ORACLE WHITEPAPER

Oracle Project Management

MSP Integration Best Practices

Creation Date: 30-Dec-2009

Last Updated: 7-Jan-10

Disclaimer: The following is intended to outline our general product direction and is intended for information purposes. The
development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle's products remains at the sole discretion of
Oracle.

Copyright  2010 Oracle Corporation

All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents

1. Definitions.............................................................................................................................................4

1.1 Terms .........................................................................................................................................4

1.2 Abbreviations.............................................................................................................................5

2. Introduction..........................................................................................................................................6

2.1 Overview....................................................................................................................................6

3. Project Structures ................................................................................................................................7

3.1 Overview....................................................................................................................................7

3.2 Structure Types ..........................................................................................................................7

3.3 Recommendations......................................................................................................................8

4. MSP Integration Architecture ............................................................................................................9

4.1 Benefits of Using MSP ..............................................................................................................9

4.2 Integration Architecture .............................................................................................................9

4.3 Project Structures and Integration..............................................................................................9

4.4 Managing Summary Information.............................................................................................10

5. Project Management Lifecycle .........................................................................................................11

6. MSP Integration Best Practices........................................................................................................12

6.1 Creating Projects......................................................................................................................12

6.1.1 When to Create New Projects In MSP .................................................................................................... 12
6.1.2 Creating a Project Using MSP................................................................................................................. 13
6.2 Scheduling Projects..................................................................................................................16
6.2.1 When to Schedule a Project in MSP........................................................................................................ 16
6.2.2 Scheduling a Project in MSP ................................................................................................................... 16
6.3 Collecting Project Progress......................................................................................................20
6.3.1 When to Collect Progress Using MSP..................................................................................................... 20
6.3.2 Collecting Progress In MSP .................................................................................................................... 21
6.4 Updating and Rescheduling Projects ............................................................................................23

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 6.4.1 When to Update or Reschedule Using MSP............................................................................................ 23
6.4.2 Updating or Rescheduling a Project in MSP ........................................................................................... 23
6.5 When to Manage Financial Plans in MSP ...............................................................................25

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1. Definitions

1.1 Terms

Term Definition
Link Projects A project is considered linked when you send project information from MSP
to OP or when receiving a project from OP to MSP and enabling the Retain
Link to Oracle Projects option in the Receive Project page.
Receive Project A project file is received from OP to MSP
Send Project A project file is sent from MSP to OP
Resource List Resource lists are groupings of resources to assign to tasks for a project. You
attach resource lists to projects to effectively budget project cost and
revenue, to track resource usage, and to view cross-project reporting.
WBS Work Breakdown Structure, also called workplan
FBS Financial Breakdown Structure, also called financial plan or financial
structure
NSTBM / Split Non-Shared Task Based Mapping Structure shared between WBS and FBS.
and Mapped The task and structure of both are completely different. However the
workplan task are mapped to financial task. Many workplan tasks can be
mapped to one financial task but not vice-versa.
NSNM / Split Non-Shared No Mapping. The task and structure of WBS and FBS are
and Unmapped completely different. And the workplan tasks are not mapped to financial
tasks
FSS Fully Shared Structure. The task and structure of WBS and FBS are
identical. There cannot be a different financial structure, as the workplan
structure is shared by the financial structure.
PSS Partially Shared Structure. Part or portion of the tasks and structure of the
WBS are identified as FBS task. There cannot be different financial
structure, as the portion of workplan structure is shared by financial
structure.
Split Structure One of the non-shared workplan structures (eg, Non-Shared Not Mapped or
Non-Shared Task Based Mapping)
Project A template you define and use to create new projects. Information on the
Template template defaults to a new project when you create a new project from a
template.
Template Level Attributes to be used in a project are defined on the project template, which
are then defaulted to each new project created from the template.
Scheduling Scheduling is the identification of task dates, priorities, dependencies and/or
milestones and assigning and managing resource assignments.
Summary Calculated amounts for a parent task based on the amount values of the
Values related child tasks.
Actual Cost Costs associated with the workplan from actual expenditure transactions,
such as time cards, processed for the project.
Estimate to The remaining effort to complete the work for a task resource assignment
Completion
Physical The amount of effort already completed for a task resource assignment.
Percent
Complete

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1.2 Abbreviations

Abbreviation Meaning
OP Oracle Project Management
MSP Microsoft Project
NSTBM Non-Shared Task Based Mapping Structure
NSNM Non-Shared No Mapping Structure.
FSS Fully Shared Structure.
PSS Partially Shared Structure
WBS Work Breakdown Structure
FBS Financial Breakdown Structure
ITD Inception To Date
PTD Period To Date
UOM Unit Of Measurement
ETC Estimate to Completion
PPC Physical Percent Complete

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2. Introduction
Oracle Project Management (OP) is an effective and comprehensive set of tools used by
customers around the world to manage medium- to large-scale projects. Schedules and budgets
can be setup and monitored during the life of your project, which helps you insure your projects
are completed on time and on budget.

When you use OP, you may also use Microsoft Project (MSP) to help you manage projects
through an out-of-the-box integration feature. The integration allows MSP and OP to manage the
same project while providing security and controls for sharing information between the two
applications.

The benefits of using MSP integration are best understood when you know what type of project
information you plan to manage using OP. Since OP can manage information in both the project
workplan and the financial plans, the structure you select for your project determines how the two
types of plans are related.

The objective of this document is to provide you with recommended best practices for selecting a
project structure and how to use features in MSP that are integrated into the overall project
management lifecycle that you manage with OP.

2.1 Overview
The integration between MSP and OP is intended to be a tool to help you manage your project. It
is not expected nor recommended for you to use MSP separately and independently to manage
individual project plans or distinct portions of a project. Such segregations require a more robust
integration interface to reconcile and report on differences or impacts of changes between plan
types (financial or work plans) or project versions, which is not supported by the integration.

The features you use in MSP depend upon the type of information you need to manage about
your project in OP, size and complexity of the project workplan, your existing business processes
and the structure of your project.

To decide what features to use and how the use of those features is supported by the MSP
integration, you first need to know the type of information you need to manage about your project
and understand the project structures available for managing your project work plan and financial
plans. The structure type you select is an important decision when determining what MSP
features to use since the integration process can handle structures differently. The most important
differences are discussed in this document, but for a detailed description of the differences, you
should review the MSP Integration Troubleshooting Guide.

You also need to understand how the integration is intended to support the standard project
lifecycle. Because the integration is flexible, you can share project information at any point in the
project lifecycle. However, some data and calculations are either not handled by MSP, handled
differently in OP and MSP or your project data may not retain it’s integrity if you transfer project
data in a different sequence than what is recommended.

So, the recommended practices when using MSP integration depend on the information you want
to manage, the project structure of your project and the practices in your organization used to
manage projects.

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3. Project Structures

3.1 Overview
In order to understand what benefits you achieve by using MSP integration, you must understand
how OP manages different types of project information. OP uses a concept called project
structures to segregate the types of information you need to manage about a project.

In OP, you create different plan types for managing the work and the financial aspects of your
project. Then you specify a project structure to define the relationship between the workplan (ie,
the tasks required to complete the project) and the project’s financial plans (ie, budgets and
forecasts).

MSP does not support the concept of different plan types or project structures.

3.2 Structure Types

You have several options and the best option to use depends on the nature of the project, the type
and level of information you need to manage and the business processes you use in your
organization.

Since the structure you choose impacts how the features work when you use OP integrated with
MSP, the decision on what structure to use is a key step in determining what information to
manage using MSP.

When your project is best managed by using a fully shared structure (FSS), it is because you
manage both work schedule and financial information about your project for the same tasks at the
same level of detail. With a FSS, the workplan and all financial plans have the identical task
structure. Therefore, any change you make to the tasks affects both the workplan and current
financial plans.

When your project has a single overall task hierarchy for the workplan and financial information,
but you only need to maintain summarized financial information, you should use a partially
shared structure (PSS). You designate the level of the workplan that is shared with the financial
plans, and all financial information lower than the selected level is summarized in your financial
plans. Changes you make to tasks may affect both workplans and financial plans, (depends
whether such task is identified as financial task or not), but the effect may be different depending
upon the level of the task in the hierarchy that you modify.

When you cannot use a PSS because your project or business practices do not allow you to
maintain a single task hierarchy and resource assignments, but you still want to summarize
financial information based on the workplan tasks, you use the non-shared task based mapped
structure (NSTBM)*. You map tasks in the financial plan to tasks in the workplan. Financial
information for tasks at a lower level than the shared task in the workplan is summarized for the
mapped task in the financial plan.

Lastly, when your project workplan cannot be logically mapped to tasks in the financial plan or
the cost of mapping tasks in the plans exceeds the benefits, you use the non-shared, non-mapped
structure. Since plans are not related changes you make to the workplan do not affect the financial
plan and workplan information is not summarized or shared between the plans.

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 * Note: As of the publish date of this document, NSTBM structures are fully supported on Oracle
Project Management Release 11i RUP4. Support in other release versions is planned but not
scheduled.
3.3 Recommendations
In summary, let the type of information you need to manage, guide you in selecting a project
structure.
Structure Type Pros
Fully Shared Workplan and financial plan
tasks are kept in tight synch
New tasks added to the
workplan are automatically
added to the financial plan
Partially Shared Workplans can be kept in
more detail than financial
plans
Actual and ETC values can be
entered in the workplan when
updating progress
Non Shared, Workplans can be kept in
Mapped more detail than financial
plans
Multiple workplan tasks can
be mapped to single financial
plan tasks
Useful when transitioning
from a legacy system where
WBS is not setup correctly
Allows financial reporting
rollups in a different format
than workplan schedules
Non Shared, Non Structures are completely
Mapped separate which means no
upkeep of structure
synchronization
Useful when transitioning
from a legacy system where
WBS is not setup correctly
Actual and ETC values can be
entered in the workplan when
updating progress
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Cons
Financial plans are usually not
kept as detailed as workplan
tasks which are usually more
granular
Actuals must be entered in the
financial plan
Financial still have to roll up
to the same top tasks as the
workplans
New tasks added to the
workplan must be manually
added to the financial plan
Plan v. actual reporting is
available only in the financial
plan
More complex and time
consuming to setup and
administer
Plan v. actual reporting is
available only in the financial
plan
Forecasting cannot use
workplan schedules and
resources
Workplan progress collection
does not get reflected in the
financial plans
Best option for:
Easiest to setup and administer in
Oracle Projects, most features
Most in depth detail for Earned
Value
Medium to small size projects
Professional Services firms
Firms that track financials to
milestones only, not details, such
as Engineering & Construction
and manufacturing firms
Large projects
Require Earned Value reporting
on projects
Customers that create workplan
structures in a different format
than their financial structures
Require Earned Value reporting
on projects
Small to Medium projects
Good when transitioning from a
legacy system
Customers who do not need to
share any details of their work
schedule with their financial plans
Do not require Earned Value
tracking of projects
Large projects
Good when transitioning from a
legacy system
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4. MSP Integration Architecture

The architecture of the MSP integration is designed to leverage key benefits of MSP while
allowing you to manage enterprise-level projects using the robust and integrated set of features in
OP and the eBusiness Suite.

4.1 Benefits of Using MSP

Because MSP is a standalone, desktop application and widely used in many project management
organizations, it can be effective when paired with OP.

• MSP users can save, share and manage individual project files. This can be very useful
when you have distributed project teams and managers who do not have ready access to
view, use and edit project information online.
• The costs to implement MSP and train users are generally less than implementing Oracle
Projects which is an enterprise-level application with integrated project management
features. The savings may be greater if MSP is already in-use throughout your
organization.
• The MSP user interfaces (UIs) are simple and easy to navigate since information is not
stored and managed centrally for use by other project team members. Some types of
updates, particularly when there are a large number of tasks or resource assignments, are
easier to manage using the simpler MSP UIs.

4.2 Integration Architecture

The integration of MSP and OP is based upon sharing information between a MSP project file
and a specific OP plan version. In OP, the plan may be a financial plan or a workplan, but in MSP
the plan is always a project file. When you send a project file from MSP to OP, data you enter in
your MSP project file is sent to OP and automatically entered into the associated location in the
linked OP project plan. The link is between the MSP file and a specific OP plan version, so each
time you send and receive project information between MSP and OP for the same MSP file or the
same OP version, the link is used to identify the corresponding file or version.

You can send only one MSP file for each project plan version. So, if you want to use MSP to
perform specific project maintenance tasks, you must establish the link between the plan version
and the MSP file. If you want to link your MSP file to a new version, you must establish a new
link by selecting a different plan version when you send your MSP updates to OP. Unless you
specify a different plan version, updates you make in MSP are always transferred to the linked
plan version. If you make changes directly to the plan version in OP and then send in changes
from MSP, the MSP changes will update the changes previously entered.

If you want to link different MSP files for different versions, you must enable versioning for your
project by setting the versioning option on the OP project template you use to create the project.

4.3 Project Structures and Integration

Since project structures affect how information is managed between plans and MSP and OP are
integrated to manage specific plans, the project structure you use impacts what features you
should use in MSP. In most scenarios, the integration allows you to control the type of
information you want to update when sharing plans between MSP and OP.

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 The task structure of a plan is made up of tasks organized in a task hierarchy. If your project
structure is shared or mapped, tasks will carry both workplan information and financial
information. Tasks that are not shared or mapped will be used only for workplan information or
for financial information.

When you receive a plan in MSP and make updates, MSP does not distinguish between a
workplan and a financial plan and you can update any information available in the plan file in
MSP. So, other than projects with a FSS, you are allowed to specify which information will be
updated in OP by specifying the plan type when you send and receive a project in MSP.
If your project uses a FSS, there is no difference between the workplan and the financial plan
structure. When you link a file to a plan for an FSS project, you can specify which plan version to
update, but you cannot specify whether to update only a workplan or financial plan. Tasks you
add or remove from a project file in MSP are updated in both plans when you send a linked file to
OP.

When you use a PSS, NSTBM or NSNM structure and link a plan to a MSP file, you specify
whether it is a financial plan or a workplan. When you send a plan file to OP and specify the type
of plan it is, only the information related to the plan type is updated in OP. If you create or
receive a financial plan in MSP and update the financial information on tasks, changes are made
only to the financial plan. Once the file is linked, you cannot change the type of plan that is linked
(eg, you cannot link a file to a plan as a workplan and then change it to a financial plan later).

If you are using PSS or NSTBM structures, you must pay special attention when removing
workplan tasks. You are not allowed to remove tasks that have actual financial information (eg,
actual cost or revenues).

4.4 Managing Summary Information

In many cases, you may want to manage workplan information at a lower level of detail than you
do in your financial plan. The standard option in OP for such cases is to use the PSS or NSTBM
structures. Such structures maintain a relationship between the workplan and the financial plan,
so values in your workplan are summarized and used in the calculations necessary to maintain
your financial plan.

However, when you send a project to OP from MSP, you also have the option to send information
and maintain a plan at a summary level in OP. This option allows you to maintain a lower level of
tasks in MSP for a workplan or financial plan than you maintain in OP.

Transferring the plan at a summary level does not achieve the same effect as a partially shared or
mapped workplan structure. When you use a partially shared structure (PSS), you actually
maintain a complete and detailed task structure in the workplan the portion up to the selected
level is shared between the two plans. When you use the NSTBM structure, you maintain
summary level tasks in the financial plan and map the summarized tasks to tasks in the workplan
hierarchy. So the workplan remains detailed while the financial plan is summarized.

When you send summary information from MSP to OP, it summarizes the values in a single plan
and only creates the plan structure in OP up to the selected summary level. The details of the
workplan or financial plan are maintained solely in MSP. Once you send that level to OP, you
cannot change the level during subsequent transfers for the same project file. If you decide you
want to work at a different level in future transfers, you must send the file from MSP to OP as a
new version. This new version will have a separate file link and can be maintained at a different
task level.

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5. Project Management Lifecycle

To determine whether it is best to manage some project activities using MSP you must consider
the structure of your project, the standard supported project lifecycle, your existing business
practices and what project information is best managed using MSP.

For most projects, you perform the following activities when you create new projects.

Phase
Create a Project
Schedule a Project
Publish a Project Workplan
Create a Financial Plan
Collect Progress
Update the Project Workplan
Generate Forecasts
Activities
• Enter project dates, options and settings
• Enter project tasks
• Determine the resources that will be used for a
project
• Organize tasks (set dependencies, milestones, etc.)
• Assign resources to tasks
• Enter estimated costs and revenues
• Make the workplan available to the project team for
collecting progress
• Set a baseline to generate financial plans
• Create financial tasks or identify shared tasks
• Assign resources
• Set and approve a baseline plan (budget)
• Track progress for tasks and resource assignments
• Use progress to generate forecast updates
• Modify task or resource assignment dates
• Update task details
• Add or remove tasks
• Apply actuals to the forecast
• Apply spread curves to adjust future period ETC
• Calculate new ETC

You use workplans to create and manage a project schedule, insure you have appropriate
resources to complete the project and communicate project status. You create a baselined
workplan to help you control a project and track progress. Once you create a workplan, you create
financial plans to use for controlling project expenses and revenues. The budgets and forecasts
you create help you manage your project and can be used to control project changes, make
accounting adjustments and communicate financial results.

The recommendations and best practices in this document are organized based on the project
lifecycle.

Other than publishing a plan, you can manage any of the standard lifecycle activities using MSP.
However, using MSP integration involves additional steps and there are differences in how MSP
and OP calculate values and process updates.

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6. MSP Integration Best Practices

6.1 Creating Projects

6.1.1 When to Create New Projects In MSP

The integration features allow you to use either MSP or OP for creating a new project. In
some cases, using MSP to create a new project has benefits over creating it in OP.
Transferring a project between MSP and OP requires additional steps, so you should only
consider starting your project in MSP when you can recognize the benefits.

You should start your project in MSP when:

• You create your project workplan by collecting entries from multiple sources
who are not expected to use OP for ongoing project management. You collect,
cut, copy and paste workplan tasks into a single project file using MSP
interfaces. Once the workplan is complete, you transfer it to OP using a project
template to create your project.
• You want to schedule the project as you create it. In some industry practices, a
detailed estimation cycle precedes the creation of a project workplan. Or, you
may have a large, detailed and complex workplan with many constraints,
dependencies and milestones that impact the tasks you decide to include in the
workplan. Importing your workplan estimates into MSP in order to schedule
the workplan and assign resources eliminates the steps of creating the workplan
in OP first and then receiving a file in MSP for scheduling.
• You are planning to use a NSTBM or NSNM structure and you have a detailed
financial plan. If your financial plans have a large, complex structure, the same
benefits apply to the creation of the financial plan using MSP. You collect and
organize your financial plan tasks using MSP, then transfer the plan to OP. If
you are planning to use a NSTBM structure, you map tasks once your
workplan and financial plan are sent to OP.

There are benefits of using OP to create a project because you can use a template during
the creation process. MSP does not have a template management feature, so when you
start a project in MSP, you start with a copy of another project or enter a project from
scratch. Then, when you send the project file to OP for the first time, you specify an OP
template and values from the template are applied to the project when it is created in OP.

When you start your project in OP, you can setup project templates and use those
templates to create new projects. The project template is designed to make the project
creation process more efficient. Using project templates has three primary benefits that
you cannot achieve when you create your project workplan in MSP.
• You can default many project attributes from the template, so you do not need
to enter the details for each new project. If you are creating your project in
MSP, you must enter the required details and some of those details could be
defaulted from a template if you create your project in OP.
• You can default attributes from the template to each new task or resource
assignment added to a project and view that information as you enter tasks and
assignments.

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 • You can setup attributes for business rules on the template that control how
projects created from the template will behave. This allows you to categorize
your projects, create a template for each category, then default common
business rules to each new project created from the template
Therefore, you should not start your project in MSP if you need to view and modify the defaulted
values as you add tasks and assignments. Similarly, if you need the business rules available in the
OP template as new tasks and assignments are added, you should start your project in OP

The table below provides a summary of recommendations when you should start your project in
MSP or OP based upon:
• The accessibility of the user to various applications,
• Who in your organization typically creates new projects, and
• Whether you use templates to create new projects.

Criteria Finance Creates PM Creates

Projects Projects
PM has OP access OP MSP or OP
PM has no OP access OP MSP
Create projects from templates OP MSP or OP
Create projects from copy OP OP

6.1.2 Creating a Project Using MSP

Before you begin using MSP, you must first set up MSP and OP for integration. By enabling the
integration in OP, you add features to MSP that allow you to send and receive project plans
between the two applications. Once MSP is enabled, the MSP tool bar has a new menu option
entitled “Oracle Projects”. You use many of the options in the Oracle menu to manage the
integration process.

When you use MSP to create a project you must perform the following activities:
1) Enable MSP Integration
2) Setup MSP for Integration
3) Setup OP for Integration
4) Create the project file in MSP
5) Send the project to OP

6.1.2.1 Enable MSP Integration

To enable MSP integration, you use the Setup option and select the Microsoft Project Integration
Installation task after logging into Oracle Projects with the seeded Projects Superuser
responsibility. In Microsoft Project Integration Installation window select the MSP Version. You
must select one of the currently supported MSP versions: 2000, 2002, 2003 or 2007.

You must also insure your browser is Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater and your browser option
settings are enabled for ActiveX controls. After you enable MSP for integration, an “Oracle”
option will appear in your MSP toolbar menu. You use the “Preferences” option to set OP
preferences and controls for integration.

6.1.2.2 Setup MSP for Integration

After you enable MSP integration, you need to setup MSP and OP preferences for controlling the
integration.

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 You use the “Tools” > “Options” menu in MSP to setup MSP preferences and controls for
integration. Set the following options based on your user or business preferences:

• View
• General (setup default rates)
• Edit (preferences for units, days, hours)
• Calendar (control resource assignment dates)
Use the “Oracle” > “Preferences” menu in MSP to setup OP preferences and controls for
integration. Set the following preferences to determine how your data is controlled when sending
files between OP and MSP:

• Send Work Breakdown Structure (determine the level of task you want to send
to OP)
• Assign Oracle Projects "Task Number"
• Calculate Cost Method (see “Resource Rates” in the Scheduling section
below).
• Send Time-phased Data
• Send Oracle Percent Complete

After you send a project to Oracle Projects, you cannot change the preferences. To change the
preferences you must create a new linked file.

6.1.2.3 Setup OP for Integration

Before you start creating your project in MSP, you need to create setups in OP that you will use
in MSP to assign values to your tasks.

• Create resource lists that you will use to create resource assignments when you schedule
a project in MSP.
• Create project templates that you use to send a new project to OP. A project template has
many settings that control the creation and management of your project. Key attributes
that affect a project you create in MSP include the project structure, enabling versioning
and the option to default task duration on all resource assignments.

6.1.2.4 Creating the Project File in MSP

When you create a project in MSP, the tasks you enter in MSP are the tasks you need to manage
your project workplan or financial plans. When you enter tasks, you also enter the required task
details.
• You enter task numbers or use the MSP outline number assigned based on the preference
option you set up. If you want to assign your own task numbers, use the Column Text 5
field to enter the values. You can also select to use the MSP Outline Number or the
Unique ID in your setup preferences.
• Pay careful attention to the dates that are generated for your tasks based on your MSP
calendar definition. Not all calendar definitions you can setup in OP are available in MSP
(see “Calendar” in the Scheduling section below).
• You enter planned values for each period for your project if you enabled the time phasing
option in your setup.

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 • You can enter values based on a lookup table of values from OP. You need to enable the
LOV in the Oracle Projects menu in the “Receive from Oracle Projects” > “List of
Values” option. The task values may apply to workplan tasks, financial tasks or both.

Task Attribute Plan Type Value

Service Type Financial
Item Workplan
UOM Workplan
Task Type Financial and Workplan

6.1.2.5 Sending the Project to OP

After you enter all of your workplan tasks, you can send your project to Oracle if you do not plan
to schedule it in MSP. You must specify a project template when you send your project to OP.
You cannot send a new project to OP if you do not select a valid template that exists in OP. To
send your project to OP, you perform the following steps:

• Initiate the send process from the MSP “Oracle Projects” menu
• Select a valid OP template to use in creating your project in OP. You can select any
available template in OP.
• Enter the project name /number field
• Select the type of plan you want to create in OP.
• Specify the type of file version you want to send using one of the 3 “send” options. Use
the publish option if you do not expect to make any further updates in OP after you send
your plan.

When your file is sent to OP the template-level setups are used to create the new project and the
tasks and plans are copied from your MSP project file.
• If you selected a level in the “Send Work Breakdown Structure” option, you select an
“Up to Task Level” to send the WBS. Only summary task values are sent to OP for the
tasks at the specified level.
• Task numbers are assigned if you did not enter any or did not elect to use the default
MSP outline number.
• When you send the file to OP the first time, a link between the MSP project file and the
OP project is established and used to transfer data between the two projects during the
project lifecycle. Once this link is established, you cannot update it. You can have more
than one linked MSP project file for each OP project, but only one for each plan version.
The link is stored in the “0” summary row, so be sure not to update or remove the top
summary row of the project file in MSP.
• Depending upon the structure of the selected template and the value you select for the
type of data to send, different data is sent to OP. For example, when you select a project
template with a FSS structure, both workplan and financial plan are created when you
send the file to OP since the structures of both plans are fully shared. So for FSS
structures, you cannot select the plan type.

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6.2 Scheduling Projects

6.2.1 When to Schedule a Project in MSP

Scheduling involves the entry of task dates, priorities, dependencies and/or milestones and
managing resource assignments. As noted above, one of the reasons to use MSP for creating a
project is when you want to schedule the project as part of the creation process. However, it may
be better to create your project in OP first then transfer it to MSP for scheduling.

In either case, there are benefits to using MSP for project scheduling depending upon the type of
project schedule you need to maintain. These benefits become greater as your need for more
detailed schedule information increases and for projects with large numbers of tasks in the
workplan

Use MSP for scheduling when:

• Your schedule needs to include task level information, such as task constraints and
milestones (with no duration). Although you can use your OP workplan to organize a task
hierarchy for summarizing workplan information at multiple levels, maintain task dates
and durations, and set task priorities, you cannot maintain some scheduling information,
such as constraints and milestones.
• You need to identify and resolve workplan schedule conflicts.
• Your workplan is detailed, large and complex. The simple and easy to navigate UIs in
MSP may be more efficient when you are working with a very large number of detailed
tasks and resource assignments. In MSP you can quickly add, remove, copy and update
multiple records quickly.
• When the scheduling process involves inputs from multiple sources. In MSP, you can
save, manage and merge MSP project files without risking overwrites between project
records before sending the workplan to OP for publishing.
If you do not intend to track detailed task dependencies, milestones or constraints and your
workplan is not very detailed, you should start your project in OP, assign task dates and make
resource assignments.

The table below provides a summary of recommendations when you should schedule your project
in MSP or OP based upon:

• Your project size and value

• The complexity of your project task structure

Criteria Small Medium / Low Medium/

Project Large Project High
Size Project Size Complexity Project
Complexity
Low Value Project OP OP / MSP OP MSP
Medium Value Project OP MSP MSP MSP
High Value Project MSP / OP MSP MSP MSP

6.2.2 Scheduling a Project in MSP

When you schedule a project in MSP, you enter the details you need to manage your project
workplan or financial plan and then send your project file to OP.
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 If you are scheduling your project as you create it, you enter the plan tasks and the schedule
information and both the project and the scheduling information are created when you send your
file to OP. Otherwise, you receive your plan in MSP before you schedule it and send it back to
OP.

6.2.2.1 Receiving the Project in MSP

Unless you are creating your project in OP, you must receive a project plan in MSP to update it.
You must define the following parameters each time you receive a project from OP:

• Whether to receive a working version or the latest published version. Select the working
version if you started your project in OP and schedule it in MSP. You select the latest
published version if you are intending to reschedule or update the workplan or financial
plan using MSP.
• Whether to receive the workplan or financial plan.
• Whether to create a new MSP file from the existing file in OP or from a project template.
If you are creating your project and scheduling it at the same time in MSP, you need to receive a
resource list from OP to make resource assignments. To receive a resource list, select “Oracle
Projects”> “Receive From Oracle Projects” > “Resource List” in the MSP menu. You must
decide the following when you receive a resource list:

• The project template associated with the resource list. When you send the project to OP,
you are not limited to using the template you selected when you received the resource
list. You can select a different template to use for creating your project.
• Whether to receive a workplan or financial plan resource list.

6.2.2.2 Entering Scheduling Information

You may need to enter any of the following information to schedule your project:
1) Task dates and durations
2) Task dependencies and constraints
3) Task priorities
4) Resource assignments
5) Milestones
You can assign task-scheduling attributes by using lookup values from OP. To enable the look
up, select the Oracle Projects menu, then select “Receive from Oracle Projects”> “List of
Values”. The attributes may apply to the workplan or the workplan and financial plan. The
lookup values are received when the project or resource list is received from OP.

Task Attribute Plan Type Value

Task Manager Financial and Workplan
Task Type Financial and Workplan
Priority Workplan

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6.2.2.3 Scheduling Considerations
When you work with schedules in MSP and send the schedules to OP, consider the following
important recommendations:

6.2.2.3.1 Using Time Phased Data

Time-phased data are the values assigned to a resource for the periods of the assignment
duration.

6.2.2.3.1.1 Receiving Time Phased Data in MSP

Time-phased data cannot be received in MSP from OP. The assignment data is
received from OP as lump sum amount and by default is spread by MSP for the task
assignment duration based on the MSP flat contour. When resources are assigned to
tasks, you can check the setup for work contour by viewing the Task-Resource
assignment in MSP. From the MSP tool bar, select “View” > “Resource Sheet” then
double-click on task-resource assignment.

6.2.2.3.1.2 Sending Time Phased Data to OP

To modify the spread in MSP, you can select a different spread method or update the
periodic values manually. After you send the time-phased data back to OP, the spread
curve recorded for the resource assignment is “Null” signifying that MSP used its own
spread logic for this resource assignment. You can send time-phased data for all 4
types of workplan structures.

If you want to send your periodic data for a resource assignment from MSP to OP,
from the MSP tool bar select the Oracle Projects menu, then select “Preferences”. The
checkbox for “Send Time-phased Cost and Work Data for Resources” must be
checked.

Because of the differences in spreading logic between MSP and OP and the fact that
MSP spreads data in the flat contour by default when you send data to MSP from OP
(it is received as a lump sum and re-spread), you must be careful when transferring
data when actuals are already collected for tasks. If you applied actuals to the current
working version of a workplan, you are prevented from sending time-phased data
from MSP to OP when there is periodic data before the “ETC Start Date”. You’ll
receive a message that the data can be modified for periods on or after ETC date and
the Project, Task, Resource as well as the ETC date is provided in the message so you
can easily identify the resource assignment details and correct the data for periods
before the ETC date. Once corrected, the time-phased data for resource assignments
can be sent successfully to OP.

Consider the following example

120 hours of Resource R1 is assigned to Task T1 of a project. Task

T1 has start and end dates as 01-Jan-09 to 31-Dec-09. Workplan has
GL periods as the basis for time-phasing. The resource assignment
has even spread curve. The periodic distribution for the assignment
shows 10 hours from Jan-09 to Dec-09.

Now apply 10 hours of R1 is actual effort. After distributing the

effort and summarizing the actuals, the progress is applied to the
current working version. The periodic distribution for the assignment
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 shows period Jan-09 to June-09 as closed and the remaining effort
(ETC) is distributed from Aug-09 to Dec-09. Jul-09 would show
planned as 10 hours and actual as 10 hours.

Once the data is received from OP in MSP for the current working
version, MSP re-spreads the planned effort of 120 from Jan-09 to
Dec-09 based on the flat contour algorithm. Therefore if the ETC
date is 20-Jul (the progress as of date in OP), MSP spreads the effort
before 20-Jul. In this situation, when the time-phased data is sent
from MSP to OP, an error message is triggered because the periods
from Jan-09 to June-09 are closed in OP.

To correct this, you should delete any periodic data before the “ETC Start Date” and
spread the planned data on or after that date.

6.2.2.3.2 Calendar Definitions Used in Scheduling

As part of Oracle eBusiness Suite (EBS) OP has an extremely flexible calendar definition
and not all OP calendar settings are available in MSP. Therefore, when you receive a file in
MSP, the default calendar is always the standard calendar definition since there is no
mapping between the calendar definitions in MSP and OP. You need to update the calendar
setting in MSP for your project before performing any scheduling.

Additionally, while there are other possible definitions available in OP, MSP only considers
a 5-day work-week unless you use elapsed days (e-days or calendar days). You cannot use e-
days to define duration in OP. Only business days are counted in the duration when you send
your project to OP. To achieve the same effect, you can change the standard MSP calendar
to have 24/7 working (similar to the concept of elapsed days).

6.2.2.3.3 Resource Rates and Cost Calculation

Resource rates (along with UOM) are used to calculate costs for resource task assignments
in MSP. When you receive a file in MSP, the existing rates in OP are sent to MSP where
you can view them. After updating the Quantity and sending the file to OP, these rates are
used to calculate resource costs in the workplan. When you are using one of the split
structures, you can work separately with the workplan, so you have the option to enter
override rates in MSP and use those rates to calculate cost. To enter and use these rates, you
select “MSP” as the Cost Calculation Method. This option is available only when you are
working with the workplan costs and not available for FSS or PSS structures.

6.2.2.3.4 Milestone Tasks

If you define milestone tasks in MSP, they are assigned a duration of “0” by default. Since
tasks cannot have a value of “0” in OP, new tasks created in OP that are marked as
milestones and which have a “0” duration will be automatically assigned a duration of “1”.
However, the task weighting for any such tasks is automatically set to “0”, so the overall
value of the task will not affect the summarized plan values.

6.2.2.4 Sending the Project to OP

If you did not send your file to OP after creating it or received a file in MSP to schedule a project,
you must send your file to OP to update the schedule information for a project. The same process
and recommendations apply to sending the project to OP if you send the file after scheduling it. If
you did not create your project while scheduling and received a project in MSP to schedule, only
schedule information and resource assignments are created in OP.

When you send a file to OP, you must make the following selections:
1) Whether to create a new plan version. If you send a new version, a new file link is created
in your MSP file.
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 2) Whether to publish the plan when you send it.
3) Whether to send project data or budget data. Unless your project uses a FSS (fully shared
structure) only task information associated with the plan type is sent to OP. You cannot
select budget only data if your project has a FSS.
4) Whether to send the “.mpp” file as an attachment.

6.2.2.5 Publishing a Project

You cannot publish a project in MSP since publishing is an OP concept. So, you determine
whether to publish a project each time you send a workplan file to OP. Unless you plan to make
additional scheduling updates in OP, you should publish the plan when you send it from MSP.
You can only have one published version in OP. When you send a published version the previous
published version is updated.

If you do not send it as a published version, you must publish the plan in OP in order to:
• Enter task progress or update task statuses
• Complete task structure updates after you send a project to OP from MSP. If you send
your plan as a working version, deleted tasks are not removed from the OP plan until you
publish it.
• It is mandatory to have at least one published version to send percent complete (a
progress measurement) to OP.

6.3 Collecting Project Progress

6.3.1 When to Collect Progress Using MSP

You collect progress for a plan to track your project and to re-calculate Estimates to Completion
(ETC). You must collect progress in order to calculate ETC and generate a new forecast in OP.

Progress is specified as the Physical Percent Complete (PPC) for a task. You can use MSP to
capture or calculate PPC, but the ETC and forecasts are calculated and produced in OP after you
send your progress updates from MSP.

Some of the same benefits that make MSP a useful tool for creating and scheduling a project also
apply when collecting progress.

Using MSP for collecting progress is recommended when:

• When team members do not (or cannot) enter progress online and report progress
centrally. The file sharing benefits of MSP are useful to collect, summarize and review
progress updates before publishing them in OP.
• When you want to want to review and report interim progress updates on a working
version of the workplan. Since progress can only be sent from MSP to OP to a published
version of a project workplan, you cannot create a working version of the plan and send
interim updates from MSP to OP as progress is gathered and then review and publish the
final updates in OP. You must either collect, review and approve the final progress
updates for a workplan in MSP and publish it to OP or team members must use OP to
post their progress updates against the latest published workplan.

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 • If you want to make scheduling updates as progress is collected. If you typically make
scheduling changes as progress is entered and you are using MSP to manage your
schedule, you should use MSP to collect progress.

The table below provides a summary of recommendations when you should schedule your
project in MSP or OP based upon:

• Team member access to OP

• Size and structure type of your project

Factor Collaborative Centralized

Progress Progress
Collection* Collection
PM / Team do not have access to OP N/A MSP
Small / Medium size projects OP OP
Large projects OP MSP / OP
Shared structure OP MSP / OP
Split structure OP MSP / OP
*Requires the use of Oracle Projects Collaboration

6.3.2 Collecting Progress In MSP

The Physical Percent Complete (PPC) for a resource assignment or task is how progress is
tracked. If you are using MSP to collect progress, you perform the following activities:

1) Receive a plan from OP to MSP. This insures the latest updates from your published plan
are used when making progress updates in MSP.
2) Enter progress values to calculate new PPCs.
3) Send the plan to OP for forecasting.

6.3.2.1 Receiving a Plan to Collect Progress

When you receive your plan in MSP from OP, in addition to the standard plan information, you
can receive percent complete (PPC) values for all structure types and for all the tasks both
Financial and Workplan. The latest PPC values are received in MSP when you receive your
project. The OP PPC is stored in the “Text 19” field in MSP. When you update progress values in
MSP, the OP value is updated. The value in the “%-Complete” column is calculated by MSP.
MSP calculates the %-Complete based on the completion of the task duration.

If you want to view current actual and forecast values during the progress collection process, you
can receive Actual Costs, Actual Effort and ETC Effort. Values can be received for all structure
types.

The selected amount type from OP populates the Actual Cost column in MSP and Labor Hour
populates the Actual Work column.

6.3.2.2 Collecting Progress

All tasks have a PPC, even summary tasks. There can be some differences in the MSP and OP
PPC rollup calculations for summary tasks. If you prefer to see the OP PPC in the %-Complete
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 field, you can copy the OP PPC from the “Text 19” field using the “Copy Oracle Progress Fields
to MSP Progress” option. You can choose to retain both values for comparison, but only one
PPC can be sent to OP.

You may also update task attributes as you collect progress. If you update task attributes shared
with OP, you should receive and use the appropriate List of Values to insure you are using valid
OP values.
• Priority
• Progress Status
• Task Status

6.3.2.3 Sending Progress to OP

If you prefer to use the OP PPC values when you send your project updates to OP, you must
insure your MSP preferences in the “Oracle Projects” menu is set “Yes” for “Send Oracle Percent
Complete”.

Percent complete can be sent for all structure types and for all the tasks both financial and
workplan. However for version-enabled projects, it is mandatory to have at least one published
version to send percent complete to OP.

Actual Costs are not sent from MSP to OP, but planned effort is sent. Actual Work and
Remaining Work are sent to OP for split workplan structures only when you send progress to OP.
Actual Work is mapped as Actual Effort in OP and Remaining Work is mapped as ETC Effort in
OP. Therefore Actual and ETC values can only be sent from MSP to OP for split workplan
structures.

Some task attributes are updated on workplan tasks and others in both the workplan and financial
plan tasks as noted below. Workplan updates are sent when you send “Project” data. Financial
plan updates are always sent for FSS and when you send “Budget” data for other structures.

Task Attribute Type

Attribute
Priority Workplan
Progress Workplan
Status
Task Status Financial and Workplan

Remember, you cannot publish a project in MSP so you determine whether to publish a project
each time you send a workplan file to OP. You must publish a version in order to complete
progress updates and delete tasks. When you send a published version the previous published
version is updated.

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6.4 Updating and Rescheduling Projects

6.4.1 When to Update or Reschedule Using MSP

Since rescheduling a project involves many of the same activities as scheduling, the benefits are
the same. Therefore, in most cases, if you are using MSP to schedule a project, you should also
use MSP for rescheduling.

Since the projects you manage using MSP are likely to have a large number of tasks with
complex details, you should also consider using MSP for updating task details when you use it for
scheduling.

It is critical to implement adequate business controls when you have multiple users maintaining
your schedule and task information in OP. It is possible that the workplan schedule can be
updated and even re-published in OP after you send a project file from MSP. Therefore, to insure
you are working with the most recent details in your project plan the next time you perform
updates in MSP, it is recommended that you receive the latest published workplan in MSP before
starting the rescheduling process. Otherwise updates made in OP since the previous upload may
be overwritten.

It is also important to remember that you can update and send different plan types from MSP. So,
you must specify the right plan type to correctly make your updates to your plan. When you are
using a project with a structure other than FSS, you can only send project data or budget data with
each file. If you are making updates to financial information on your tasks but send as project
data, your updates to financial attributes will be sent to OP.

6.4.2 Updating or Rescheduling a Project in MSP

When you reschedule and update a project you perform the following activities:

1) Receive the project plan file in MSP with actuals to insure the latest updates from your
published plan are used when making updates in MSP.
2) Update task scheduling information
3) Update task details
4) Send the project plan file to OP to implement your updates

6.4.2.1 Receiving a Plan to Reschedule and Update

The process of receiving the plan for updating the schedule is the same as when you perform the
original scheduling. However, when you are maintaining the schedule and task attributes you may
want to receive the latest task attributes (in the event updates are made in OP) and view actuals
from OP as part of the process.

You determine the task attributes to receive by setting the correct preference in the send options
using the Oracle Projects option in the MSP menu. The values for these attributes are
automatically received when you receive the project in MSP from OP if there are values assigned
to the tasks in OP. If you enter a value manually and it does not match to any valid value in OP,
the process will result in an error and entered values will be ignored when updating OP with your
changes. To avoid this error, you should receive the LOVs from OP and use them to assign
attribute values.
• Service Type
• Task Manager
• Priority
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 • Progress Status
• Item
• UOM
• Task Type
• Task Status
• Work Type

To receive actuals, from the Oracle Projects menu select “Receive From Oracle Projects”>
“Actuals Data”. Before receiving actuals in MSP, you should run the summarization processes in
OP. You can select any of the following actuals to receive

• Amount Type: Raw Cost, ITD Burdened cost, ITD Revenue

• Receive Cost Amount
• Receive Labor Hour

If the workplan is enabled for versioning and the working version is the plan linked to your MSP
file, then the progress updates made in MSP are not updated on the working version until the
progress is applied from latest published version. Therefore it is strongly advised to Apply Latest
Progress to the current working version whenever there is a need for re-planning, rescheduling or
modifying a project in MSP.

6.4.2.2 Updating a Plan

You update scheduling information manually or use the MSP rescheduling tools to update task
and assignment dates. You can also update task structures by adding or removing tasks or
assignments. To maintain task information in MSP, you update task attributes using the LOVs.

You may delete a task in MSP, but the deletion is not finalized until you publish the associated
workplan in OP and the deletion is validated. This insures tasks with existing transactions are not
deleted (which is not allowed in OP).

To delete a task in MSP, you enable the delete task UI by pressing the delete key or selecting
from the menu, “Oracle Project” > “Delete Task”. The selected tasks will be marked for deletion
(if there are no other exceptions like expenditure transactions on the task). When you transfer the
file to OP tasks that are marked for deletion are still visible in the working version until it is
published.

When you use the self-service application of OP, you can only delete tasks directly on a working
version, not a published version. Tasks marked for deletion but not yet deleted are marked with a
small blue circle indicator until the working version is published.

6.4.2.3 Sending an Updated Plan to OP

Similarly to scheduling, task attributes received from OP and updates sent to OP depend on the
structure you use and plan type of your transfer file. If you select “workplan” when you first
create your MSP project file, only updates to workplan attributes are sent to OP when you
transfer the file back. If you select “financial plan”, only financial plan attribute updates are sent.

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 Generally, when you send the workplan and choose to send “project data”, the following
information is sent to OP to update your plan:
• Workplan task attributes that were entered, updated or removed. The only task
attribute not updated is Service Type, which is only an attribute for financial tasks.
• Resource assignments
• Task dependencies
• Added or deleted workplan tasks

If you send a financial plan and choose to send “budget data” the following details are sent:
• Financial plan task attributes
• Updates to financial plan resource assignments
• Cost information
• New or deleted tasks (except for PSS projects)

When you send the financial plan and send “project data” only updates to workplan attributes that
are also held on the financial task are sent (such as Task Manager, Task Type, Task Status and
Work Type).

You are not permitted to send a workplan and select to send “budget data”.

In OP, you are not permitted to delete tasks with transactions. Since task mappings between plans
for projects with PSS or split structures and transactions are only maintained in OP, tasks you
delete in MSP cannot be actually deleted from your plan until you publish it in OP (or send it to
OP as a published plan).

Some information in OP is unaffected when you send an update from MSP because the data is not
transferred from MSP to OP, such as Actual Cost.

6.5 When to Manage Financial Plans in MSP

Other than standard forecast and budget updates to incorporate actuals and progress, there are
typically two points in the project lifecycle where you manage financial plans:
• Creation of a financial plan after the workplan is created, and
• Update of financial plans when the workplan structure is modified

If your financial plans are tightly associated with your workplan, you should create your financial
plans in OP using the workplan as the starting point. OP has numerous options to control and
configure this process. You typically use this process to create a FSS or a PSS structured project.
You can decide the level of summarization you need for different types of financial plans.

If you are creating NSTBM or NSNM structured projects, the benefits of using MSP to create
financial plans are the same as for workplans. Once you send your files to OP, you complete your
mapping in OP if you are using the NSTBM structure.

Since the primary benefits of using MSP integration involve large, complex plan structures,
unless the financial plan is similar in nature, there are not many benefits of managing financial
plan updates in MSP. It is not possible (and generally not required) to maintain a lower level of
detail in your financial plans than in your workplan.

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There are recommended usages for managing financial plan information in MSP, but generation
of budgets and forecasts should always be done using OP. Consider using MSP for the following
activities related to financial plan management:

• Use MSP to manage updates to large, complex financial plan structures. You can add
new tasks, delete unused tasks, update resource assignments and update task details
more easily using the MSP UIs.
• Create multiple plan working versions to perform ‘what-if’ analysis. By sending
multiple working versions with different types of plan information, you can create
multiple different plan scenarios.

After receiving the financial structure in MSP and adding a new resource assignment, you select
“Budget Data” in your sending options to send financial plan updates back to OP (except for FSS
projects). You can send as many versions as required for the same plan type with different
combinations of data type options:

• Send task level cost only

• Send Resource Assignment Work and Cost: Both task level and resource level cost
are sent
• Send Resource Assignment Work: Only resource level cost is sent and not task level
cost.
• The version may be sent as ‘working’, ‘current’ or ‘baselined’.
• The cost may be stored as raw cost or burdened cost.

Financial plans can be managed using MSP without managing a workplan in OP, but it is not
recommended since it is typically a workplan that drives costs and revenue in the financial plan.

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Oracle Project Management
December 2009
Authors: Parag Lawate, Michael Dean Herback, Susan Rawlings

Oracle Corporation
World Headquarters
500 Oracle Parkway
Redwood Shores, CA 94065
U.S.A.

Worldwide Inquiries:
Phone: +1.650.506.7000
Fax: +1.650.506.7200
www.oracle.com

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. Various

product and service names referenced herein may be trademarks
of Oracle Corporation. All other product and service names
mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Copyright © 2009 Oracle Corporation

All rights reserved.

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