-down and set the radio buttons as displayed on the next screen:

Add all stages as we defined above so your final workflow should look as displayed on next picture:

Click on Submit button - your workflow is ready to be used.

Creation of EPT (Enterprise Project Type)

Next step in our configuration is creation of EPT - Enterprise project type. EPT is a special "package" that defines what attributes should carry the project and combines all together workflow, project file template, project site template and set of PDP pages (for non-workflow project types).

We recommend to create a new project type that will be used to create projects with workflow that we designed but you can update any existing PDP.

Project Server Administrators can change Enterprise Project Type for project at any time if that's required as well as restart the workflow.

To create new EPM to to Server Settings - > Enterprise Project Types and click on "New Enterprise Project Type" button.

In displayed window, specify the Name of new EPT, Workflow name that we create on previous step, Project Plan and Project Site template (if any custom will be used) and click Save button.

I created EPT called FluentPro Project.

Our new EPT will be created and now we can start creating our projects and moving them to specific stages using Submit button on Workflow Status Page.

How to save time and not create everything manually?

You can download trial version of FluentBooks for Project Server 2010 and FluentBooks workspace that contains all elements except workflow. Using trial version, you can upload this workspace and it will create all elements in your PWA.

FluentBooks download: http://www.fluentpro.com/productsfluentbooks.html
Workspace Download: http://www.fluentpro.com/downloads/DynamicWorkflowWorkspace.zip  

Steps are pretty simple:

1. Accept EULA, download and install FluentBooks on your server or on desktop that has connectivity to PWA
2. Download workspace from the link above and unpack from zip
3. Start FluentBooks, go to File - Open and open this file
4. Go to Upload /Export and make check-box selection as shown on the picture below

5. Click on the button "Select All Elements"
6. Enter URL of your PWA and credentials (if you current user has admin rights, you can use "Use Current Account"
7. Press Export button and FluentBooks will upload all the configuration.

You will save at least 2-3 hours of your time with using FluentBooks - and this trial version is absolutely free.

Note: There will be no workflow created yet; after you create a workflow please update EPT and select workflow that was created.

Summary

We created all required elements and workflow. As next step, we will create several dashboards using EPM Pulse and we will integrate them into the PDPs that we created, so on every stage the corresponding dashboard will be displayed.

Other posts in this series

• Part 1: Visualization of project lifecycle with help of Dynamic Workflow solution starter and FluentPro EPM Pulse for Project Server 2010
• Part 2: Designing Project level dashboards with EPM Pulse for Project Server 2010
• Part 3: Designing Portfolio level dashboards with EPM Pulse for Project Server 2010