Transferring PPM Information to Microsoft

When transferring information from Project Management to Microsoft Project, you need to specify how resources are identified in Project Management using the Resource mapping is done based on setting, so the Microsoft Project integration can create them correctly in Microsoft Project.

If you wish to track actuals for your project in Project Management, select the Transfer actuals information setting to enable the transfer of necessary data. This setting is used in shared control mode, and any time a Project Management work plan is used to create a new file in Microsoft Project. Depending on the option selected, the percent complete is applicable either at the task-level or resource-level but not both.

The options for the Transfer actuals information setting function as follows:

• Percent Complete. If you select this option, percent complete, at the task level, is the only actuals information passed to Microsoft Project. Microsoft Project will automatically calculate the actual efforts and dates for each resource. Schedule information in Microsoft Project remains unchanged.

  Many project managers use percent complete to manage their plans in Microsoft Project. However, some information in Project Management may not be visible in Microsoft Project. For example, if a task in Project Management starts four days late, that information is not visible in Microsoft Project. To overcome this problem, try managing projects by exception in Project Management.

  Select this option if the overall progress of the plan is the most important information to be shared.

• Percent Complete and Actual Dates. If you select this option, the only actuals information passed to Microsoft Project are described below. All values are passed at the task level, and Microsoft Project applies data to assignments using its internal rules. Resource assignment data, including effort and dates, may not match the data in Project Management.

  • Actual start. Applying the actual start date to the task will move the scheduled start of the task in Microsoft Project and can have cascading impacts on the remainder of the schedule in Microsoft Project.

  • Actual finish (when available). Applying the actual finish date to the task will cause Microsoft Project to recalculate the task's scheduled finish and duration, which can also cause recalculation of resource efforts and trigger cascading schedule changes throughout the plan.

  • Estimated finish (if tracked). If the Estimated Finish field is being tracked in Project Management and no Actual Finish value exists, it will be passed to Microsoft Project as the scheduled finish for the task, which may have impacts on task duration, efforts, and schedule for the remainder of the plan.

  • Percent complete. When the task-level percent complete is applied, Microsoft Project will imply resource level efforts.

  Select this option if a resource has logged actuals outside of a task's start or end date or when actuals dates are accurate but the project manager wants to adjust the schedule.

• Actual Efforts. If you select this option, the only actuals information passed to Microsoft Project is the resource-level actual effort and estimated remaining effort. Microsoft Project will then infer the percent complete as well as actual start and scheduled finish dates for the task. Since the effort may indicate the task will take more or less effort than intended, this can have cascading impacts throughout the plan (for example, adjustments to the schedule, scheduled duration, and finish dates), depending on the task setup in Microsoft Project.

  You should always track actual effort in Project Management when using this option. You can also optionally track estimated remaining effort.

  Estimated remaining effort is always synchronized, even if it is not tracked. This value is calculated in the background by Project Management and indicates if a task will take more or less effort than expected.

  Microsoft Project calculates the percent complete. If the effort among resources is uneven, or if the effort is contoured, the task-level percent complete in Microsoft Project may not match the value in Project Management because the applications use slightly different calculations.

  Select this option if the project manager wants to focus on effort metrics to manage his plans.