This section contains the following topics:
Tracking and Analysis Overview
Tracking is the process for measuring project status and comparing it to the project plan to identify variances and take corrective actions. This process is repeated over the course of a project, allowing you to control and monitor project progress and cost. You can also use tracking information to generate project status reports. Tracking consists of reviewing information on actuals, such as the actual start and finish dates, the actual duration of tasks, the actual time worked by resources, and the actual cost of the project. Tracking also provides information about tasks in progress and those that have been completed.
To ensure efficient monitoring of a project, make the lowest level of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) represent small amounts of work. Use milestones to indicate significant events and mark progress. To closely monitor a project, you must be able to spot problems and trends that develop during the project's life cycle in time to do something about them. Periodic evaluations of your project data can help you pinpoint problems as they arise, letting you initiate the necessary corrective actions to bring the project back on target. In instances where the word “analysis” is used, it signifies the review, examination, investigation, and evaluation of project data to:
Deviations are differences between expectations and actuality, including variances traditionally used by project managers to compare planned and actual performance. Open Workbench incorporates a number of field names that you can use in views to produce the analysis project managers need to track work performance, spot trouble areas, and account for cost and schedule variances.
The list of field names in the View Definition dialog box contains many calculated variance elements and performance indices, and several field names that you can use in an analysis to signal potential trouble (for example, “Critically Late?”). Use these fields in views to directly identify tasks with deviations.
Because projects vary in size and complexity, no single tracking method is appropriate for all projects. Open Workbench uses several methods to track the progress of a project. In designing a tracking system for your project, you should determine which tracking method is best suited to your needs.
The tracking methods you use depend on the size and complexity of the project. You can apply the method you choose to individual projects and those that have master project and sub-project relationships. Following are several methods you use to track projects in Open Workbench.
You can:
Use the total actual usage tracking method to track projects based on actuals, pending actuals, and estimate to complete (ETC) entered in Open Workbench for each resource assigned to a task.
If you are using Open Workbench with CA Clarity PPM, as resources enter hours on their CA Clarity PPM timesheets, you can view pending actual hours in the Open Workbench project plan.
Use the periodic actual usage tracking method to periodically enter resource actuals in tabulated views as well as ETC usage for each resource assigned to a task.
Periodic recording of resource usage for every task to which a resource is assigned is the most comprehensive and accurate way to keep track of your project. The actual usage is the timesheet recording method where the actual time each resource spends on a tasks is recorded at the end of a specific time period.
You can use the Gantt Chart view to track resource usage for all tasks to which a single resource is assigned. Use this view to track usage data for one resource across an entire project or group. When you use this view in conjunction with the Quick Filter by Resource drop-down, you can display data for one resource at a time.
Note: When tracking periodic actual usage, it is helpful to select the Resource LOA option on the Description tab of the View Definition dialog box.
Use the task status tracking method to monitor the status of tasks ("Started", "Not Started", or "Completed"), to change the start and finish dates, and to enter the percent complete values. You can set the task status on the General tab of the Task Properties dialog box.
Tracking a project's task status is the easiest way for you to track a project, requiring only that you establish a periodic review cycle to update your project plan. For small to medium sized projects, it may be enough for you to record only task status information. When you start a task, the status of "Started" is recorded in the Status drop-down list on the General tab of the Task Properties dialog box, or in any view which includes status data. When a task is completed, you must change its status to "Completed".
Additionally, when you Autoschedule a project, tasks that have a status of "Started" or "Completed" are unaffected by changes you make to the autoschedule start date.
Open Workbench uses several methods to track the progress of a resource. Following are several methods you can use to track resources using Open Workbench.
You can:
You can record periodic actual usage using the Resources tab on the Task Properties dialog box or by editing a view that displays the Actual field name.
To record total actual usage in a view
Periodic recording of resource usage for every task to which a resource is assigned is the most comprehensive and accurate way to keep track of your project. Resources record actual usage by completing CA Clarity PPM timesheets where the actual time each resource spends on a tasks is recorded at the end of a specific time period.
You can use the Gantt Chart view to track resource usage for all tasks to which a single resource is assigned. Use this view to track usage data for one resource across an entire project or group. When you use this view in conjunction with the Quick Filter by Resource drop-down, you can display data for one resource at a time.
You can display the total actual cost data for resource task assignments in views. You must first add the Actual Cost field to your view layout. In the view definition, this field is available in the Assignment To Tasks and All subfolders of the Resource Information folder. You can format the Actual Cost field to display a single value or multiple time-scaled values.
The actual cost of a task assignment is used to determine the Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) for a task, and is used to baseline costs for tasks and task assignments.
If you are using Open Workbench with CA Clarity PPM, the actual cost of a task assignment in Open Workbench is the total actual cost of the task assignment from CA Clarity PPM. This value is based on the actual work units posted against a resource assignment using Timesheets, financial transactions, external schedulers, or XOG.
When building what-if scenarios using Actual Usage, the Actual Cost is calculated using the resource rate instead of actual work units. The following formula is used:
Actual Cost = Actual Usage * resource rate
You can examine all or any part of your project at whatever level of detail you need using Open Workbench. The analysis you may want to perform on a periodic basis includes:
Project analysis minimizes or eliminates surprises by providing early warnings of trends and situations in a project. In a sense, periodic evaluations of your project serve as checks of your project's health. The frequency and extent of your analysis is up to you. Analyze too frequently, and you quickly find you have little time for anything else. Analyze too infrequently, and problems may not be noticed early enough to avoid an impact on the overall project success.
Project analysis is a means of answering business questions regarding the project. The following questions serve as a guideline for producing useful project health checks:
Ask this question during initial project planning. Use the Gantt Chart view to perform the analysis.
Ask this question while scheduling (or rescheduling). Use the Resource Assignment view to perform the analysis.
Ask this question while scheduling (or rescheduling). Use the Resource Assignment view to perform the analysis.
Ask this question periodically during the project life cycle. Use the Variance Analysis view to perform the analysis.
Ask this question periodically throughout the project and when the project is finished. Use the Variance Analysis view to perform the analysis.
Before you analyze project plan data, make sure that its quality is reliable. The data is valid when you have determined that it is complete, up to date, and consistent. You can solve problems with the data by entering corrections directly in views.
How you intend to use your project plan data determines how complete the data needs to be. If you want to use the plan to track and control the project, you need more detailed data than if you are simply sketching out a high-level proposal.
For project plan data to be complete:
For accurate analysis, all of the plan data undergoing analysis should be correct and complete up to the same date. This means that:
Note: See the Common Features and Personal Options User Guide for more information.
To be consistent, project plan data should not contain:
The deviations between planned and actual performance in a project can be described mathematically as variances. In general, there are two types of variances to watch for: cost variances and schedule variances. Both variances can help you discern the differences between the baseline plan estimates and the actual project performance, and are expressed as actual values.
Open Workbench uses the cost and schedule variances to calculate performance and percent complete indices. These indices provide you with a useful indication of the extent to which your project is ahead or behind cost or schedule. It is important that you review these variances and indices throughout a project's lifetime to monitor ongoing performance and pinpoint problem areas.
Open Workbench includes fields containing the fundamental calculations used for earned value analysis. These fields are available as discrete items for reporting purposes and you can add them to any view. These fields are used primarily as variables by other calculated fields to produce variance values.
Earned value calculates the following values for every scheduled activity:
The budgeted amount to be spent on the project in a given period of time.
The total direct and indirect cost incurred in performing work during a given period of time.
The percentage of the total budget equal to the percentage of the actual work performed.
These values are used together to determine if work is being performed as planned. The most frequently employed measures are:
Cost Performance Index (CPI), where CPI is equal to BCWP divided by ACWP.
To perform optimal earned value analysis, you must enter valid project data. Certain variance formulas compare current data against baseline data. You can add EVA fields to a spreadsheet view to ensure the accuracy of the data. Use the View Definition dialog box to add EVA fields and columns to a view. You can add the Assignment Actuals field to the spreadsheet view to define a resource's actuals.
Note: Open Workbench can only compute these variances if you have set a baseline of task data.
Enter the following earned value data in your project:
Note: If you are using Open Workbench with CA Clarity PPM, record the resource's actuals in CA Clarity PPM.
Note: If you are using Open Workbench with CA Clarity PPM, define the resource’s billing rate in the rate matrix.
Use the variance analysis fields to calculate the deviations between actual and planned performance. These fields automatically compare current plan data against the baseline to quantify cost and schedule variations. Examples of variance analysis fields include Schedule Variance (SV), Cost Variance (CV), and Variance at Completion (VAC).
To view this data, you must first add the fields to a view.
Variance analysis fields are also used to calculate a range of indices that provide a useful guide to evaluating project and resource performance. Examples of performance index fields are Schedule Performance Index (SPI), Cost Performance Index (CPI), and Schedule Variance Index (SVI).
To view this data, you must first add the fields to the view.
Use the % Complete Calculation Method field (on the Description tab of the Project Properties dialog box) to specify how Open Workbench computes the percent complete value. Earned value data is used against the Budget at Completion (BAC) to calculate the percent complete indices.
The percent complete value is used in earned value calculations such as the following:
Periodic reviews of these measures can help you uncover trends over time as your project progresses. Examples of percent complete index fields include Perform % Complete, Schedule % Complete, and Actual % Spent.
To view this data, first add the field to a view.
When you have multiple baselines, you can analyze project data by altering which baseline is the current baseline. You can display the current baseline in a Gantt chart view against the current status of the project.
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