Project Server 2013: What's New
Hope you all are still doing well!! As part of my Project and Project Server 2013 series of Updates, this one will focus more on what has changed in the Project Server 2013 environment.
Lets have a look at some of the changes : (Details will be discussed later)
- Multi-Tenancy Support
- Database Consolidation (Much discussed topic)
- The Odata Service
- Project Server 365 (Cloud Availability)
- Mobile Access to Project Information, using a Compatible Device (Sorry BBY!)
- Demand Management Improvements
- Better Exchange Integration Between SharePoint 2013, Project Server 2013 and Exchange 2013
- My Tasks - ALL tasks in one location
- Administrative Settings UI changes .
Multi-Tenancy Support
This allows a SharePoint Farm and SharePoint Infrastructure to be shared by different BU's or Clients. Typically it could be in a hosted environment where you need to give Multiple client the ability to manage their own environments. For more info Look Here
Database Consolidation
In Project Server 2010 there are 4 Databases:
- ProjectServer_Archive
- ProjectServer_Draft
- ProjectServer_Published
- ProjectServer_Reporting
One of the most significant changes to the actual architecture, is the consolidation of those 4 Databases into a Single Database. So no more 4.... Only one DB known as the Project Services Database. The 4 DB names are now "Tables and Views" of which only the Reporting table have direct accessing supported. So in that sense, nothing have changed. Read more Here.
Odata Service
A Major change in Project Server 2013 reporting, is the use of the OData service to access the Project Service database. The use of OData enables reporting from a Online Point of View. In Office 365, the ProjectService database for Project Online cannot be accessed directly, so an OData service is available.
This has been released inline with Microsoft Office 365. This is an Online-Hosted solution, which is Hosted in a Microsoft Data Center. This enables an organisation to Adopt quickly. This also have a "Pay-as-you-Go" Model.
In my opinion this is a relatively good offering for a Small organisation. (At a later stage i will discuss the why i think so)
Users can be added and changed when needed. Some of the benefits include, but are not limited to :
- IT Pro-Administration : All Operational maintenance and monitoring are handled through MS Project Online Services.
- Easy Start-up : No Infrastructure costs or Expensive licensing that need to be bought.
- Security : Monitored and checked for Viruses and Spam, and also redundant backups for when it might bee needed. (Not sure yet if they will be able to help with item level restores)
- Guaranteed Up-time : Microsoft offers guaranteed, financially-backed uptimes and phone support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Mobile Access to Project information
A new addition in Project Server 2013 is support for mobile access to your project Information. A web-based mobile site is now included, which enables team members and project managers to view project status on a mobile device. You can access and edit relevant project documents and do lightweight editing of project plans from your Windows Phone 7.5 (using the Internet Explorer 9 browser), Apple iPhone, or Android device. For more Information read Here
Demand Management Improvements
In Project Server 2010, workflows can be created and edited in Visual Studio. A major improvement in Project Server 2013 is the ability to use SharePoint Designer and the SharePoint workflow engine to create Project workflows for Demand Management.
Integration Improvements with Exchange 2013, SharePoint and Project Server
The Exchange integration feature in Project Server 2013 allows you integrate project task management by using SharePoint Server 2013 with Exchange Server 2013. This allows team members anywhere that have access to Exchange Server to interact with task management data in Outlook or Outlook Web App and even using an Exchange-connected mobile device (by using either Windows Phone 7.5 or Apple IOS v5). More information here.
My Tasks: All tasks in one location
The My Tasks feature allows users to see an aggregation of their SharePoint, Project Server, and Outlook/Exchange tasks in a single location — the My Tasks page in a user's personal site. Instead of navigating to different lists, sites, and site collections to view and edit both SharePoint Server and Project Server tasks, users simply have to go to their My Tasks page to see a single collection of all the things they need to do.
This is done using a new Service called "Work Management Service" that combines all of the users tasks in the My Tasks in a Users site. For more info on this click here
Administrative Settings UI changes
In Project Server 2013 , Administrative controls that are more IT-related were moved from the Project Web App Server Settings page to the SharePoint Central Administration site. The goal is to make the Server Settings page more suitable for PMO Administration and to move settings related to administering the farm to the Central Administration site.In Central Administration in SharePoint Server 2013, you can find the Manage Project Server Settings page in the General Application Settings section. For further reading click here
In Conclusion
This is a list of some of the changes (There are many more) that i found worthy to mention for now. Note that some of these items might change due to this being based on the Preview Software and not the RTM software, however this is highly unlikely.
If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment below this post.
South African Greetings!!
Andre
1 comment:
Is there any books available that can be purchased explaining how to use Projects Server 2013?
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