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Agile Product Lifecycle Management Product Portfolio Management User Guide Release 9.3.3 E39293-01 |
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# 1 Introduction

This user guide provides detailed descriptions of all Agile Product Portfolio Management (PPM) features and explains how you can use PPM to record, monitor, and track progress of projects and programs.

## 1.1 Agile Product Portfolio Management Overview

Agile Product Portfolio Management is a web-based application that enables users to manage all aspects of a project or program. PPM is fully integrated with the complete Agile PLM suite of products to maintain a centralized view of project records and associated product information within the organization.

Executives use the PPM Dashboards to view portfolio data pertaining to all projects or programs. Portfolio data includes risks such as schedule slips, lack of resources, and project cost that directly contribute to the overall status of the project.

Project or program managers use PPM to:

- Create and manage project tasks, resources, and schedules

- Assign projects, phases, tasks, and deliverables

- Conduct project discussions

- Generate action items

- View and distribute project content

- Oversee project status

- Manage project budgets

Resource pool managers use PPM to:

- Manage resource pools

- Assign resources to tasks

Project participants use PPM to:

- Manage daily task assignments

- Report the completion of tasks

- Upload documents

- Participate in project discussions

### 1.1.1 What's New in PPM 9.3.3

Agile PPM 9.3.3 introduces the following features and enhancements:

- XML-based integration with Microsoft® Project, that allows you to:

  - Generate XML output from Agile PPM and import into Microsoft® Project.

  - Import Microsoft® Project XML files to create or update Agile PPM projects

- Enhanced data validations for import and export. See "What's Supported."

- Change in Microsoft® Project version support - Microsoft® Project 2010 is supported. Previous versions are no longer supported.

- Cross-server project import - See "Replicating a PPM Project Across Servers."

- Direct ownership change for activities and gates.

- SDK enhancement to create and retrieve timesheets. See the Agile PLM SDK Developer Guide.

For documentation on the common features and enhancements introduced across Agile PLM in this release, see the Getting Started with Agile PLM guide.

### 1.1.2 Upgrade Considerations

During an upgrade from a previous version of PPM, data migration is necessary, so the existing data complies with new or changed business rules.

To facilitate the data migration, a post upgrade utility is available. For information on using this utility, see the guide Installing Agile PLM for WebLogic.

Note: The PPM post upgrade utility is not supported on WebSphere Application Server.

### 1.1.3 Configuration Notes

- For Japanese and Chinese OS, an Agile PPM database instance can only be configured to use UTF-8 language encoding. Agile PPM sets the browser's character encoding to UTF-8, and it is not recommended to change the character encoding setting in the browser.

- If the Agile PLM server is running on JRE 1.4, the Gantt application requires JRE 1.5.x. The higher versions such as JRE 1.6 are supported, if the Agile PLM server is running on JRE 1.5.

### 1.1.4 Related Documentation

Common Agile PLM functionality is not described in the PPM User Guide. The following manuals provide comprehensive information on all common Agile PLM features and administrative requirements.

- Agile PLM Getting Started Guide

- Agile PLM Administrator Guide

All Agile PLM manuals are available for download on the Oracle Technology Network http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/documentation/agile-085940.html

Note: The PPM post upgrade utility is not supported on WebSphere Application Server.

### 1.1.5 Features Summary

PPM allows project managers to track and control all aspects of a project, providing visibility into all levels of project activity. You can use PPM features to do the following:

- Project Planning

  - Create projects based on existing project templates

  - Create a project from scratch

  - Create baselines for projects

  - Convert Microsoft® Project files to PPM projects to associate project information with related product records in Agile PLM

  - Import and export root-level information about the projects

  - Import project details from file formats such as .xls and .csv into PPM

  - Manage project schedules

  - Manage project milestones and gates

- Resource Management

  - Assign projects and tasks to resources

  - Manage resource pools

  - Track time and effort spent on projects

- Project Collaboration

- - Initiate and respond to project-related discussions

  - Post news and action items related to the project

  - View notifications on assignments and action items

  - Maintain a project dashboard

- Project Tracking

- - View project summary to track overall status of a project

  - Track project costs

  - Monitor overall status of the project

  - Generate project reports for analysis

  - View notifications on assignments and action items

### 1.1.6 When to Use Web Client

Web Client is recommended for the project team members who need to view information and input data specific to the activities they own.

Use Web Client to:

- View notifications and assignments

- Manage assignments

- Use timesheets

- View a personalized dashboard

- View project summary and status

- Change workflow status

- View reports

- Manage subscriptions

- Manage content

- Participate in discussions

Project participants use Web Client for all their activities.

### 1.1.7 When to Use Gantt Chart

Gantt chart is recommended for program and project managers, whose primary responsibility is to monitor and manage programs and projects.

Use Gantt chart to:

- Assign and manage tasks and resources

- Monitor resource utilization

- Add and manage activities, gates, and dependencies

- View progress and modify project schedule

### 1.1.8 Project Management Objects

Project Management process involves management of schedules, tasks, statuses, discussions, documents, phases, gates, and resources.

At a minimum, a typical Agile PPM project consists of:

- A root-level project

- A series of child objects such as phases, programs, tasks, gates, or other projects.

The following table describes the various objects in the Agile PPM solution.

Icon | Object | Description
--- | --- | ---
| Project | A Project is a unique set of related projects, phases, tasks, sub-programs, milestones, and gates that is driven by a time schedule with target start and end dates, and dependencies. A Project is the top-level object, but can also be a child of another project. If the organizational practice uses Programs as the top-level object, to enable program creation in PPM, contact your site's Agile Administrator.
| Program | A Program is a unique set of related programs, phases, tasks, sub-programs, milestones and gates. Programs are driven by a time schedule. A Program can be the top-level object or a child object of another project or program.
| Phase | A Phase, sometimes called a stage, is a segment of a project. Phases define the activities required to create a set of deliverables. When phases end, Project Managers may hold a phase exit or gate review to examine the completion status of each phase. A Phase comprises activities such as tasks and gates. It derives the date and status information from the project elements.
| Task | A Task is a segment of work that one or more resources can complete over a period of time. Progress or status of a task rolls up to higher levels of the program. Phases, projects, programs, or other tasks can contain tasks.
| Gate | A gate marks a point in the project timeline that typically requires a review of a group of project tasks, activities, or deliverables. Gate status is 'Closed' by default. Gate status can be set to 'Review' or 'Open' based on work performed in the project. The work performed is typically defined in the form of deliverables. If a gate is set to 'Review', the project can be on hold until it is opened. When a gate is 'opened', directly or after a review, project progress can resume. Decision Gate: A decision gate is a special gate type used in phase-gate project methodologies. Decision gates mark a point in the project timeline when tactical and strategic decisions about a project need to be executed. Each phase of a project in a phase-gate model has a corresponding decision gate. Standard projects for New Product Development are typically five or six phases, each with a decision gate. Stationary Gate: A stationary gate is a gate type used to restrict users from modifying critical dates on the project schedule. A gate is usually moved forward automatically if tasks preceding the gate are moved forward. If you define a gate as 'stationary', only users with explicit privileges to move the gate can move the preceding tasks forward. To learn how to define a stationary gate, see "Defining Stationary Gates."
| Milestone | Milestones are points in the project timeline that indicate the need for additional or secondary activities. Milestones can mark billing cycles, sub-project launch points, project metrics, or project team notifications. Milestones may or may not be dependent on deliverables.
| Deliverable | A Deliverable represents a unit of work required for a project's success, usually fulfilled by generating a digital file. (Word processing documents, spreadsheet documents, PDFs, presentation documents, etc.) Deliverables can also be Agile PLM objects and processes. Deliverables are managed in the Content tab of a project and often used to control the status of tasks and gates.
| Discussion | Discussions are informal conversations specific to a project or program, found in the Discussions tab within the Collaboration tab of the project object. Discussions are frequently sub-classed into Risks and Issues sub-classes to capture and store all risks and issues related to projects.
| News | Information or announcements that need to be communicated to everyone who has access to the project object. News is a tab within the Collaboration tab of the project object.
| Action Item | Action items are created in the Collaboration tab of a project and are used to track non-essential activities that do not impact the project timeline. Action items can be assigned at any level of the project hierarchy. Action items are tracked and available to users in the project's Summary page and the My Assignments page.

Programs, projects, phases, tasks and gates can be fully customized. For further information, see your site's Agile administrator.

#### 1.1.8.1 Project Tree Structure

The following figure illustrates the various PPM objects in a project.

Description of the illustration ch1_010.png

Projects, programs, phases, tasks and gates can be customized. A 'Program' with multiple projects is 'Complete' only if all the projects within it are 'Complete'. Each of these projects has its own set of phases and gates. The following figure illustrates 'Projects' within a 'Program':

Description of the illustration ch1_011.png

If your organization uses 'Programs' instead of 'Projects', contact your site's Agile Administrator to modify settings in Java Client.

An example of a project tree structure as seen in the navigation pane:

Description of the illustration ch1_012.png

### 1.1.9 PPM Process Flow

Description of the illustration ch1_013.png

### 1.1.10 Where to Find Information

Your role... | Where to find information…
--- | ---
Project or Program Management Office | "Setting Up Project Management Processes." "Best Practices."
Project Manager | "Creating and Managing Projects." "Working with Microsoft Project." "Import and Export." "Tracking Projects."
Resource Pool Owner | "Creating and Managing Projects."
Task Owner, Resource | "Participating in Projects."
Administrator | "Configuring Product Portfolio Management."
Any PPM User | "Understanding the Interface." "Best Practices."