TPG MilestoneLink

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TPG MilestoneLink Connecting Milestones Across
Projects
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Contents

• Why do we develop products for Microsoft Project?
• Different kinds if project organizations
• Matrix organization
• Project organization
• External Links in Microsoft Project
• Advantages of Logical Links in MilestoneLink
• How MilestoneLink works

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Why we develop products for Microsoft Project

• Projects become more and more complex. This is
  also the case for depencies between individual
  projects. In addition the project time frames
  become smaller.
• An appropriate software supports the project
  manager to focus on the essential data.
• This is the reason why The Project Group develops
  products to enhance efficiancy and transparency
  to support the successful settlement of your
  projects.
• TPG is the leading producer of add-in products
  for Microsoft Project.

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Matrix OrganizationThe interplay of different
projects
Master project
P 3.1
P 2.1
P 1.1
Departmental projects
P 3.2
P 2.2
P 1.2
P 2.3
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Project OrganizationThe interplay of different
projects
Project 1
Project 2
Project 3
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External Links in Microsoft ProjectPossibilities
with Microsoft Project

• Joint work on connected projects is mandatory
• Therefore read and write permissions are needed
• This causes full insight into other participants'
  plannings
• Fixed interdependence of tasks
• Sudden changes in other participants' schedules

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External Links in Microsoft Project
(default)Link diagram
Project 1
Handicap Modification of Project 1 changes
Project 2 immediately!
Project 2
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Logical Links Advantages of MilestoneLink

• Microsoft Office Project can depict dependencies
  between tasks of individual projects with its
  External Links. Though changes in linked projects
  are not transparent as to which task was causing
  the changes in the dependent projects.
• This is where MilestoneLink comes in with its
  Logical Links
• Logical Links are functional connections between
  tasks from different projects. They are stored in
  MilestoneLink, enabling you to bypass Microsoft
  Projects fixed External Links. Logical Links
  give you more visibility into cross-project links
  between milestones and tasks. Read and write
  permissions for external projects are
  unnecessary, so there is no need for insight into
  external projects.

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MilestoneLink the most important features
Project 1(Sender Schedule)
Project 2(Recipient Schedule)
MSP Server
MilestoneLink
MilestoneLink
DB
MSP Client 1
MSP Client 2

• Cross-project communication of important
  milestones and tasks
• Simultaneously send information to several
  recipient plans
• Increased performance - only the sender schedule
  needs to be opened
• Clearly laid out and easy to use
• Transparency of changes in linked projects with
  Logical Links

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Practical ExampleTransfer of important basic data
MilestoneLink Menue Buttons
Project 1
Project 2
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Cross-Project SchedulingTask description
Milestone 8 (of Project 1) will be predecessor of
Task 324 (of Project 2) and Task 170 (of
Project 1) will be predecessor of Task 211 (of
Project 2).
Project 1
Project 2
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Step 1 Fix Project Connections
Select recipient schedule
Select sending schedule
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Step 2 Select Milestones and Tasks
Set Milestone (8) and Task (170) to Ja/yes
in the column MilestoneLink.
Project 1
Project 2
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Step 3 Dialogue Publish
Before submitting the pop-up window publish
shows sender and recipient schedules as well as
the status.
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Step 4 Acceptance of the Links
While opening project 2 the pop-up window new
data appears
Pressing the button cancel leads to
reappearance of this pop-up window when opening
project 2 the next time.
Pressing the button OK transfers the
predecessing dates from project 1 into the
schedule of project 2.
Project 2
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Step 5 Preparing the Links
After acceptance the transferred dates of project
1 appear on top of the schedule of project 2.
Project 1
Now the links within project 2 can be implemented.
Project 2
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Step 6 Linking Within the Schedule
Task 211 and Task 324 are linked manually with
the transferred data within project 2.
Project 1
Project 2
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Step 7 Changes in the Sending Schedule
Changes in the sending schedule (project 1) will
be tranferred to all receiving projects (project
2) by republishing .
Task 12 has a new duration of 15 days (5 days
before)
Project 2
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Step 8 Transparency for the Receivers
The receivers will be informed about the details
of the changes in the sending schedule (project 1)
In case on unclarities he may cancel the impact
on this schedule and clarify with the sender.
An uncontrolled time displacement within the
receiving schedule is prevented.
Project 2
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The Project Group GmbH Neherstr. 9 81675
München Germany
Fon 49 (89) 61 55 93 - 30 Fax [phone]
93 - 40 info_at_TheProjectGroup.de www.TheProjectGrou
p.de