Microsoft EPM - Managing Programs/Master Projects, Part7– Recommended Process for Maintaining Programs/Master Projects

Here are the recommended process maintaining Master Projects/Programs within EPM;

· Open each sub-project, process task updates and update Project Attributes as necessary.

Note: It is recommended that updates are done and processed on individual sub-projects if using collaborative task updates. This would normally be done by the sub-project owner/Project Manager/Team Plan Manager.

!	When working with multiple projects, care should be taken to ensure that sub-projects are appropriately checked-in prior to inserting in Master Project.

· Save each sub-project after above updates and close.

· Open Master Project/Program ensuring that sub-projects are opened in Read/Write mode.

*	Note: User can check the detail view in Project Professional > File > Open dialog box and retrieve the list from the server. The sub-projects will be listed together if the appropriate naming convention is used.

· Expand each sub-project to retrieve the individual project data. The schedule of individual sub-projects will be affected depending on the progress on cross-project dependent activities/milestones.

· Update Master Project attributes as necessary and SAVE ALL changes including sub-projects.

· Publish Master Project/Program and Close.

· Open individual sub-projects, Save, Publish and Close.

The published Master Project/Program and sub-project data will now appear PWA > Project Centre/ Project Details and Data Analysis and custom reports.

Reviewing Team Activities

The Master Project/Program Managers can access the Master Project either via Project Professional or PWA > PC > Project Detail.

Team Managers (for example ,S&A) can review a consolidated schedule of all their team plans via PWA > PC. The team plans will be grouped together via Project Attribute 'Team Plan'. The user can see the individual project details as necessary via Project Detail views in PWA. Alternatively, a consolidated 'virtual' plan can be launched in Project Professional by selecting the grouping header in PWA > PC and selecting Edit. This will launch Project Professional (depending on user access rights) and open the selected/grouped schedules together for analysis.

If you need guidance on access rights on projects, review this post for ‘Multiple user access to common project’.