Compass Consult

Tag: PMIS Primavera P6 EPPM

  • Fundamental differences between Microsoft Project and Oracle Primavera

    Fundamental differences between Microsoft Project and Oracle Primavera

    This question asked quite often from many customers whether we should use MS Projects or Primavera? Which one is good for my project management needs? So let’s address this thoroughly today.

    Though both MS Projects and Primavera P6 are the two most popular choices in the market for construction projects, most contractors are not sure which one would suit them better. Project Management Information Systems are not only costly but also require too much data feeding to actually start producing some real results from them, so rather than wasting precious time and money, take out some time and watch this video till the end.

    The key difference between both Primavera and MS projects is that Primavera is a database-based software and MSP is a file-based software. So, how does this difference actually affect you and your organization? There is no one version of the truth when it comes to file-based software and it becomes very difficult to manage the transfer of information due to reliability concerns. Simply stated, you don’t know whether your planner has made some changes to the file after the file comes to you.

    With database software, all the data is stored on a single platform where all the updates are synchronized centrally and multiple users can access the platform at the same time. So Primavera comes with this exceptional ability to give you one version of the truth for the whole project team.

    The second most important difference is the User Interface. The user interface of Microsoft project is very similar to that of excel with some additional project management features like scheduling, baselines, and resource allocations, but because these are just features that were added as the product advanced you sometimes struggle to find all the things in one place. Also, there are no functions to sort and filter the data as per activity coding or work breakdown structures. While on the other hand Primavera was meant to be an enterprise-grade software on the Oracle SQL database since its inception so it has all the database management features required in a lengthy schedule and is able to manage the information very well due to its coding and WBS functions.

    S-Curves

    The third very important difference between both is the integration of Risk Management in a Schedule. As we all know: Man Plans and God Laughs, so it is very important to take into consideration the risks that are an inherent part of the Project Management business. MS Projects doesn’t take into account the risks associated with the activities while Primavera takes both qualitative and quantitative risks into consideration at the activity level. There are more than 15 other differences that make Primavera more reliable. So, what’s the verdict? See Primavera is costlier compared to MS Projects and is definitely suitable for large projects above 5 million involving multiple users and a large number of activities. Here most projects are part of a bigger project, and a lot of integrations and APIs are required.

    Conclusion :

    If this sounds like you then Primavera is the right choice for you but if you have smaller projects with fewer complexities, go with MSP. If you are stuck somewhere and need more information on any of the PMIS software, Click Here & we will help you in the best way we possibly can!

  • Oracle Primavera Cloud(OPC) vs Primavera P6 EPPM Cloud(SAAS)

    Since the original Primavera P6 was acquired by Oracle in 2008, the product set has grown significantly and now includes multiple applications. This has come about mainly through acquisition, but also includes some newly developed software. Out of all the cloud solutions provided by Oracle, Oracle Primavera Cloud (aka Prime) and Oracle P6 EPPM Cloud(SAAS) stands out the most in the industry. Oracle P6 EPPM and its schedule management has been around the construction industry for the last 30 years and is a proven method to manage your schedules, portfolios, resources, risks and issues. Oracle Prime is fairly a modern cloud solution mostly banking on the lean project management technology with loads if new project controls features loaded in one. The following gives a basic comparison of both.

    Primavera P6 EPPM and P6 Professional 

    P6 EPPM is the flagship product for globally prioritizing, planning, managing and executing projects, programs and portfolios. P6 EPPM comprises two flavours: P6 Web Access and P6 Professional. These applications can be deployed on-premise, on the Oracle cloud or on other non-Oracle hosted platforms.

    P6 Professional is designed to handle large scale, overly complex projects allowing you to organize up to 100,000 activities with unlimited resources. P6 Professional can also be deployed as a stand-alone application (known as PPM)

    Team Member is an additional component which uses mobile interfaces such as phones or tablets to provide a quick, convenient, and easy way to update project status. 

    Key features of P6 include:

      • Flexible user interface

      • Streamlined enterprise reporting

      • Team member interfaces for gathering status updates

      • Integrated risk management

      • Resource management and optimization views

    Primavera Cloud

    Primavera Cloud (previously known as Prime) is the jack-of-all-trades in the Oracle Primavera arsenal. A comprehensive, cloud-based solution, it comprises tools that allow executives, project members and field users to deliver projects and portfolios effectively, efficiently and with confidence. The huge range of functions spans:

      • Project and portfolio scheduling

      • Resource management

      • Project costing

      • Project and portfolio selection and management

      • Risk management and analysis

      • Contract and change management (including budget management and funding management)

      • Project collaboration (including functionalities like inspections)

      • Primavera Cloud also provides a native, purpose-built mobile application that allows users to access portfolio, project, documents, scope and activity related information in both online and offline mode.

    Key features include:

      • Context-driven rich and lightweight user interface

      • Global search and navigation to major functional areas

      • Built-in workflows with an option to expand via configuration.

      • Web-based interface with no client installation or plug-ins

      • Review and approval of updates to ensure project integrity.

      • Embedded analytics

      • iPad and iPhone applications that support on- or offline project status updates

      • Ability to access, mark up and locally save all project documents via a mobile device

    Comparison:

      • Enterprise Structure:
        • P6 EPPM has EPS for keeping your projects grouped based on Programs and Portfolios, whereas OPC replaces the with newly introduced Workspace.
          • OBS has been replaced with security to access to the workspace in OPC.

          • Code and UDFs options are available similar to P6 EPPM with some additional codes i.e (report code)

          • OPC has default business flows for creating new projects.

      • Resource Master:
          • In OPC  Resource breakdown design is given at different Workspace level and related promotion option. In EPPM, Resource master consists of global data should available at the enterprise level and distributed among Projects.

          • No standard business flow available to transfer the resource master from other ERPs (example – SAP HR), whereas standard business flow available in P6 EPPM. Custom Integration is required to fulfill such requirements using REST APIs or Primavera Gateway.

      • Project Initiation – OPC brings in this feature which is absent in P6 EPPM. The idea is the feature helps to manage the investment plan. This excellent feature is almost the same as OPPM (Oracle Primavera Portfolio management). Hence no need to buy separate products to manage Investment management if needed.

      • Project Planning & Costing:
          • There are five types of activity types in OPC – Activity-Dependent, Resource Dependent, Start Milestone, Finish Milestone, Level of Effort in OPC.

          • WBS Summary Activity type is completely removed in OPC which is present in P6 EPPM and is a very useful method to calculate Project Management Activities.

          • OPC has the inbuilt Schedule sheet, Cost Sheet, CBS structure help to manage the costing. Features are taken from Project Controls. For EPPM, generally a separate and dedicated tool is given for Project Controls.

          • OPC does not have any standard business flows to transfer the data from ERPs(SAP PM, SAP PS, Oracle EBS, etc) and a product like Unifier, Ecosys, etc.

      • Scheduling & Schedule Check:
          • Both are quite similar.

          • Schedule log are available same as P6 EPPM which is missing in OPC.

      • Collaboration:
          • Inbuilt team member application (Timesheet) helps to communicate and collect the progress from users, whereas in P6 EPPM this is separately licensed. However, Compass cloud solutions comes with Team Member integrations and so the feature is similar to OPC.

          • P6 EPPM Comes with P6 Professional Client tool which can use the same features of scheduling and managing project data. It has the same data access as the EPPM. P6 Professional is the most widely used scheduling tool by Project Managers and Planners. No amount of cloud features can be compared to Professional Desktop Client features for fast processing of Project Activities. OPC does not come with P6 Professional use license, Professional client can only be used for Project File Type conversions.

      • Contractor Collaboration:
          • OPC like EPPM supports Primavera XML, Microsoft Project formats.. We can transfer the data from those applications.

          • Excel import is not supported in OPC.

      • Risk Analysis:
          • A full-fledged integrated risk management capability available in OPC. EPPM has a simple risk module for qualitative risk analysis.

          • Activity uncertainty, Monte Carlo Simulation are available in OPC and missing in EPPM. EPPM can be integrated to Primavera Risk Analysis (a separate desktop client tool) for detailed simulation and modelling.  

      • Integration:
          • Primavera Gateway and REST API are the other options to integrate with other applications and ERPs. However, EPPM has standard integration points which the OPC does not have.

          • No standard business flows are available for the other integrations in OPC.

          • P6 EPPM supports multiple integration options and business flows available to integrate with ERPs and other applications, i.e. SAP PM, SAP PS, SAP MM, SAP HR, Oracle EBS, EAM, JD Edwards, IBM Maximo, Navisworks, Smart plant Constructions.

      • Resource Analysis – Almost same as P6.

      • Portfolio – The P6 EPPM Portfolio capabilities are missing in the OPC version, i.e., portfolio analysis, Capacity planning, Performance Status, etc.

      • Leaner schedule, Programs are the other excellent features introduced in the OPC version.

      • Reports – Inbuilt BI Publisher based reports available. However, P6 EPPM Compass cloud comes with BI integration and Primavera Analytics, which actually provides much more features in reporting and analysis than OPC.

      • Implementation – In comparison P6 EPPM is fairly simple to implement than OPC. A lot of structures and business flows needs to be customized in OPC for the client before they can start using the system. Whereas, in P6 EPPM, you can start scheduling and managing projects with simple and minimal configurations.

      • Licensing – Licensing in OPC is fairly complicated yet robust. Users have to buy separate modules for all the features mentioned above.

    Conclusion

    Both P6 EPPM Cloud and Oracle Primavera Cloud are excellent cloud based Project Management solutions. Primavera Cloud provides a few new features of Project Controls along with scheduling and master data controls. If the Project Managers and Planners prefer to work in P6 Professional in offline modes, the P6 EPPM is a clear choice. If the company wants to have new features and would only prefer to work on Web Browsers the OPC is a clear winner.

  • Oracle Primavera EPPM vs Primavera Professional

    Oracle Primavera EPPM vs Primavera Professional

    Oracle Primavera Profession (PPM)

    Primavera P6 Professional Project Management (PPM) is the Primavera Windows-based project planning tool that is popular around the world for managing construction projects. Primavera P6 Professional is a tool to build, schedule and track complex project schedules. Architecturally, it consists of a the Project Management client that installs on a Windows PC and connects to either a server-based or a local database. Microsoft SQL or Oracle databases are supported, as is SQLite.

    Primavera P6 Professional (PPM) is programmed with the Critical Path Method algorithm. At the most basic level it assigns dates to tasks based on sequencing and task duration. The output is a project schedule with dates applied and a Critical Path clearly identified, not to mention the calculation of a project end date. Top that CPM Scheduling engine up with Resource & Cost Management features, Gantt Chart, graphs, spreadsheets, analytic tools and reporting, and Primavera P6 Professional becomes the tool of choice for engineering, heavy construction, oil & gas and related industries.

    Oracle Primavera Enterprise Portfolio Project Management (EPPM)

    Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management is a very advanced and sophisticated enterprise portfolio and project management tool. Primavera P6 EPPM is 100% web-based, so it runs in a browser and connects to a webserver that serves-up a visually-rich interface. P6 EPPM also connects to a main database where all of your project information is stored. The advantages of a web-based project management tool are many. It’s easy to onboard users – just provide a login, no installation on your local PC necessary.

    Primavera P6 EPPM brings a whole new set of features and functionality that sets it apart from mainstay Primavera P6 Professional.  For example, the web side of EPPM is very rich in graphs, charts, pivot tables and dashboards. It’s a new way of seeing P6 project data in a rich graphical sense. Many graphs and charts have drill-down capability so you can dive deep into your data.

    Primavera P6 EPPM has a big focus on Portfolio Management, which allows you to manage groups of projects together in a portfolio, and to manage that data, be it cost, schedule or resource focused.

    The major differences are as follows:

    Architecture:

    P6 PPM follows a two tier architecture, the client (windows based) is connected directly with a database. The database can be in the same PC as the application or be centrally hosted in a server. The data can only be accessed from PCs installed with the client tool.

    P6 EPPM follows a three tier architecture. The database and application servers are installed separately and the data can be accessed using Web browsers or client application. P6 EPPM has the advantage of accessing data from anywhere anytime and also backups and data protection capabilities are much more systematic.

    Dashboards:

    P6 EPPM comes with its own dashboards and personalized pages where is it is easier for the user to access the relevant data. Also the dashboard gives a much more analytical and strategical advantage over the PPM.

    Portfolio Management:

    P6 EPPM comes with its own portfolio management which the PPM is not capable of. EPPM tool is designed for Schedulers, Planners, Project Managers as well as Senior Management. PPM whereas doesn’t give much benefit to senior management or portfolio managers.

    BI & Analytics:

    P6 EPPM can be integrated out of the box with Oracle BI which gives it access to numerous analytical dashboards and reports.

    Integrations & Scalability:

    P6 EPPM comes with Web services and connectivity with Primavera Gateway. These tools allows the P6 to be integrated with legacy tools, Project control tools as well as major ERP tools. This makes the tool scalable and easily sustainable for a comprehensive automation solution for any industry.

    Progress Reporter & Mobile Applications:

    P6 EPPM comes with Team member and mobile applications in both android and iOS platforms. This makes site users to easily update daily logs and updates in the system and the project managers see the data real time.

    Summary:

    While both Primavera P6 Professional and Primavera P6 EPPM are capable of supporting an enterprise-wide deployment for the purposes of collaboration and project portfolio management, P6 Professional tends to be favored by planners because of its stability, responsiveness and ability to support standalone use.

    On the other hand, P6 EPPM is generally favored for deployments where a wide range of project stakeholders are interested in accessing project portfolio data due to its unique Dashboard and Portfolio data tabs that present summary project data and interactive capabilities for a matrix organization. Also, P6 EPPM gives a lot more features with just a fraction of extra cost. Because this system is Web-based, it is also favored by IT departments for its easier distribution to geographically remote locations including international access. If the user has internet access, they can interact with Primavera P6 EPPM.

    FeaturesP6 EPPMP6 PPM
    Project Planning✓✓
    Project Scheduling✓✓
    Resource Management✓✓
    Cost Management✓✓
    Earned Value Management✓✓
    Portfolio Management✓ 
    Dashboards✓ 
    Collaboration✓✓ 
    Supports Publication Services✓ 
    Supports Web Services✓ 
    Supports Mobile Application✓ 
    Supports Primavera Gateway✓ 
    Supports Integration API✓ 
    Supports BI Reporting✓ 
    Supports Analytics Reporting✓ 
    Supports Integration with other Applications ✓ 
    Supports Timesheet/Progress Reporter✓ 
  • Best PMO Systems Solutions for Construction

    Best PMO Systems Solutions for Construction

    Oracle’s Primavera products are the leading construction program management solutions for the industry.For more than 25 years, Primavera solutions have helped construction, architecture, and engineering firms effectively plan, manage, control, and deliver projects on time and within budget.

    Whatever the size of a project, Oracle’s Primavera enterprise project portfolio management solutions will:

      • Effectively manage time, costs, resources, contracts, and changes in a single solution.

      • Get timely, accurate data for optimum decision-making.

      • Access information any time, anywhere.

      • Respond in real time to changing conditions.

      • Prevent and protect against claims.

      • Track and evaluate subcontractor performance.

      • Capture and standardize best practices.

      • Improve operational efficiency.

      • Reduce performance risk.

      • Proactively manage projects.

      • Accurately forecast to completion.

      • Improve project team collaboration.

      • Develop, capture, and implement the right risk mitigation strategies.

  • All New 16.1 of EPPM Gives P6 Web Look

    All New 16.1 of EPPM Gives P6 Web Look

    Oracle released the latest version of Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM), release 16.1, and has given P6 Web a facelift. As promised, Oracle is gradually removing the Java applets needed to load pages in P6 Web. This means users will not need to install or update Java plugins or wait for pages to load (no more headaches… well, at least less of them!). The new HTML-based pages are faster, lighter, and are improving as Oracle transitions Java out of P6 Web all together. A slow progress, but anything worth waiting for usually takes time! Of course, P6 Web, P6 Professional, and P6 Team Member received a few needed updates as well.

    UPDATES IN P6 WEB

    The EPS, Activities, and Resource Assignments pages are available in HTML.

    As mentioned before, Oracle is gradually moving P6 Web to HTML. This is great for users wanting to use Chrome or other Internet browsers for P6 Web. In this release, users have access to both the HTML-based and Java-based versions of the EPS, Activities, and Resource Assignments pages. Oracle still offers both versions because the new HTML-based pages don’t have the same as the Java-based pages functionality…yet. Users can switch between views and use the Java-based page to perform advanced functions. Here is a breakdown:

    • The Java-based version of the EPS, Activities, and Resource Assignments pages are labelled the “Classic View”.
    • The HTML-based version of the EPS and Activities pages are labelled the “Standard View”.
    • The HTML-based version of the Resource Assignments page is labelled the “Basic View”.

    Global and User Templates Available in Global Search and Replace

    Now, you can distinguish between Global and User templates when you are selecting a template in the Global Search and Replace box. As per usual, Global templates are available to all users and User templates are available to individual users.

    Improved Options for Copying Projects

    When you are copying projects, you can select to copy Risks, WPs, Docs, and, under Relationships, Only between copied Activities.

    The Only between copied Activities lets you select whether you want to copy only the relationships between activities being copied, or if you don’t select the option, to copy all relationships including relationships to external activities.

    View Daily Usage in the Team Usage Page

    Open the Team Usage page (under the Projects tab) to view the usage of individual team resources. This drill-down functionality will help you identify where you are over-allocating team members right down to the day!

  • Control Cost Using P6: Earned Value Management

    Control Cost Using P6: Earned Value Management

    Cost is one of the triple constraints in project management and one of the most important of every project. While challenging to manage and control, not impossible and there are many tools and methods out there to help you.

    One of the most accepted tools is the Earned Value Management system that can capture project health and performance easily. The process incorporates project progress, schedule and costs, so you can project and analyze how the overall project is performing.

    The following paragraphs provide basic and general knowledge about EVM and how costs are controlled when the EVM gets implemented.

    Earned Value Management Terms

    Let’s start by defining the terms used during the process and what they mean, so you can properly understand the methodology.

    • Planned Value (PV) represents the budgeted cost of the work. In Microsoft Projects and other tools, it’s also known as the budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS). In other words, it represents the money to be spent in the project on a given task or overall project.
    • Actual Costs (AC) is the cost incurred for the work already completed. It can also be known as the actual cost of work performed (ACWP).
    • Earned Value (EV) is the total budget of work completed at any given time. In Microsoft Project and other software, it’s known as the budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP).
    • Cost Performance Index is the ratio representing the amount of work completed for every unit of cost spent. When greater than 1, the project is in good health and under budget. It is calculated by dividing EV/AC.
    • Schedule Performance Index shows how much work has been completed compared to the baseline schedule. When it is greater than 1, the project is ahead of schedule. It is calculated by dividing EV/PV.

    Using EVM is a great approach at identifying risks and understanding when a project is going to be over budget or coming at budget.

    The previous terms are calculated comparing the baseline schedule and the original budget to the actual costs incurred in the project. The different ratios and tools that the EVM provides are important tools to forecast the actual cost performance and the budget at completion at any given time. The tools can also be used to determine the estimate at completion and from those numbers, you can put together a plan to bring the project on track and close the actual budgeted cost.