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Leveraging P6 and Unifier Combined Strengths

Prepared by: Dennis D. Lane, PMP Principal Consultant Accelerated PM LLC

Exploring the Situations and Environments where P6 and Unifier Provide a Beneficial Combined Effect

Session ID#: 15456

About the Presenters

■ Dennis Lane ▪ Career dedicated to Project, Program, and Portfolio Project

Management- 35 years and continuing for many more ▪ Creating Effective PM Systems for Organizations and People ▪ PMP #226 (1987- second time exam was ever administered) ▪ Planned, Agile, Critical Chain among other methods ▪ Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Accelerated PM LLC

■ Lelon Ginn ▪ Career Naval Officer, focused on Project and Program

Management ▪ Seven years with Accelerated PM, LLC, specializing in EPPM

Implementations and Process Development

Two Giants in Project Management

Primavera P6 EPPM

Primavera Unifier

Some of the things about Unifier that intrigue me as a traditional P6 user

■ Unifier’s Building Blocks Provide Tremendous Potential

▪ Shell Concept can be applied to model many business organizations- Determines Structure for Business and Projects

▪ Business Process & Workflow- Very Capable and Adaptable

▪ Document Control and Flow with AutoVue

▪ Integration ready with other business systems (Web Services)

▪ Flexibility on Cash and Cost Side

Unifier- Business Processes & Work Flow

Unifier Phase Gates

Current Positioning of the Products in the Oracle Literature

■ Capital Planning ■ Cost Management ■ Project Delivery

Management

■ Project Portfolios ■ Prioritizing ■ Planning ■ Scheduling ■ Resource Utilization ■ Resource Capacity

Management ■ Evaluating Progress and

Critical Work ■ Risk Management

Unifier P6

Establishing a Viewpoint

The lens or perspective for exploring the benefits

Perspective for Exploring the Benefits ■ Strong Business Background (Practitioner)

▪ Establishing Repeatable and Reliable Project Management for Large Companies (since 1990’s and continuing)

■ Early Adopter- PMP #226 (1st 0.04% of PMP’s)

■ Vision plus Process, People, Tools and Knowledge

■ Tools should Serve the Business Processes

Perspective for Exploring the Benefits (Cont’d) ■ Implemented EPPM before P6 existed

▪ Became advocate of P6 (P3e/TeamPlay) in 2000

▪ 1st Architecture that truly looked capable of Enterprise Level PM

■ Successful Implementation Experiences with P6; not 100%

■ Spent Several Months with Unifier Experts Implementing a Combined Unifier/P6 Deployment for a Specific Client in 2013

■ Other Clients with P6 & Unifier Underway

P6 & Unifier: Working Together?

The Concern

The Hope

Sense of Competition between Loyalists

■ We’ve Been Competitors in the Past

■ P6 Emerged as the Market Leader in EPPM since 2000

■ Skire (now Primavera Unifier) Commanded Attention 2011-12

■ Acquired by Oracle in July 2012; Placed within PGBU

■ Both Products are Quite Good, but are Very Different

■ Combined Capabilities Exceed Either Product Alone - When Jointly Implemented

▪ Lead Product Depends on How Business Wants to Operate

Sense of Opportunity from the Top

Unifier-biased ▪ Initiate Projects* ▪ Capital Planning* ▪ Capital Funding* ▪ Change Management* ▪ Manage and Operate

Facilities ▪ Cost Control*

* Can be performed well in either product

P6-biased ▪ Manage Resources and

Capacities* ▪ Manage Risks* ▪ Prioritize Projects* ▪ Plan and Schedule* ▪ Scope Completion*

Deliver a Comprehensive Enterprise Project Portfolio Management Platform throughout entire Life Cycle

The Differences: P6 and Unifier

Comparing and Contrasting the Two Products

Structure/Orientation of Products

■ Business Processes ■ Actionable Workflows ■ Document Management and

Storage ■ Forms ■ Tasks (Actions) ■ Due Dates ■ Cost Sheets ■ Schedule Sheets ■ Concept of Shells ■ Data Definition allows

unlimited attribute and data fields

■ EPS ■ OBS ■ Projects ■ WBS ■ Activities & Steps

▪ Durations, Logic, Units

■ Resource Assignments ▪ Cost Account Codes

■ Risks and Issues ■ Codes and User Defined ■ BPM and Webcenter Content

or SharePoint

Unifier P6

The ‘Feel’ of Products

■ Significantly tailored and configured per company

■ Requirements gathered through “User Stories” and roles of users to do what needs to be done

■ Architecture varies based on how the Shells are configured

■ Unifier has a less mature look and feel with respect to P6 ▪ Much newer product in

marketplace; makes sense

■ Easy to see Companies’ Projects, Business Units, Resources, Workload, Costs, Schedule

■ CPM- Logically oriented activities with durations, units/time, and units

■ Structure is “repeatable” from company to company ▪ You know what to expect

■ Less Flexible than Unifier; but quite adaptable

Unifier P6

The Users and Roles for the Products

■ Once configured, Users become familiar with their part of the project world

■ Users are inside browser with standard look and feel- Left, Right Top, Right Bottom

■ Drill in to get to the place for operating day-to-day tasks

■ Users basically address what they need to on the project ▪ Helps move work along

■ Unifier brings what is important now to the surface

■ Data is built by templates (or manually)-tuned by Master Planners and Schedulers (Super Users)

■ The update process and reschedule is a significant event on a periodic cycle

■ Revised latest plans are product of Updates

■ Scope Changes are handled through baseline changes to plans

Unifier P6

Complexity of Situation

■ Unifier User Interface not as advanced as P6

■ Both Products Roll-up and Summarize Data for Executives, but differently

■ Both Products Provide significant Project Data, but focus differently on how things are done

Complexity of Situation

■ P6 uses BPM, Webcenter Content, and BIP as primary support tools

■ P6 under major transition toward web for users ▪ Product development ahead of user transition

■ Both Products are Integration-friendly and use web services

■ Unifier’s workflow and business process engine quite strong and flexible to support a multitude of business needs

Establishing a Strategy

Knowing Your Business Objectives Understanding How the Tools Fit Together Setting Realistic Expectations

Knowing Your Business Objectives ■ What is your business case for using EPPM?

■ Where is your company in the Current Level of Maturity?

■ What Problems are Being Solved?

■ What Opportunities are being Seized? Gains?

■ Considering a Phased or Release-Based Approach?

■ Sometimes a Major and Quick Transition is Best

■ Is the Business Case well Understood and Justified?

■ Tradeoffs between P6, Unifier, or Combined

Strategy to Address Business Needs ■ How are the products best implemented together?

▪ Using P6 as Lead and Support with Unifier?

— Work plans, Resource-Loaded Schedules, Intuitive Enterprise Look

— Workflow, Contract Management, Documentation via Unifier

▪ Using Unifier as Lead and Support with P6?

— Maximize use of integration with other systems, workflow, business processes and document management

— May diminish many advantages of P6 and use very limited functionality

Strategy to Address Business Needs ■ How are the products best implemented together? (Cont’d)

▪ Balance the two?

— Difficult business challenge to plan implementation

▪ Don’t mix them?

— Missing major opportunities to leverage the two

▪ Further Develop a more Unified Product that combines best of both and fills any gaps

Example of an Implementation Experience ■ Company was Capital Projects Oriented in Utility Industry

■ Current Level of Maturity ▪ Getting the job done but business volume increasing

▪ MS Project for Scheduling; Multiple Systems and Some Non-centralized Homemade Databases and Reports

■ Unifier Lead; P6 in Supporting Role

Example of an Implementation Experience (Cont’d) ■ Gathered Business Needs and Requirements

▪ Financial Management and Cash Flow Projections in Unifier driven by dates maintained and Updated in P6 schedules

▪ Top Priority: Integrating Cost (Unifier) to Schedule (P6)

■ Observation: Felt like we were leaving a tremendous amount of P6 Capability untapped; but it was just Phase 1 ▪ P6-good visibility to the Company’s Projects and Structure

▪ Simplistic use of the scheduling and resource planning

Example of #2 Implementation Experience ■ Company operates on Annual Budgets

■ Current Level of Maturity ▪ Getting the job done; business volume increasing

▪ OPM3 Level is Low

■ Unifier Implemented prior to P6

■ Long Range Potential Gain is Significant

■ More to follow

Key Drivers for Solution Architecture

■ What kind of project environment exists in my company

■ Do I oversee a set of projects and funding used to outsource most of the work?

■ Do I execute the project work with combined internal and external resources?

■ Do we work to a plan that needs visibility or just collaborate through work flowing through the organization via tasks and approvals?

■ What happens if a project overruns? Will we even know it?

■ Do we make or lose money based on project performance?

■ What is sacrificed in Capital Projects if we slip or finish over or under budget?

■ Is the company’s work construction- or facilities-related? Are the projects capital investments or primary revenue generators?

Reducing the Complexity of Situation and/or Broaden the Goals ■ Using P6 as Lead and Support with Unifier ■ Using Unifier as Lead and Support with P6 ■ Balance the two? ■ Don’t mix them? ■ Look Ahead at Possibilities as the Products Advance Together

Examples Favoring P6 as Lead Product ■ Projects are large and complex and depend on meeting

schedule through effective resource utilization

■ Work is performed using internal resources that contribute to the product of the projects

■ Change Management and Baseline Change Control are required internally or by your client

■ Costs are derived from Resource Hours and Material Expenditures; Some subcontracting, but not entire project

Examples Favoring P6 as Lead Product (Cont’d) ■ Project Manager is well defined and accountable

■ Work is Performed in a Matrix Organization

■ Work Breakdown Structure is a normal term

■ Control Accounts are used; Variance Reporting is Required

■ The Project is Unique for the Company with Major Consequences or Benefits

■ A Detailed Work Plan and Schedule are used frequently to communicate work to the team

Examples Favoring Unifier as Lead Product

■ Projects are Capital Expenses with Annual Budgets that Govern ▪ Scope is Freely Pushed Into and Out of the Project

— Depending on how other projects are spending cash

■ Work is performed using mostly External Resources; Our Leverage with the Team is mainly through Contracts

■ Change Management and RFI’s are frequent and must be addressed to expedite the project

Examples Favoring Unifier as Lead Product

■ Costs are derived from invoices and commitments; Internal costs are relatively small compared to the size of the overall project

■ Project Manager is passive and tracks progress indirectly

■ Complex Cash Flow Situations based on information from other business Systems

Approaches to Connecting P6 and Unifier

Both Products are Quite Robust and Integrate well with Other Business Systems ■ EPPM like structure

▪ Hierarchical and Rolls Up

■ Grouping, Sorting, and Filtering

■ Excellent data structures for BI Publisher and Analytical Reporting

■ Data Fields Configurable

■ Integrate through web services and mapping tools

■ Workflow, Approvals, Routing ▪ Email updates

▪ Mobile Apps

▪ Web based products

Having ONE Place to Work? or Do We Transition between portals/apps? ■ Who uses what? Jumping around between systems feels

awkward. ■ Roles and Participation

▪ Hands on contributors may settle into one side or the other for most of their day-to-day work

▪ Executives or Program Managers may need to access information in both systems, viewed according to need

Oracle is Mapping the Two Products- Many Decisions ■ Point-to-Point Approach for Integration

▪ Likely not sufficient and leads to complexity in many cases

■ Hub and Spoke

■ SOA (Services Oriented Architecture)

■ Primavera Gateway

■ Recommend Attending Primavera Roadmap Sessions on P6, Unifier, Primavera Integrations ▪ Beyond Scope of this Session

Connecting Point-to-Point: Depends on the Business Need

Activities in P6 with CBS Code from Unifier Cost Breakdown Code defined in Unifier

Job Services- Send Data to Unifier from P6

The WBS and the CBS (work-scope and cost)

■ The concept of P6 (and Project Management in general) for WBS is somewhat universal

■ Unifier’s CBS is one connecting point and the two do not serve the same purpose in many cases ▪ Caution in this area is advised from a practitioner’s perspective

▪ Currently, Cost Codes in Unifier map to Activities in P6

Expanding Our Thinking: Can we actually gain value from the power of both products?

Examples of How We Might Interrelate across the Products ■ Project or WBS in P6

▪ Show me all of the PO’s and Line Items by a level in the Work Breakdown Structure

▪ Tell me whether invoices were submitted, approved, paid, etc.

■ Across Projects ▪ Show me all of the Contracts or PO’s that a Responsible Person

(OBS in P6) has in an Open status

■ Earned Value for Contractor that serves Multiple Projects

■ Show me the resource histogram for a group along with the workflow item history and length of time to cycle

Examples of How We Might Interrelate across the Products (Cont’d) ■ Create a Business Process with Workflow that iteratively

builds a schedule for a complex project in P6 (through the Control Accounts, WBS or Work Packages)

■ Provide a comprehensive Multi-Project Status report that derives info from P6, Unifier, Analytics, and BI Publisher ▪ How our business segment is performing plus plans ahead

■ Control a Project Document such as Baseline Change Log and relate it to the work-plan changes in P6 as approved

■ Show all of the Projects in our business being managed by Agile PM and display the stages (Sprint #, etc.)

Examples of How We Might Interrelate across the Products- continued ■ Show the Resource Usage across the Agile Projects (or

filtered subset)

■ What are the top 10 risks that our company is currently monitoring across the Portfolio of Projects; Show the risk management actions that have occurred on these items

■ How many Major Projects have NOT used the Company Standard Risk Assessment Process

■ Which groups do not plan their work very well?

■ Let’s look at the action items and minutes from the last meeting, while we discuss the critical path on the schedule ▪ Who modified these minutes from the last meeting?

Summary and Conclusion

Knowing Where Your Business Fits ■ Either System, P6 or Unifier, is significant Investment & ROI

■ Should Our Business Take Smaller Steps? ▪ Combining the tools can be done sequentially, but requires a

strategy up front

■ Back to the Business Purpose and Business Case

■ Lead or Follow Trend?

■ Star Wars: Yoda- “Do or Do Not, there is No Try”

Knowing What is Realistic to Expect

■ Involving experts from the beginning

■ Objectivity and timely, but informed, decisions

■ Even with the supporting expertise, how fast can our business change? ▪ We are often asked for aggressive schedules in implementing

EPPM Systems

▪ More appropriately, How Fast Can Your Business Transition?

Knowing What is Realistic to Expect (Cont’d) ■ Recommend Using a Strategy, Plan, and Measure Success

Along the Way ▪ Often Bad News is Good in the Early Stages

— You don’t want to wait to find out where problems exists

▪ Management Decisions Always Lie in the Future

■ Once You Make the Transition, Likely Have a Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Summary

■ Unifier Adds Robust Capital Project Management

■ Unifier Adds Strong Contract Management Capabilities ▪ Surpasses capabilities of PCM with ease

■ Oracle Primavera Roadmaps

■ Oracle Leads in Technology Development ▪ Since Primavera Acquired; Challenging to Keep Up!

■ User Community Feedback and Suggestions

Conclusion ■ Endeavor to understand the best way to leverage the two

products: intended to have succinct answers by now ▪ 35 years in enterprise project management in many arenas

▪ In depth P6 applied knowledge, including technical side

▪ Immersed in Unifier/P6 Implementation

▪ Deep Dive into Unifier

▪ More than a year in understanding the combined scenario

Conclusion (continued) ■ In reality, more new questions than answers at this point

■ However, we trust in the power of creativity and capability in the significant Business and User Communities

■ Oracle has one of the Strongest Product Development Teams in the World; The Product Roadmaps are in Tune with Where We Need to Go. We are confident of a leveraged solution to surpasses either product alone for complex businesses

Contact Info

■ Accelerated PM LLC ▪ Platinum Partner Specialized in EPPM

— Implementation, Training, Project Controls, and Technical Services; APM serves across all industries

▪ POC: Mike Tippet- mtippet@acceleratedpm.com 847.893.6779

■ Dennis Lane- dlane@acceleratedpm.com ▪ Managing Partner 260.633.0945

■ Lelon Ginn- lginn@acceleratedpm.com

▪ Sr. Implementation Consultant 940.368.4553

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