 | | |
| | |
|
Spaces home  The Project Server GuruPhotosProfileFriendsMore |  Tools   |
The Project Server Guru |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Useful tools to help you extend your EPM environment
|
August 21 EPM Tools, Utilities & AddonsI've started a list of useful tools that can extend your EPM environment and help integrate with other LOB applications. If you know of any good tools that aren't on the list, please let me know.
Extend SharePoint Farm with the Community Kit for SharepointThanks to Paul Ballard, the Community Kit for SharePoint is freely available for download from codeplex. This solution has a number of editions, each of which provides different features. I personally found the Internet\Extranet edition particularly useful as it provides web parts for managing forms based users. If managing forms based users is causing you unnecessary administrative overhead, then this solution is well worth investigating. August 17 Create your own EPM Media LibraryTraining end users can be a costly investment both financially and timely, so it makes sense to protect this investment. Most companies will document their processes and use of tools and upload them onto a sharepoint library for user to access. If however you are like me and are more visual and kinaesthetic in your approach to learning, instead of relying on oral and written instructions; then you will benefit more from documents accompanied by videos. There are a number of excellent webcasts available from numerous sources; however these are very generic and unlikely to exactly match your companies processes.
You can very easily create your own library of company specific webcasts for display or download from a Sharepoint library.
To create the video content, you will need an encoder. There are a number of encoders available:
I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones I know of. I've not used Captivate, but I have customers who have, and they find it very intuitive to use. Personally I use WME, as I won't pay for something that I can get for free, and it does the job, albeit a little crude. The basic concept is that the encoder captures the screen or application display as a video file. You can then add a narrative or even overlay graphics. Once you have created your video files, you can either upload them into a Sharepoint library for users to download and play on their desktops or make use of Windows Media Services and stream the content in the browser (like youtube). Media Services requires Server 2003/2008 Enterprise Edition and a little bit of setup which is straight forward. For help on setting up Media Services checkout this site http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/knowledgecenter/default.aspx Having such a media library provides the end user with a comprehensive help and support portal, helps retain product IP and reduces demand on support staff. Here are some useful links related to WME and Windows Media Services: August 09 Project Server & SQL2008 InteropWhilst there are some great benefits for using SQL2008 within your EPM solution, the interop with Project Server has not been finalised. I've managed to successfully create a new PWA instance with SQL 2008, however the cube building service will not function. Performing an inplace upgrade of SQL on a stand alone PWA instance, also broke the application. Microsoft are working on providing some updates to enable the interop with SQL2008, so for the time being you should stick with SQL2005. Having said that, you don't need to wait to upgrade the database in order to take advantage of the features in Reporting Services 2008 ! August 08 SQL 2008 Reporting Services - New FeatureThere are many new features in SQL 2008 which will enhance your EPM environment. One that stands out to me is the introduction of the gauge control in Reporting Services.
This control provides you with the ability to easily create dynamic, visual reports, something which was a challenge in earlier versions. A welcome addition to any PMO reporting environment, I'm sure you'll agree.
Thanks for visiting! All comments and feedback will be warmly received  |
A list of EPM Blogs which I read on a regular basis
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Invite as friend
