Executives and other managing stakeholders can use the enterprise features in Microsoft Office Project Web Access to monitor and measure projects and resources throughout the entire organization. They can see information about dozens of projects and thousands of resources, presented in a manner most relevant to their requirements.

When you are a managing stakeholder identified with executive-level permissions, you can log on to Office Project Web Access and see your entire portfolio of projects in one place, view all enterprise resource information, and arrange information in views or reports so that you can analyze, compare, and evaluate data.

You can compare one project against another, and look at overall resource allocation and availability throughout your organization. Your high-level views of the project portfolio and enterprise resources can be easily adapted and tailored to what you need to see for your particular focus, which can be quite different from what another managing stakeholder might need to see.

Because Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 is integrated with Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, you have additional project collaboration and analysis information at your fingertips through workspace features that include discussion, calendars, risk management, issues tracking, and document control services.

Through all these, Project Web Access provides clear visibility into your organization’s project efforts. You can access vital information that helps you prevent problems and ensure smooth operations. Through the Microsoft Office Project 2007 enterprise project management features, you can see the big project picture, use resources wisely, and make sound decisions for the future of your organization.

Getting Started with Project Web Access

Use your Web browser to connect to your organization’s installation of Office Project Server 2007. You then log on to the server from Project Web Access by using the user identification established for you by the project server administrator.

After you’re logged on, browse around to orient yourself to the layout of Project Web Access. This will give you some ideas of how you can use Project Web Access as a partner in your project analysis and decision-making.

Logging On and Off

To log on to Project Web Access, follow these steps:

1. Start Microsoft Internet Explorer (at least version 6.0).

2. In the Address box, enter the URL for your organization’s project server and then click Go.

   The project server administrator provides you with the URL you need. Enter the URL exactly as provided, including any case sensitivity.

   If your project server administrator has set you up with a separate project server account, called a Forms account, the Project Web Access Sign In page appears (see Figure 24-1).

   

   Figure 24-1. If you are set up with a Forms account, you see the Sign In page whenever you start up Project Web Access.

   Enter your user name and password as provided by the project server administrator and then click Sign In. You might need to add or change your password after you log on the first time.

   If your project server administrator has set you up to use your Windows account, the Sign In page does not appear, and you connect to Project Web Access immediately after you enter the Web address.

   Your Project Web Access home page appears (see Figure 24-2).

   

   Figure 24-2. After a successful logon, the Project Web Access home page appears.

Create Shortcuts to Project Web Access

Because Project Web Access is your "command center" for project activities, consider adding it as a favorite Web site. When the Project Web Access Sign In page appears in Internet Explorer, click Favorites, Add To Favorites. Enter a name in the Name box and then click OK.

You might also consider adding a shortcut to Project Web Access on your Windows desktop. In Internet Explorer, click Favorites. Right-click the Project Web Access favorite you just created, point to Send To, and then click Desktop (Create Shortcut).

Note

If your project server administrator set you up with a separate project server Forms account, add a password the first time you log on to Project Web Access.

On the Quick Launch task bar, click Personal Settings. Click Change Password. Follow the instructions on the page that appears and then click Save.

When you are finished working with Project Web Access for the time being, it’s important to log off. As a sponsor, customer, or other managing stakeholder, you have special executive permissions set up just for you in your Project Web Access user account. These permissions give you access to potentially sensitive or proprietary project information and documents, so it’s important to practice your normal standards of corporate security.

To log off of Project Web Access, follow these steps:

1. In the upper-right corner of any Project Web Access window, click the Welcome button.

2. On the menu that appears, click Sign Out.

Finding Your Way Around

Browse around Project Web Access to get a feel for available features and how you might like to use them. You’ll find Project Web Access similar to many Web sites, with information and links on multiple pages.

On the page that’s currently displayed, review what’s available. Remember to use your scroll bar as needed. Click around and orient yourself to the content and controls. If you have used Windows SharePoint Services or previous versions of Project Web Access, much of the site will seem familiar.

The Project Web Access home page and other major pages show the Quick Launch task bar on the left side of the screen (see Figure 24-3). The Quick Launch task bar includes a list of links to all the major areas and functions throughout Project Web Access, for example, the Project Center and the Resource Center. Simply click a link on the Quick Launch task bar, and the page changes to show the item you clicked.

Figure 24-3. The Quick Launch task bar is your navigation center, taking you to all the areas of Project Web Access.

You are likely to spend most of your visits to Project Web Access in one of three key areas, as follows:

• The Project Center. The list of all projects for your organization are listed in the Project Center. You can arrange and review summary information for various combinations of projects. You can also click a project to see its component tasks or to open it in Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007.

• The Resource Center. The list of all resources in your organization’s resource pool are shown in the Resource Center. You can review summary information for different groupings of resources. If you want, you can also drill down to see detailed assignment and availability information for an individual resource.

• Data Analysis. You can use the Data Analysis page to build, view, and save reports generated from an online analytical processing (OLAP) cube. Your project server administrator or portfolio manager might create the cubes (sets of up to six fields) that you can use to dynamically generate a PivotTable or PivotChart.