Using Micro Planner X-Pert it is possible to run a very accurate EV without actually specifying a or any specific resource.
I quite often use all the power of XPW to run the full gamut of EV
All you do is to use a pseudo resource with a value of 1 and you have one unit of the Psuedo resource, I call mine EVValue. If a task has a duration of 3 days and the calendar ids a five day week with an eight hour day you would have 3 x 8 = 24 units of EVValue. You do this in the resource data cells for every activity in the network.
Tell XPW that you have a 1000 units of EVValue for scheduling. Run a Deadline Critical Resource Analysis (try and do this in MSP) and from the menu bar select the cost curve.
Obviously I am not going to fully detail how to do it as you should be able to figure it out yourself.
It is very frustrating using MSP to carry out a function it is not designed to do. More frustrating are those IT people who tell you that you must use it because it is Microsoft.
To me it is like saying I want to carry five tons of bricks in the boot of my car, but it will not do it so what I do . The answer is obvious. Well to me it is!!
The contract Im on is for a worldwide manufacturing company. Although you couldnt tell from the project team Im working with.
I wont be purchasing anything to support this planning work Im doing. Its up to the project director to recognise when his team need the correct tools to provide him with the reports that he needs.
Is there no way that EV can be run on the schedule alone (without resources) directly in MSP without purchasing anything?
Usually this is done few times when you are preparing the report. You figure out the numbers from the Graphs and plud them into the equations.
If you need a program to calculate it automatically, then you need to look in the market as you suggested.
I also would like to point out that the PMI has a standard already issued on the subject. www.pmi.org. you can download it if you are a member or purchase it over the net if you are not a member.
Thanks for your post. Ive taken your advice & looked at the Wiki site. Unfortunately it appears that the Schedule Performance Analysis requires someone to purchase an add-on or something?
Is it not possible to carry out the Schedule Performance Analysis by using a feature that already exists in MSP? Or does it require the planner to copy the dates from the MSP schedule into an Excel spreadsheet in order to carry out the calculations?
Since you have no resources, you can do the Schedule performance analysis.
I would suggest that you use standard explanation of EVA. You can download the definition from a site like wikkipedia where they have the graph as well, and you can explain to then in many ways that it is about the value of the work completed vs planned and the actual cost of the work completed.
At some point, someone will have to prepare an Interim Payment Certificate. You will have an idea about the Value of the Actual work completed.
At the Procurement Department, you can get the amount of money spent on the project until now. With the help of the finance department, you can get the amount of salaries paid and other payments made to supplier or subcontractors. This will give you more figures.
Spider Project is most functional and powerful professional project management software.
The first SP version was launched in 1993 and since then it has been constantly improved. Today is used in 34 countries though most Spider Project customers are in Russia. Spider Project offers numerous unique functional features and is the only PM software that optimizes resource, cost, and material constrained schedules and budgets for projects and portfolios.
The unique features of Spider Project include Quantity Based Scheduling, Conditional Scheduling, Skill Scheduling, Optimal Resource, Cost and Material Leveling, Resource Critical Path Calculation, Cash and Material Flows Calculation and Management, Trend Analysis, Advanced Risk Simulation and Analysis, Calculation of Success Probability Trends, Calculation and Management of required Project Time and Cost Buffers, Application of Corporate Norms, Management of many Parallel Budgets, Multiple WBS and many others.
Spider Project was and is used for management of many large scale programs in Russia, including $51bln construction program for 2014 Winter Olympic Games preparation.
The application areas where Spider Project is successfully used include Aerospace, Banking, Construction, Defense, Energy, Engineering, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Metallurgy, Mining, Oil & Gas, Railways, Retail, Shipbuilding, Software Development, Telecommunications, Utilities, etc.
P6-Auditor - Display information from Primavera P6 audit tables in a user-friendly format
Unifier-Archiver - Extract and archive important documents and attachments from Primavera Unifier
Unifier-Loader - Load data into and out of Unifier via Excel
PCM-Loader - Import data into Primavera Contract Management with flexible and secure, template-driven Excel spreadsheets
PCM-Archiver - Extract and archive important documents and attachments from Primavera Contract Management
PCM-Unifier Migrator - Automatically transfer live and historical data from Primavera Contract Management to Primavera Unifier with ease
Create Radically Better Construction Schedules with ALICE Technologies
Use the power of AI to create construction schedules that reduce risk while cutting costs and build time. With ALICE, develop the ideal schedule during preconstruction -- or recover projects that are off schedule and over budget.
Andy
Using Micro Planner X-Pert it is possible to run a very accurate EV without actually specifying a or any specific resource.
I quite often use all the power of XPW to run the full gamut of EV
All you do is to use a pseudo resource with a value of 1 and you have one unit of the Psuedo resource, I call mine EVValue. If a task has a duration of 3 days and the calendar ids a five day week with an eight hour day you would have 3 x 8 = 24 units of EVValue. You do this in the resource data cells for every activity in the network.
Tell XPW that you have a 1000 units of EVValue for scheduling. Run a Deadline Critical Resource Analysis (try and do this in MSP) and from the menu bar select the cost curve.
Obviously I am not going to fully detail how to do it as you should be able to figure it out yourself.
It is very frustrating using MSP to carry out a function it is not designed to do. More frustrating are those IT people who tell you that you must use it because it is Microsoft.
To me it is like saying I want to carry five tons of bricks in the boot of my car, but it will not do it so what I do . The answer is obvious. Well to me it is!!
Keep in touch with John Cornish
Raf
Id value a chat but cant see a contact number anywhere
John, thanks for the input.
The contract Im on is for a worldwide manufacturing company. Although you couldnt tell from the project team Im working with.
I wont be purchasing anything to support this planning work Im doing. Its up to the project director to recognise when his team need the correct tools to provide him with the reports that he needs.
Is there no way that EV can be run on the schedule alone (without resources) directly in MSP without purchasing anything?
Dear Andy,
Usually this is done few times when you are preparing the report. You figure out the numbers from the Graphs and plud them into the equations.
If you need a program to calculate it automatically, then you need to look in the market as you suggested.
I also would like to point out that the PMI has a standard already issued on the subject. www.pmi.org. you can download it if you are a member or purchase it over the net if you are not a member.
With kind regards,
Samer
Samer
Thanks for your post. Ive taken your advice & looked at the Wiki site. Unfortunately it appears that the Schedule Performance Analysis requires someone to purchase an add-on or something?
Is it not possible to carry out the Schedule Performance Analysis by using a feature that already exists in MSP? Or does it require the planner to copy the dates from the MSP schedule into an Excel spreadsheet in order to carry out the calculations?
Andy
Dear Andy,
You have two types of analysis:
1. Cost Performance Analysis
2. Schedule Performance Analysis.
Since you have no resources, you can do the Schedule performance analysis.
I would suggest that you use standard explanation of EVA. You can download the definition from a site like wikkipedia where they have the graph as well, and you can explain to then in many ways that it is about the value of the work completed vs planned and the actual cost of the work completed.
At some point, someone will have to prepare an Interim Payment Certificate. You will have an idea about the Value of the Actual work completed.
At the Procurement Department, you can get the amount of money spent on the project until now. With the help of the finance department, you can get the amount of salaries paid and other payments made to supplier or subcontractors. This will give you more figures.
Hope the information helps.
With kind regards,
Samer