Hello all,
I've been developing a forward-looking schedule-risk tool that reads a P6 .xer and produces a calendar-aware CPM, a probabilistic finish-date forecast (calibrated using reference-class and schedule-quality signals), and an integrated cost–schedule view. It does well on the schedules I have — but a tool is only as honest as the variety of real programmes it has been tested against, and my own sample is small.
So I'd be very grateful for help from this community: would anyone be willing to share an anonymised .xer for independent verification? A baseline or a progress update both help. And if the project has since completed and you can tell me the actual finish date (and final cost, if you have it), that's gold — it lets me back-test the forecast against reality rather than just check the maths.
I completely understand that programme data is confidential, so I'm not asking anyone to send anything sensitive. I've written a small standalone anonymiser (one file, runs offline, nothing leaves your machine) that:
- replaces all project, activity, WBS, calendar and resource names with generic tokens;
- drops every notebook, memo, document and user-defined field;
- blanks contacts and database GUIDs;
- removes or normalises costs to whatever level you're comfortable with;
- while leaving the schedule mechanics completely intact logic, durations, dates, calendars and float — because that's the only part needed to test the engine.
The key that maps back to your real names is written to a separate file that stays with you; you only ever send the anonymised .xer. I'm happy to send the anonymiser to anyone who'd like to see exactly what it does before running it.
In return, with no obligation, I'd be glad to run a free risk analysis on your programme and send the results back, finish-date confidence, key risk drivers, a schedule-quality read, and so on. Even if you'd rather not share a file, I'm happy to do this for anyone curious.
If you're willing to help, or just want the anonymiser, or a sample analysis, drop me a line at [email protected]
Thank you, it's much appreciated.
Tony
