Cumulative Update 9 (CU9) for UMT Project Essentials 2010

Posted on April 18, 2013 by

Here’s the list of fixes and improvements included:

  • Schedule and Resource Plan integration
    • Values for deleted tasks are correctly removed on publish. Note: project schedules have to be republished before delete tasks for changes to be correctly tracked
    • Addressed issues with mappings for Cost Nodes and Cost Centers being lost on Schedule Publish
    • Added new Global Setting to control integration with Schedules and Resource Plans
      • Overwrite Synchronized Financial Values: Choose whether the financial nodes that are mapped to the Project Plan or Resource Plan will lose their values once the  mappings are removed, or if their values will be maintained
  • Data Import
    • Resolved Data Import issues with refreshing a large number of projects (500+)
  • Infrastructure
    • Addressed issues introduced by CU8 on provisioning new UMT Project Essentials sites

Visit the version history page for version details. Customers and Partners can download CU8 via the online portals on www.umt.com.

Posted in UMT Project Essentials

Cumulative Update 2 (CU2) for UMT Project Essentials 2012

Posted on March 26, 2013 by

Here’s the list of fixes and improvements included:

  • Performance and reliability
    • Addressed issues with updates to a lookup table generating a large number of Reporting Updates jobs on the Queue which would impact overall
      system performance
    • Significantly reduced storage needs for the Queue and Audit SQL tables (cmQueuedItems and cmOperationsLog)
  • Schedule and Resource Plan integration
    • Added new Global Setting called Project Plan Synchronization Mode that can be used for specifying whether data imported from the Project Plan will be synchronized based on the overall time phased cost of each task, or the time phased cost of each resource assignment for each task
    • Added new Global Setting called Synchronize Fixed Cost that can be used for specifying whether the fixed cost of each task will be mapped to the UMT Project Essentials financials structures or not
  • API and programmability
    • Added more parameters to the ReadWebPartProperties event: project identifier, Project Detail Page (PDP) identifier, web part identifier, user identifier

Visit the version history page for version details.

Customers and Partners can download CU2 via the online portals on www.umt.com.

Posted in UMT Project Essentials

Cumulative Update 1 (CU1) for UMT Project Essentials 2012

Posted on February 8, 2013 by

Here’s the list of fixes and improvements included:

  • Financials
    • Fixed data refresh issues for higher-level Unallocated values when data is entered at a lower detailed level
    • Fixed data refresh issues for aggregation of data to higher levels
    • Eliminated restrictions around using Financial Dimension copy when the project is in execution and values are synchronized with the schedule
    • Fixed issue with values being editable under the Total node when “Edit values for the Project only at Cost Center Level” option is checked and cost centers are removed from current view
    • Addressed issues with timeline not being correctly refreshed when the linked custom fields are updated via Project Professional
    • Changed behavior for Financial Custom Fields to be editable for the Forecast and Actuals web parts when a project is in execution
  • Performance and reliability
    • Improved startup time and reliability of the Queue service on resource-starved servers
    • Addressed reliability issues with using Data Import for updating information for a large number of projects in one session
  • API and programmability
    • Addressed issues with updating two or more exchange rates at a time via the UpdateExchangeRates method
    • Fixed error returned by the ReadTreeTemplate method with the IncludeStructure parameter set to false
    • Fixed error returned by the CreateSnapshot method when using Financial Custom Fields and snapshot templates
    • Added a Financial Custom Field changed flag (FCFValuesAreDirty) to the ChangeRequest dataset
    • Changed visibility of the TimePeriod class and constructors to public to improve time period operations
    • Added two new events:
      • OnReadWebPartProperties: triggered every time a financial web part is loaded
      • OnSavingWebPartProperties: triggered every time a financial web part is unloaded (after save or on page refresh), if any web part property is changed
  • Other
    • Globalization: addressed issue with Cost Categories disappearing from the Financial Type mappings when the locale is changed
    • Renamed the UMT Project Essentials 2012 Workflow Viewer web part to Workflow Viewer
    • The Workflow Viewer web part can now be added to projects without a workflow, or in the context of a project site
    • Addressed issues with lookup tables not being updated when creating projects based on Enterprise Project Types that have a Project Plan template assigned
    • Added granular permissions for Financial Dimension copy operations: Copy Financial Dimension, Copy from Forecast to Budget for Future Periods, Copy from Actuals to Budget for Past Periods, Copy Actuals to Forecast
    • Addressed issues with exporting data to Excel for projects with long names

Visit the version history page for version details.

Customers and Partners can download CU1 via the online portals on www.umt.com.

Posted in UMT Project Essentials

Project Hosts Adds Canadian Data Center

Posted on December 17, 2012 by

Our hosting partner has announced the availability of its newest hosting option, located in Canada. Check out the full press release below, and visit www.projecthosts.com for additional information.

Today, Project Hosts Inc., the recognized leader in custom cloud hosting of Microsoft EPM / PPM, SharePoint and CRM solutions, announced the immediate availability of in-country hosting services for Canada. This now brings the total number of Project Hosts data centers to eight world-wide; each of which adheres to Project Hosts’ data center Design Reference Platform and Custom Cloud Architecture™. With the “light up” of this latest data center in Toronto, Project Hosts now has the ability to offer its unique custom clouds to Canadian-based partners, enterprise organizations and government agencies that require “in-country” hosting services.

“We are very excited to bring another one of our custom cloud hosting facilities on-line in support of hosted Microsoft Enterprise Project and Portfolio Management, SharePoint and CRM solutions,” said Scott Chapman, CEO and Co-founder of Project Hosts. “For many Canadian organizations, especially those in the government sector and those moving from a traditional on-site deployment or private cloud, having an in-country hosting option is a definite advantage.”

Project Hosts’ “Custom Cloud” hosting solutions deliver all the business and technology benefits of a standard cloud based solution, with the added advantage of meeting customer demands for their own specific solutions architecture, applications integration needs, customized reporting, and security requirements.

“Having a Canadian data center facility is an essential requirement for an increasing number of customers, as well as our consulting and training partners located throughout Canada,” said Mike Foster, VP of Marketing of Project Hosts. “With our hosted EPPM, CRM and SharePoint solutions now available out of Toronto, our eco system of partners can offer highly tuned and customized solutions that meet their client’s exact needs.”

For nearly a decade, Project Hosts and its business partners have been delivering custom cloud solutions from SAS 70 II / SSAE 16 and ISO/IEC 27001 certified data center facilities. As certified Microsoft Hosting Partner, Project Hosts delivers a secure, robust and scalable hosting solution that is backed by a 99.9% uptime guarantee. With its Custom Cloud Architecture™ (CCA) and an eco-system of certified partner apps, Project Hosts meets enterprise and mid-sized company demands for cloud-based services that adhere to each client’s specific security requirements, solutions architecture, applications integration and reporting needs. Project Hosts’ CCA also provides support for multiple licensing options to accommodate each client’s specific business needs, such as long-term hosting, or flexible month-to-month plans.

PROJECT HOSTS CUSTOM CLOUD SOLUTIONS:

  • PROJECT SERVER CUSTOM CLOUD – Get the advantages of a custom cloud solution for all of your enterprise project and portfolio management (PPM) and EPM needs. Choose from quick start packages to the most advanced EPM solutions that are specifically tuned to your business and technology needs. Maximize your productivity, efficiency and effectiveness.            
  • SHAREPOINT CUSTOM CLOUD – Leverage one of the fastest growing business collaboration platforms with all the advantages of a custom cloud service. Choose from a variety of unique SharePoint cloud services and partner solutions to increase organizational efficiency and worker productivity, quickly and effectively            
  • CRM CUSTOM CLOUD – Put your CRM or XRM solution in the cloud where it truly belongs and get the custom cloud advantage. Control and manage your business relationships better, increase productivity and drive results to the next level.

About Project Hosts: Project Hosts, Inc. is the worldwide leader in custom cloud hosting of Microsoft Project, CRM and SharePoint solutions. Leading enterprises and medium-sized businesses rely on Project Hosts to deliver all of the business and technology advantages of a cloud-based solution, without sacrificing their company’s solution architecture, application integration needs, security requirements, or customized reporting considerations. With our Custom Cloud PHD’s (Project Hosts Deployments), businesses can realize much faster time to market and lower operating costs. Many of our customers report their solutions and users are up and running in 1/2 the time, and at 1/2 the cost as compared to similarly configured on-site environments. www.projecthosts.com - info@projecthosts.com

Posted in UMT Project Essentials

Exporting MPP Files with VBA

Posted on December 11, 2012 by

Reblogged from Project Epistemology:

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Well, I didn’t deliberately intend to get into a VBA rut, but periodically, I like to clean out some of the half written posts I have lying around, and it turns out that I apparently left a couple VBA posts started and not yet finished.  My resurgent interest in VBA of late has also been driven by my efforts to get up to speed in Project Online, and the realization that I can easily use my traditional VBA skills to interact with the Project client, and quickly upload data to my Project Online tenant.

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Posted in Andrew Lavinsky, Microsoft Project | Tagged ,

SharePoint Conference Project Server BI Linkfest

Posted on November 14, 2012 by

Reblogged from Project Epistemology:

Thanks everyone for coming out to #SPC171 just now, where Microsoft’s Mike McLean and I skimmed a rock over what’s new in Project Server 2013 BI.  Looking for more?  Well, you came to the right place.

As we mentioned, we’ve got a whole slew of demos that we couldn’t quite fit into this presentation, about 150 minutes worth.  Feel free to catch these recordings from the Project Conference last March. 

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Posted in Andrew Lavinsky, Microsoft Project, Microsoft SharePoint | Tagged , , ,

Sparking creativity – managing motivation and knowledge

Posted on November 9, 2012 by

 Thanks to all of you who participated in our session on creativity.

I would like to address one comment brought by one of you in the survey. This person requested ideas on how to spark creativity.

I have been searching for such ideas most of my life and sadly, the only one I ever found was to live a creative lifestyle.

We all want to be creative, but it is not an easy task. When we come up with a creative idea there is a moment of exhilaration, but very quickly it seems so obvious that we ask ourselves why we didn’t think of it before.

To illustrate this, a researcher of creativity developed an interesting test. He divided his research subjects into two groups. To the first group, he gave a set of puzzles and asked them to document their thought process step-by-step while they solved the puzzles. To the second group, he handed the same puzzles, but ask them to document their thought process after they solved the puzzles. When he compared the results, the two sets of descriptions did not even come close. The first set of explanations were messy and pointed to a thought process that included many trials and errors; the second set described the process as a clean, efficient, and logical step-by-step march to each solution.

We can learn to be creative, and we can improve and sharpen our creative sense by learning to effectively use various techniques and methods such as Brainstorming, Reverse Brainstorming, Synectics, DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats and many more. The internet is packed with information about creative problem solving techniques. All of them require hard work and none guarantees success. All they do is increase the probability of coming up with creative ideas. But your starting point should always be the common denominator that links them all: knowledge and motivation.

Knowledge (and its documentation thereof – we cannot rely on memory alone) is a very broad subject. We don’t know what specific knowledge will spark the creative idea. That means we constantly need to be curious, to observe and absorb – anything from general business knowledge to the specifics of the company strategy and the needs of stakeholders. But don’t stop there. What are you interested in? Learn it well. Innovative thinkers have often attributed their great ideas to their knowledge of simple, unrelated skills, such as the ability to speak foreign languages or even to play the piano.

Motivation is a more intriguing subject. The desire to make a dent in this world is a strong place to start, encouraging us to not just look at what was done before. What was done before is available and inviting and could have a mesmerizing internal logic. But it would contribute close to nothing for creating something new.

To channel and manage knowledge and motivation toward solving a specific problem is the method of creative thinking. This is the idea that sparks creativity. Creative thinking is not a procedural method, and does not formulate a list of steps to take. Even the creative thinking method mentioned above could end up procedural in the wrong hands. Creative thinking is heuristic, using side-by-side known rules and principles and a good amount of intuition. It survives with more individualistic, unformulated, fresh thinking.

A lifestyle of creative thinking could be fun and fulfilling, and it would also provide the confidence that we can come by creative ideas. And the confidence will free our minds to spark some true creativity.

Posted in Sy Aslan