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Using Project Architect
For more information on using methodologies, see the
Methodology Management Reference Manual.
You can also access the Project Architect wizard from the File menu. Use this option to incorporate methodologies into the current project.
The Project Architect wizard helps you select and import methodologies as pre-built project plans from the Methodology Management module. Use Project Architect to create a new project plan or to add activities and associated information to an existing project. Because Project Architect copies methodologies from the Methodology Management module database, the information you change does not affect source methodologies.
In addition to providing access to methodologies, Project Architect also contains a bottom-up estimation feature that allows you to estimate resource units and costs for your methodology selections. Project Architect bases this estimate on the project complexity value that you specify during the architect process. This enables you to estimate work effort and cost before adding a project.
Start Project Architect Wizard Choose File, New to start the Create a New Project wizard. Select the EPS level in which to place the new project. Name the project, specify a start date, select the responsible manager, and choose the default rate type. Choose Yes, run the Project Architect.
Select methodologies and estimate project complexity Click Select Base Methodology or Plug-in Methodology to select the methodology you want to import. Click Next to select the Base or Plug-in Methodology you want to import. Click Next and type a value for the project complexity, or click the Size and Complexity Wizard button to calculate a value for the project complexity. The module uses the project complexity percentage to calculate a value between the low and high estimated values defined for the labor and nonlabor units, material costs, and expense costs defined for each activity in the project.
The project complexity value can be between 0 and 100 percent. If the project complexity value equals 0, the module uses the low estimate for each activity. If the project complexity value equals 100, the module uses the high estimate for each activity. For project complexity values between 0 and 100, the module calculates an intermediate value between the low and high estimates for each activity. The value calculated using the project complexity value is then copied into the budgeted labor/nonlabor units, material costs, and expense costs for each activity.
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80 Part 2: Structuring Projects
Click to select a methodology from the list of base methodologies stored in the Methodology Management module.
Click to display information about this Project Architect session. You can enter additional information to explain your choice of a base methodology. The Rationale information is added as a Notebook Topic at the project level.
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Tailor the WBS elements You can modify the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) elements associated with the selected methodology. Click Tailor to view the details and activities of each WBS element.
For organizations using Primavera ProjectLink, you cannot modify Microsoft Project (MSP)-managed WBSes in the Project Management module. For more information on ProjectLink, refer to the Primavera ProjectLink Help in Microsoft Project (available only if ProjectLink is installed). You can access the help by clicking the Help button on any ProjectLink screen.
Click to include the selected
WBS element.
Click to view the details of the selected WBS element.
Click to specify which of the activities for the selected WBS you want to include in your project plan. Clear the corresponding checkbox to exclude the selected activity.
Tailor the WPs and Docs You can view the work products and documents associated with the selected methodology. Click Tailor to view the details of each work product or document and to select which documents to include in the project plan.
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Review the tailored methodology Click Next to view the results after tailoring the methodology. Click Overview to review the changes made to the selected methodology.
Choose update project options Select a layout configuration to use when bringing methodology data into the project. You can create and save several different configurations; however, only one configuration is used to import the file. Select Yes in the Use field next to the configuration you want to use.
Click to customize the layout configuration.
Click to create a new layout configuration.
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Modify a layout configuration To modify the options specified in a layout configuration, select the layout in the Update Project Options dialog box, then click Modify. The Action specified in the layout determines how to import data that match in the import file and in the existing project database.
The Modify Import Configuration dialog box lists the data types for which you can set options. Select one of the following in the Action field to indicate how you want to update the data type:
■Keep Existing Retains data in the existing database and does not overwrite them with the updated methodology data; adds new data if the record does not exist.
■Update Existing Overwrites data in the existing database with the updated methodology data; adds new data if the record does not exist.
■Insert New Retains data in the existing database and adds any new data items. For example, if a new role was added in the Methodology Management module, but you don’t want to change the existing roles, choose Insert New to add the new role to the project management database.
■Do Not Import Retains data in the existing database and does not import the methodology data.
Click OK to save changes to the modified layout configuration. Click Next to specify where you would like to place the Base or Plug-in methodology, then click Finish to create the project.
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