Methodology Overview
This methodology allows an organization to archive completed projects in the production Project Server database, while only allowing members of the Executives, Portfolio Managers, and Administrators groups to view the completed projects using either Microsoft Project Professional or Project Web Access. To use this methodology properly, there are a number of required steps that the Project Server administrators and project managers must perform initially.
Create a Custom Enterprise Project Outline Code
In the Enterprise Global file, the Project Server administrator should create a custom enterprise Project outline code field called Production Status and make it a Required code. The Production Status code should contain a single outline level with the following outline codes in the Lookup Table:
· Planned
· Production
· On Hold
· Cancelled
· Completed
Create a Custom Category
In Project Web Access, the Project Server administrator should create a custom Category called My Completed Projects. Initially, this Category will not contain any projects. The Project Server administrator should include the Project Managers group in this new Category.
In the Permissions section of the Add Category page, the Project Server administrator should select each Group individually and set the following permissions in the Permissions grid for each Group:
· Open Project - Deny
· Save Project - Deny
The above Permissions settings in the My Completed Projects category will prevent all members of the Project Managers from seeing the completed project in Microsoft Project Professional.
Set the Production Status for Each Project
After the Project Server administrator creates the Production Status outline code and the My Completed Projects category, each project manager in the organization must complete the following steps:
1. Open a project in Microsoft Project Professional
2. Click Project - Project Information
3. Select a value in the Production Status outline code field to indicate the current status of the project
4. Click OK
5. Click Collaborate - Publish - Project Plan
6. Repeat this process for every project that he/she manages
The above set of steps will “push” the latest information for each project to Project Web Access.
Modify Project Center and Portfolio Analyzer Views
The Project Server administrator should create a new custom Project Center view that includes the Production Status outline code and should add this new view to only the My Organization category. This gives access to the new View to only those in the Executives, Portfolio Managers, and Administrators groups. The Project Server administrator should also modify all of the default Project Center views in Project Web Access to exclude completed projects by adding the following Filter to each view:
Production Status Not equal to Completed
Warning: Do not exclude the completed projects from every Project Center view; otherwise, no one will be able to see these projects, including members of the Administrators group.
The Project Server administrator should also modify Portfolio Analyzer views by adding the Production Status dimension to the Filter fields drop area, which allows users of the Portfolio Analyzer to exclude data for completed projects, if they wish to do so. In addition, the Project Server administrator may want to create one or more custom Portfolio Analyzers views to show Cost and Work for completed projects only.
Archive Completed Projects
When a project team completes a project, the project manager should immediately do the following:
1. Open the completed project in Microsoft Project Professional
2. Click Project - Project Information, set the Production Status field value to Completed, and then click OK
3. Click Tools - Build Team from Enterprise
4. Set the Booking value for each project team member to Proposed and then click OK
5. Click Collaborate - Publish - All Information
6. Save and close the completed project
Note: Step #4 above is vital to the archiving process, as it will remove the task assignments from each team member’s timesheet in Project Web Access for the completed project.
After the project manager has completed the above steps for the completed project, the Project Server administrator should complete the following steps:
1. Log into Project Web Access with administrator permissions
2. Click Admin - Manage security
3. Select the My Completed Projects category and click the Modify Category button
4. In the Projects section, move the newly-completed project to the Projects in this category list on the right
5. Click the Save Changes button
After performing the steps in each of the preceding sections, only those in the Executives, Portfolio Managers, and Administrators groups in Project Server will be able to access the completed project in Project Server.