MS Project and Project Server 2010 Dec CU

The December Cumulative Updates (CU) for Project and Project Server 2010 and 2007 have been released.  Details can be found on Brian Smith's blog, update contains number of fixes of Project Server and Project both so better run the CU on test environment prior to deploy on production.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/projectadministration/archive/2011/12/14/microsoft-project-server-and-sharepoint-server-2007-and-2010-december-2011-cu-announcement.aspx

You can also join in January the TechNet webcast covering both Project Server 2010 and Project Server 2007 Dec CU.

https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032493964&culture=en-us

Happy patching.

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MS Project and MS Project Server 2010 OCT CU

The October 2011 Cumulative Updates for Microsoft Project and Project Server 2010 have now been released. The 2007 Server packages that were withdrawn for a short period are now re-built and available. For details you can visit Brian Smith blog where all the links of the server roll-up packages are also available.

As Project Server 2010 is now based on SharePoint Server 2010 Microsoft strongly recommend that you install the Project Server 2010 Server Rollup Package as there are a large number of individual server packages for SharePoint Server. The Project Server 2010 Server Rollup Package contains all the patches released in this Cumulative Update for SharePoint Foundation Server 2010, SharePoint Server 2010 and Project Server 2010.

And last, always try the updates on the test environment first, untill then happy patching.

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August CU for Project and Project Server 2010

The August 2011 Cumulative Updates for Microsoft Project and Project Server 2010 have now been released. However there is a delay in server roll-up package due to late issue identified with the Sharepoint Foundation CU, and thus delays the release of the server roll-up packages. The server rollup patch is the preferred patch because it contains the fixes for all of the server technologies used by Project Server 2010. 

This delay does not affect the August 2011 Cumulative Update for Project and Project Server 2007.

Description of the fixes and and to download individual server package of Project Server 2010 can be found at the following link:

Individual Project Server Package:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2553047

For Project 2010 hotfix package:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2584056

My advice, as always, is to test any CUs with a recent copy of your production database before deploying into production to prevent issues with your production server.

For more details, visit Brian Smith blog.

Happy patching.

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Project Server 2010 JUN CU Issue to Multi-Lingual Deployments

For those who are working with the Project Server 2010 multi-lingual implementations, please be aware of a recently discovered issue after the June CU and SP1 have been installed.  It would appear that we have a bug whereas all column headers in the Project Center and Resource Center grids appear in English, regardless of the selected UI language.  The issue appears to be related to the June CU, as an SP1 / SP1 language pack environment (without the June CU) does not display the problem.

Resolution:

Since there is no solution to avoid this so far, you can opt for one of the listed options below. This is basically to bring the importance of the issue to MS notice, because usually the MS time to resolve such issues based on its severity and wide impact to the users.

1. There is a thread already posted on official Project Server forums, you can go and leave your feedback here.
2. You can log your issue at support@microsoft.com 
3. You can leave the comment on this blog post, OR send me an email through my blog "send me an email" option and i will forward your feedback to the related MS person. 

All the credit goes to the Quint Mouthaan to notifying the users about this issue on Project Server Forums, and also allowing me to post this on my blog to spread the word as much as possible.

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Project Server 2010 and MS Dynamics AX 2012 better together

This is to announce the release of new White Paper explaining the integration of Project Server 2010 with Dynamics AX 2012 Financial and Project module. You can download the document from here.

This document explains the integration architecture for The Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and Microsoft Project Server 2010 and provides instructions for setting up integration between the two programs. By setting up integration between the two products, project managers can create projects in either of the products and synchronize project data between them. This solution enables you to draw on both the core project management capabilities in Project Server 2010 and the financial management capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

You can also go through this document to know more about New, Changed and Depreceated features for the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2010 here. This document provides a summary of new and changed features that are planned to be implemented in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Additionally, it provides deprecated feature notices for features which are planned to be removed in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 or future releases.

Hope this excites you a bit :)

Leave comments if you think this post helps you by any means.

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Project Server 2010 SP1 Download available!

Microsoft Project Server 2010 SP1 is now available to download.


Microsoft Project Server 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) provides the latest updates for Project Server 2010. 
This service pack includes two main categories of fixes:

• Previously unreleased fixes that were made specifically for this service pack. In addition to general product fixes, these fixes include improvements in stability, performance, and in security.
• All the public updates that were released through June 2011, and all the cumulative updates that were released through April 2011.

You can go download this workbook to browse the complete list of fixes this SP1 provides to Project Server. Just for reminder that the webcast covers the details of the SP1 is on 6th July, those interested to attend can register here.

happy downloading and patching, and do share you comments regarding the release and experience.

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Project Server 2010 - Another great SP1 feature

June is here and so is the Project Server 2010 SP1 release date :)

Just want to share with you another one of the great feature you can look for in SP, and that is to 'Automatically Publish the updates' to the projects. SP1 can let you set the option of publishing the updates to the projects automatically if the update qualifies to one of your rules. In past, I have developed a custom utility for one of my client who need to bulk publish the changes to the project so that the PM do not follow this step as part of the updates to the project. And i can see this option now as of a great use to such requirements, for more details you can see the Christophe's blog about this.

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Project Server 2010 - SP1 Features in detail

In continuation to my Project Server 2010 SP1 announcement blog, i have just discovered in detail about few of the 'great' fixes the SP1 will bring based on the huge requests of the users. And they are:

1. Time-phased support for manually scheduled tasks
2. Improvements to project scheduling in Project Web App

Time-phased support for manually scheduled tasks:

Microsoft introduced the manual scheduling or user-controlled scheduling in Project 2010, which is a collection of features designed to give you more control over how tasks are scheduled. This gives you more control over your schedule but one of the areas you didn’t have control was editing timephased data for them. With Project 2010 SP1 you can now edit timephased data for manually scheduled tasks on the Project Client and Project Server. For more details, see this.

Improvements to project scheduling in Project Web App:

With introduction to the ability to create/edit Project schedule through Project Web App. One of the limitations though was that the only way to edit projects that contained Fixed Work or Effort Driven tasks was to use Project Professional 2010. Project Web App only allow you to edit or create project with Fixed Unit tasks. With Project 2010 SP1 you can now edit project plans containing Fixed Work tasks and Effort Driven tasks in Project Web App. For more details about this new fix, click this.

I am sure most of us, Project Server Consultants, were eagerly needed the above fixes as often it was hard to convince the users about limitations of scheduling through Project Web App. 

Until the next post, happy Projecting ... :)

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Project Server 2010 SP1 Release date

Microsoft revealed this week that it is on track to ship the first service pack for Office 2010 by the end of June. Office 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) will be made available for the Office productivity suites, the Office Web Apps, and SharePoint 2010, and will provide functional changes as well as bug fixes, Microsoft says. And with this release, Microsoft will also be officially supporting Google's Chrome browser in the Office Web Apps.

SP1 releases for both Office client suites and SharePoint server products will be made available. All language versions of SP1 will release simultaneously. Initially, Service Pack 1 will be offered as a manual download from the Download Center and from Microsoft Update, and no sooner than 90 days after release, will be made available as an Automatic Update.

• Outlook fixes an issue where “Snooze Time” would not reset between appointments.
• The default behavior for PowerPoint "Use Presenter View" option changed to display the slide show on the secondary monitor. 
• Integrated community content in the Access Application Part Gallery. 
• Better alignment between Project Server and SharePoint Server browser support.
• Improved backup / restore functionality for SharePoint Server
• The Word Web Application extends printing support to “Edit Mode.”
• Project Professional now synchronizes scheduled tasks with SharePoint task lists.
• Internet Explorer 9 “Native” support for Office Web Applications and SharePoint
• Office Web Applications Support for Chrome 
• Inserting Charts into Excel Workbooks using Excel Web Application 
• Support for searching PPSX files in Search Server 
• Visio Fixes scaling issues and arrowhead rendering errors with SVG export
• Proofing Tools improve spelling suggestions in Canadian English, French, Swedish and European Portuguese.  
• Outlook Web Application Attachment Preview (with Exchange Online only) 
• Office client suites using “Add Remove Programs” Control Panel.

For more details, go through the MS official update site: http://blogs.technet.com/b/office_sustained_engineering/archive/2011/05/16/announcing-service-pack-1-for-office-2010-and-sharepoint-2010.aspx

Look forward to SP1..

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Project/Project Server 2007/2010 - April CU released

This is to announce the release of  April CU of Project and Project Server 2007/2010, which is now available for download. There is one KB for server roll-out package still need to be published, for further details see the Brian Smith blog about the CU and to download browse the MS admin blog.

The webcast, Information About Microsoft Project and Project Server Cumulative February Update, about the Cumulative Update detail will be on 10th May and you can click here to register to attend the webcast.

NOTE: Microsoft strongly recommends testing within a NON-Production environment prior to rollout. Feel free to open a support incident at http://support.microsoft.com if you run into any issues with the installation.

Happy patching!

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Microsoft Tech.ed North America 2011

The 19th annual Microsoft Tech·Ed North America conference provides developers and IT professionals the most comprehensive technical education across Microsoft's current and soon-to-be-released suite of products, solutions and services.

The four day event at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia offers hands-on learning, deep product exploration and opportunities to connect with industry and Microsoft experts one-to-one. If you are developing, deploying, managing, securing and mobilizing Microsoft solutions, Tech·Ed is the conference that will help you solve today's real-world IT challenges and prepare for tomorrow's innovations.

Below are the Project and Project server sessions going to be held in the event:

Topics	Speakers
SharePoint Governance and Lifecycle Management with Microsoft Project Server 2010	Scott Jamison, Christophe Fiessinger
Application Lifecycle Management: Microsoft Project Server 2010 and Microsoft Team Foundation Server 2010, Better Together	Ed Blankenship, Christophe Fiessinger
INT Best Practices Troubleshooting Microsoft Project Server 2010 Deployments	Brian Smith

For more details of the event, please browse: Tech.Ed North America 2011

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Project Server 2010 - White Paper about Portfolio Analysis

Few days back an excellent White Paper been published on techNet forum about Portfolio Analysis with Microsoft Project Server 2010. The paper has been written by our fellow consultant Andrew Lavinsky, with the Business User as a target audience. And following is the executive summary from the white paper just to give you the glimpse of what is hidden inside :)

This white paper is a comprehensive user guide for the Portfolio Analysis module of Microsoft Project Server 2010. The intended audience for this document is an experienced non-technical user or PMO administrator charged with analyzing portfolios of projects within Project Server 2010.This white paper assumes that the reader has a basic understanding of the mechanics of working with resource loaded projects within Microsoft Project Professional 2010.This white paper does not address the technical aspects of configuring Project Server 2010 to support Portfolio Analysis, that is, any of the functionality typically found on the Server Settings page of Microsoft Project Web App (with several minor exceptions as noted). This white paper does not address the implementation of workflow to support organizational Demand Management practices, including discussion of Project Detail Pages or Enterprise Project Types.

In other words, this white paper focuses primarily on the new functionality that is behind these three simple links on the Project Web App Quick Launch:

• Driver Library

• Driver Prioritization

• Portfolio Analyses

 Please go and download, it surely is a good read.

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Project Server 2010 - FEB CU released

A little late to post, but this is to announce that the Feb CU of Project and Project Server 2007/2010 have been released. Although there are some problems reported with the server roll out packages, and the current advice is to wait for the release during the week of 3/7/2011. For more details, browse the MS admin blog.

The webcast, Information About Microsoft Project and Project Server Cumulative February Update, about the Cumulative Update detail will be on 8th march, the link to access the webcast is:   https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032455141 

However, Project 2010 client package is ready to be installed from here. The instruction to install the client patch to the client is pretty simple and is the same as it was in Project 2007:

1. Download the hotfix from the link in the KB Article mentioned above.

2. Extract the patch package by running the .exe file that you downloaded.

3. Run the extracted .exe file to apply the patch to your Project Professional/Standard client.

NOTE: Microsoft strongly recommends testing within a NON-Production environment prior to rollout. Feel free to open a support incident at http://support.microsoft.com if you run into any issues with the installation.

Happy patching!

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Project Server 2010 - Administrator Guide

I want to spread the word about the release of the Project Server 2010 Administrator's Guide by Microsoft. I must say that MS active contribution and support so far related to the latest Project Server version must take the product to the next level. The guide consist of mighty number of pages and list down all the administrative activities to be performed by the administrator of the system.

This also help Project Server consultants while preparing and delivering the role guides at the end of the Project to the customer. The guide can be found and downloaded from here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=212383

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Project Server 2010 - Task and Timesheet workflow

There are some valuable content related to the Project Server 2010 Time-sheet and Task data flow been added on the TechNet site, including videos. I have witnessed frequent question posted on the Forums regarding Timesheet and Tasks management, also after the introduction of the great new feature of Project Server 2010 SEM (single entry mode). I believe these videos will be of huge help to the users to understand the concept and functionality of the timsheet and task management. 

Videos: Time and task progress workflow overview (Project Server 2010)

Also, i want to take the advantage and remind you about the work-flow diagrams related to the same topic posted a while ago on the TechNet forums, click here to access.

Below diagram, and more you can access from the above posted link, will certainly help you understand the data flow of the task and timesheet in a SEM.

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Project Server 2010 - December CU released

This is to echo Brian Smith announcement of the release of the latest Project Server 2010 Cumilative Update.  Cumulative update packages for Microsoft Project Server 2010 contain hotfixes for the Project Server 2010 issues that were fixed since the release of Project Server 2010.

It fixes few of the really required issues, such as team member permission to view projects and setting the project owner of the project. The more detail of the CU can be viewed on the following link:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2459258/

In order to find out the current version of CU or Hofix of your Project Server 2010, follow the Brian Smith article for details: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/brismith/archive/2010/09/23/how-to-tell-which-cumulative-update-hotfix-or-service-pack-version-of-project-server-2010-and-project-2010-you-are-running.aspx.

Look for my upcoming blog where i am going to write in detail about 2 of the issues fixed after applying this CU. Please also note that, do not apply this CU in your production environment without testing.

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Project Server 2010: October Cumulative Update now re-released!

This is just to announce that the new CU of Project Server 2010 is now re-released. See the revised article related to the CU: http://blogs.technet.com/b/projectadministration/archive/2010/10/27/microsoft-project-server-and-sharepoint-2007-and-2010-october-cu-2010-are-live.aspx.

So all the Project Server consultants/administrators, visit the following website to read the details and download the Update:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/projectserver/gg176680.aspx

Ref: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/brismith/archive/2010/11/18/project-server-2010-october-cumulative-update-now-re-released.aspx

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