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Mar

The Practical Professor

Categories: Construction Science, Critical Path, Databases, Live Online P6 Training, Oracle Gold Partner, P6 Professional, Primavera P6, Primavera Resources, Primavera software, Primavera Training

Tags: Construction Science, In-Person P6 Training. P6 software, Live Online P6 Training, On Demand P6 Training, P6 database, Primavera P6 Training

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by Bill Pepoon

My wife and I have a vacation home in Truckee, California. Whenever we are up there we get together with a couple who have a second home just two doors down from ours. During our last visit we met the wife's charming mother for the first time. After several hours of pleasantries she asked me a slightly odd question:

"Are you a professor?"

"No", I replied. "But I do teach scheduling and software classes."

She went on to explain that she thought I spoke very clearly and explained my thoughts in a logical, concise manner. So her comment about my being a professor was certainly meant as a compliment. She was not a native English speaker, and she complained that her son-in-law speaks much too quickly. On the other hand, I had no trouble understanding her at all.

And it occurred to me that learning a language is a lot like learning how to schedule projects or to use scheduling software.

Most of us who have tried to learn another language have been exposed to those classes where you put on a pair of headsets and repeat various phrases in the new language like, "that is a very big fish!"

Which is only helpful if you happen to encounter someone holding a large fish.

Okay, so these classes do teach more useful phrases and even I have managed to order hot chocolate in Rome without feeling like a complete dolt. Tourist, yes. Idiot? As they say in Italian, "no".

Still, there is nothing that quite prepares you for going to another country and trying to strike up a conversation with a local. You have no control over what they are going to say. The answer is not in your handy phrase book. They may also speak with a dialect that is unfamiliar. What you learn has to have a practical application to your situation.

One of the criticisms of many engineering programs at universities is that students spend their first three years learning theory without any explanation as to why and how they will be applying this knowledge in the real world. I switched majors from Civil Engineering to Construction Science because of my own doubt about how I would use my degree. Differential equations seemed irrelevant to someone planning to take over the family construction company.

The dilemma for a university professor, however, is that students are incapable of providing much feedback other than demonstrating their retention of knowledge. It is not like one of the students is going to say, "I am planning to build clean water facilities in remote locations with no power grid, so what are the best practices?" The professor teaches a standard curriculum which should cover "all the bases", so to speak, and the students do not know enough to ask questions.

When I teach scheduling and Primavera P6 classes, however, nearly all of my "students" are professionals who have several years of experience and who also have particular expectations. They are all about "what can Primavera P6 do for me?" This is why Oracle refers to its partners like ours as "solution providers". Anyone who has used Primavera P6 knows that it is very powerful. But different companies and different industries have their own unique demands.

Case in point. During a recent private training session for a major company we discussed several issues. There are short, turnaround, projects that are over very quickly and for this reason the duration format is hours, meaning the activity durations are expressed in hours. But the construction projects take much longer, so the preferred duration format is days. So within the same company not all schedules are built the same way.

Pro Tip: it matters to the instructor whether the student will be sharing a database with other users. The Administrator of the program has control over certain parameters such as Earned Value, which means that all users are subject to the same conditions.

We also discussed how the turnaround projects use "pull-planning" to establish the optimal dates for each activity, the construction projects follow a more traditional Critical Path Method schedule whereby some activities have float. With pull-planning you are essentially looking at only the "late" dates in a CPM schedule; finishing early is not a goal or even desirable.

What about resources? In this case, the company does track labor and equipment (what P6 labels as "nonlabor") but does not cost-load its schedules. I often warn my clients that when discussing resources, output determines input. What type of reports and charts do you expect P6 to produce? Do you track individuals or crews? Will actual hours or costs be inputted? This particular company also plans to integrate P6 with another planning program, which affects how the schedule should be built inside P6.

The fact is, none of my private group training classes are "typical". My clients are sophisticated companies that have been planning and scheduling for years. But they might be switching over to P6 or looking for "best practices" when using P6. It is pretty common for someone with P6 experience to say to me, "P6 can also do that?" Well, when you use P6 nearly every day of the year you do tend to learn a few tricks. It also helps to be an Oracle partner with unlimited access to Oracle engineers.

While I do occasionally have people in my classes who are quite new to scheduling, I am otherwise not some university professor pouring knowledge into somewhat empty vessels. And in private group classes we have the opportunity to discuss corporate preferences as well as my own. This is where videos alone are not the best form of training. Besides not being able to ask questions, there is no collaboration between instructor and pupil.

Ultimately, just learning how to use a software program is not enough. Anyone with P6 experience can tell you what a button does when you push it. Whether you should be pushing the button at all is harder to learn without the guidance of someone who has practical experience with the program. Any amateur can create some videos and proclaim themselves an "expert" on P6, but those of us who do this full-time are not fooled.

Our firm does offer On Demand (i.e. video) training, but we back this up with live online and in-person training sessions. In addition, we also offer private (custom) training to anyone who wants to take their knowledge of scheduling and P6 to the next level. Why sit through a regular training session when you can focus on your needs with one of the most experienced schedulers in the United States?

I have great respect for universities, having a Masters degree myself, and I studied the Critical Path Method of scheduling during my undergraduate days at Kansas State University. I learned the practical side of CPM scheduling, however, working alongside experienced schedulers. It occurred to me, for example, that no one explained how to properly update a schedule at university. Other schedulers showed me what to do.

And now I would like to pass along that knowledge to you!

May

Scheduling as a Profession

Categories: Primavera Training

Tags: Construction Science, CPM Scheduling, PMI, Primavera software

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by Bill Pepoon

Someone asked me recently if getting a job as a scheduler would be difficult without a college degree. That is not an easy question to answer because it really depends on the industry and employer’s preferences. I personally do not think a college degree is mandatory, but certainly those four years in college should count towards experience. College forces you to learn new skills every semester. At the same time, I have met field-tested individuals who, like the tin man, seemingly need a piece of paper to prove their worth. And it is entirely possible that neither the college graduate or the highly experienced individual has been formally trained for scheduling. A little more effort is therefore necessary on both their parts.

The dictionary tells us that a profession is a paid occupation, especially one that requires a formal education and prolonged training. Doctor, lawyer, accountant, and engineer are widely recognized as professions. In many instances a license or certification is also required. There is a sanctioning body, and an individual can lose their privileges for various infractions.

Does that mean that scheduling is not a profession? There is no mechanism to stop individuals from being schedulers unless companies refuse to hire them. Employers effectively decide who is a scheduler. But do these employers understand scheduling well enough to vet potential candidates? Not always. The right degree listed on a resume is certainly helpful, as well as relevant experience. So scheduling is perhaps a quasi profession based on the expectations of the job market.

Before anyone gets too excited, I am not trying to diminish scheduling by calling it a quasi profession. Rather, I am simply acknowledging by my fraternity brother the doctor has to live up to a higher standard than I do. And I think scheduling deserves a little more leeway. Should a scheduler be formally disciplined for using negative lags? Are constraints allowable? It is a slippery slope to let some group arbitrate what constitutes proper scheduling.

I often think of project managers when I think about schedulers. Project management is also a quasi profession. I meet project managers all the time. Their backgrounds vary considerably. In some cases “project manager” seems more like a job title than anything else. A person can get promoted tot. project manager. Not something you would say about the legal profession. “Yes, you have done such a great job as a paralegal that we are promoting you to lawyer!”

The Project Management Institute is (in its own words) “the gold standard of project management certification. PMI is quite adamant that project management is a profession. But for many years PMI has had a curious problem: fewer members than certified Project Management Professionals (PMPs). I noticed this back in the late 1990s, and the rift just keeps getting bigger and bigger. As of 2016 (PMI has not released data for 2017 yet) here are the numbers:

740,000 PMPs
470,000 members

PMI requires continuing education in order to maintain certification. And we can assume that some PMPs have retired or died during the many years that certification has been available, but I doubt that explains the difference. And besides, not all members are PMPs. The reality is that thousands of people are leaving PMI after obtaining their certification. Your boss tells you to get certified. But once you are certified that is probably the end of the discussion.

Moreover, PMI does not make a college education a prerequisite for certification. But similar to my beliefs, PMI treats a university degree towards experience. Someone with a degree needs a minimum of three years of project management experience in order to sit for the exam, while a person with no degree needs five years. A four-year degree counts as two years of project management experience. I think that is fair. Not everything one learns in college is directly related to project management regardless of the major.

Gold standard or not, PMI does not have the ability to restrict who can be a project manager. Once again, it is the employer who decides what constitutes the prerequisites for project management. But project managers have the advantage of many peers. You are not alone in the organization. A large company could have dozens of project managers. Some of them are probably PMPs.

Several years ago, PMI began offering a certification for scheduling: Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP). This certification does not require PMP certification, and the prerequisites for relevant experience are different: 5,000 hours without a 4-year degree and 3,500 hours with a degree. So a university diploma basically counts as slightly less than one year of work experience. But for someone who only schedules projects part-time, it could take well over a a year to obtain the additional 1,500 hours of experience eliminated by a 4-year degree.

At the same time, however, we must recognize that someone cannot become a proficient scheduler without mastering a scheduling software program. It may be the most important criteria. A 4-year degree and lots of field experience are not good enough to get a job as a scheduler. Computer skills are a necessity, and it is certainly true that the scheduling software programs are complex. Learning the software is an essential part of the training required to be a scheduler.

My father was a civil engineer who started his own construction company in the 1950s. He learned nothing about how to be a contractor in college and he frankly never gave it much thought. By happenstance he started working for a small general contractor and then met two gentlemen who believed he could run his own firm. He figured out his own way of estimating projects based on his dissatisfaction with how he had first been taught to estimate.

The irony is that my dad expected me to become a civil engineer when clearly my future lay with running a construction company. My father did work for Black & Veatch for a few years prior to his long career in contracting but I had no illusions about designing anything. I switched my major to Construction Science (yes, that is where my company’s name comes from) after my freshman year on the advice of older fraternity brothers who were in the Construction Science program.

Kudos to the universities that realized years ago they should be teaching students how to run their own construction companies! Construction Science (Construction Management, et al) is a very common major today. But in my day some construction companies were still more fixated on a traditional engineering degree for probably the same reason as my dad: tradition.

So unlike my father, I learned estimating in college. Not to his standards, of course!

Keep in mind, when my dad started his construction company a license was not required in many states. Any guy or gal with a pickup truck and some tools could call themselves a contractor. The customer decided who was qualified. And on public works in particular the ability to get bonded was a considerable hurdle. An insurance agent could decide if you were indeed worthy based on your assets. Every financial decision my father made was in consideration of how it might affect his bonding capacity.

Getting back to scheduling, I spent perhaps six weeks during my last semester in college learning about CPM scheduling and building my own schedule. That experience alone obviously did not give me a huge advantage over my coworkers at my first consulting gig who never studied scheduling at all. But it helped me to get up to speed a lot faster. My boss also liked the fact that I was losing my hair. He thought that looking older than my years would command more respect from clients. Thanks, I guess.

I studied Critical Path Method scheduling in college – not a typical subject in the 1970s. The personal computer was just being introduced and no software existed that could calculate a CPM schedule on such a device. Primavera Systems did not release its flagship program, Primavera Project Planner or “P3”, until 1983. How would someone even practice CPM scheduling without a computer? My college professor had such a program that he ran on the university mainframe.

Looking back, I realize why CPM scheduling was a senior level class in college. Our professors wanted us to first study not just estimating but also surveying, concrete and masonry design, steel design, drafting, soils analysis – the entire scope of a project. You cannot build a proper schedule without understanding the project scope. It all ties together.

After college, I latched on with a consulting firm that owned its own scheduling software, which they ran on a “mini-frame” computer. Think of something the size of a soda vending machine and you have the right mental picture. But it was not exactly user-friendly: input was via a keyboard with no monitor. Make a mistake and the duration of a task might contain part of the activity description. A duration of “s” was certainly possible. I had to check each line in the computer printout very carefully.

The consulting firm that hired me in 1983 had already been scheduling projects since the 1960s, and two of the original partners were still involved in the day-to-day operations of the firm. I was in fact surrounded by schedulers. I accompanied my boss to jobsite visits to learn the proper procedures for updating a CPM schedule. I never touched any software for my first four years – for the simple reason that data entry was cumbersome. My hourly rate made me too valuable.

Nevertheless, I certainly understood what this proprietary software required from me. Most importantly, I fully understood how the forward and backward passes work based on my studies in college. All scheduling software programs use these algorithms to calculate the longest path of activities and the float values. When the firm purchased Primavera Project Planner in 1987 I quickly learned the features of that program – a much easier task after four years of practice with a simpler program.

Scheduling has always been a profession for me but clearly I had advantages. I studied CPM scheduling in college (formal education) and improved my skills at work (training) as a full-time scheduler surrounded by schedulers. In addition, I had access to several scheduling software programs which allowed me to practice CPM scheduling. For me, scheduling is a profession because I made it a profession.

I meet too many “schedulers” today that are being rushed by their employers to possess knowledge and skills that are simply not there yet. If you skip the formal education then more training and experience will be required. PMI gets it, and so do I. When I started my own consulting firm in 2010 I decided that training would be a major focus. And later this year I will be taking this a step further. Stay tuned!

Mar

A Project That Will Save Lives

Categories: P6 Professional, Primavera Training

Tags: Golden Gate Bridge, Primavera P6, San Francisco

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by Bill Pepoon

It is not very often that we can say that a project will save lives. But a project in San Francisco that started in February of 2017 is intended to do just that. The project has a rather long title: Golden Gate Bridge Physical Suicide Deterrent System and Wind Retrofit Project.

Our firm provided a 3-day Primavera P6 training session last week to employees of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway Transportation District and the general contractor, Shimmick/Danny’s Joint Venture. After the first day of training I drove up to an observation area on the Marin County side of the bridge to take the photo you see here.

Stainless steel netting will be strung along both sides of the 1.7 mile long bridge. The netting itself will be 25 feet below the bridge deck to avoid obstructing the view from what is of course one of the most iconic bridges in the world. Yet the sad reality is that roughly 1,600 people have chosen this location to end their lives since the bridge opened in 1937.

Suicides can be prevented. A 1978 study by University of California – Berkeley clinical psychologist Richard Seiden tracked 515 people who were restrained from jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge between 1937 and 1971. Years later, 94 percent were either still alive or had died of natural causes.

This $204 M project is expected to take nearly four years to complete. Existing paint will have to be removed, and contained. Crews will be working from the underside of the bridge some 250 feet above the water. Field measurements will have to be taken for all of the struts that support the netting. Altogether, enough netting to cover seven football fields will be hung.

Various groups and individuals lobbied decades for some sort of deterrent system. Yes, this is an expensive project but the original 4-foot high railing was hardly any deterrent at all. As one suicide note stated, “Why do you make it so easy?”

Indeed.

Dec

Primavera P6 Certification

Categories: Oracle Gold Partner, Oracle University, P6 EPPM, P6 Professional, Primavera Contractor, Primavera Training

Tags: Oracle Certified, Oracle University, Primavera Contractor, Primavera P6 EPPM, Primavera P6 Professional, Primavera Training

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by Bill Pepoon

A simple word – certification – can create so much confusion. Nearly every day we are asked about this word. How do I become certified on Primavera P6? Or how do I become a certified Primavera P6 scheduler or trainer?

Let’s start with the highest level of certification: Oracle University. Yes, there really is an Oracle University. In order to sell Oracle software a company must become an Oracle Partner (which involves a lot of paperwork and payment of fees) and get a certain number of employees certified on the Oracle programs the company wants to sell. Oracle offers Guided Learning Paths (GLPs) to help its partners prepare for these certifications.

In order to view the GLPs, however, you must have access to the Oracle Partner Network. In other words, individuals who do not work for an Oracle Partner cannot review the training materials. The GLPs cover a lot more than just the software itself, so it is vital to access to this training. Moreover, this trainer is geared towards implementing software solutions in various industries, which goes beyond what most schedulers would be expected to understand.

The next step is to take a proctored exam. By “proctored” we mean an exam observed by a third party. Oracle offers some exams during OpenWorld in San Francisco (an annual event for Oracle Partners, programmers and devotees) but there are computer learning centers around the country who offer the same exams on a more frequent basis. A passing score is 70%.

Passing this exam (1Z0-535) establishes someone as a Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management 8 Certified Implementation Specialist. If you are wondering, the “8” refers to Release 8 of P6 EPPM. Oracle has not changed the certification process even though we are now up to Release 17.7 as of July 2017.

You can view my certificate here.

Wait a minute! What about Primavera P6 Professional and Primavera Contractor? Well, Oracle does not offer separate certifications for those programs. But the reality is that P6 EPPM is by far the most difficult version of Primavera to learn and there are many features common to all three programs.

In addition, there is a desktop component of P6 EPPM that is identical to P6 Professional with one exception; the Admin menu is missing. Administrators are required to use the web component. But this also means that users who understand P6 Professional understand P6 EPPM to some extent, and vice versa. No one other than the administrators are required to use the web component and most schedulers prefer the desktop component.

I can promise you that just understanding Primavera P6 is not enough to pass this exam. There are questions related to the target markets for this software and how to implement various solutions. Companies who sell Oracle software are expected to be able to demonstrate why this software is the right solution. As you might imagine, P6 EPPM is the solution favored by Oracle.

In a nutshell, this is what it means to be “Oracle Certified”. Not all trainers are certified, and it should be rather obvious by now why firms that are not Oracle Partners are unlikely to have trainers who are certified by Oracle University. Being certified by Oracle University implies a pretty serious commitment to teaching Primavera P6. Oracle Partners also have access to resources unavailable to anyone else.

The next level of certification is by an Oracle Partner. While this may not sound as prestigious as being certified by Oracle University, the ultimate goal for non-trainers should be to learn the program, right? We are aware that job postings sometimes specify that applicants must be “certified” yet it is unlikely that the company posting the ad really understands the certification process.

Certification by an Oracle Partner will vary depending on the class. For example, our online classes are either 8 or 16 hours of instruction, while our in-person classes are 8, 16 or 24 hours. Each class has its own certification. We also offer certification via our On Demand Primavera P6 Training. When someone asks us which class to take, we try to understand what their job function requires. We offer a variety of classes to accommodate everyone’s needs.

The fact is that we have certified more than 2,500 people and not one of them has been turned down for a job because they lacked the correct certification. Each certificate we issue includes our Oracle Partner logo, and these companies know they can call us to discuss our curriculum. We want our students to succeed and we want companies to accept our imprimatur.

Perhaps more importantly, the employers we talk to overwhelming support training provided by an Oracle Partner. They appreciate that Oracle Partners are accredited by Oracle University and maintain a formal business relationship with Oracle. Moreover, only Oracle Partners can offer software sales and training. Oracle Partners are the most qualified to recommend the right solutions.

Some companies are looking for certified trainers to teach other employees – someone often referred to as the Subject Matter Expert (SME). These individuals most certainly need to be certified by at least an Oracle Partner given their additional responsibilities. After all, they are setting the standards for the entire organization. Oracle Partners work with companies in many industries and understand the proper procedures for each.

Several people who have taken our classes were initially trained by non-accredited instructors at companies not affiliated with Oracle and learned that their prospective employers would not accept their certifications. Those classes might have been cheaper, but in the long run these people end up paying a lot more to get the proper certification. And keep in mind that just because the instructor knows more about Primavera P6 than you do does not make them an expert.

Of course, real-world experience is important as well. Our company has prepared more than 600 initial schedules and more than 10,000 periodic updates. Each of our instructors has at least 25 years of experience in project management. We are in fact often asked to teach Primavera courses offered by other training firms because they recognize that our level of experience is unrivaled.

Yes, you read that correctly: some of our competitors are willing to pay us to teach their classes!

A couple of years ago a gentlemen contacted our firm and said he already knew Primavera P6 very well and therefore did not want to take a class. Instead, he wanted to buy a certificate from our firm! Needless to say, we declined. We have had our share of “experts” who did not understand the program all that well.

Any questions? Hopefully not, but let us know!

Apr

Content Stolen From Our Website

Categories: Primavera Training

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by Bill Pepoon

On March 11, 2016 we became aware of a consultancy in the U.K. that had appropriated material from our website without permission. Perhaps they thought that stealing content from our Frequently Asked Questions page would not be a big deal. Wrong! After we filed a complaint the company agreed to take down the content, but nevertheless, it is rather disturbing that someone would think this sort of behavior was acceptable.

This is not the first time we have had problems with other companies trying to use our material or to even “spoof” our training site (www.primaverascheduling.com) to trick visitors into believing they are at our official site. Some of these companies are not even Oracle Partners. If you have any doubt, you can use the following link to confirm their legitimacy:

https://solutions.oracle.com/scwar/scr/Partners/index.html

Below is the text from their FAQ page. The text in red is what the U.K. firm changed. As you can see, they copied our page almost verbatim:

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need to purchase Primavera P6 software in order to take your training?

A: No. For in-person classes, we provide laptops with Primavera P6 already installed. For online classes, you will be sharing a screen with the instructor and using their version of the program while in the training environment.

Q: Is there a “student” version of P6 that I can buy?

A: While Oracle does not sell a special version of P6 for use by students or universities it is possible to buy a term license that is good for one (1) year. This is a good option for users who need the software for more than 30 days without committing to the full purchase price. This is a great idea for universities because it reduces upfront costs and eliminates the uncertainty of how many perpetual licenses to purchase; educators can choose the number of term licenses to buy each year based on enrolment. Please contact us for pricing.

Q: How big are your classes?

A: Our online classes are intentionally kept small with a maximum of two (2) students in order to foster more interaction between the instructor and students unless we are teaching a private group or organization. Small classes give each student a chance to ask questions and perform exercises. We are the only company that limits class sizes.

Q: What’s the difference between P6 Professional and P6 Web and which one should I learn?

A: P6 Professional Project Management (P6 PPM) is installed on individual computers, like most software. P6 Web is a component of P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) that uses a browser interface. P6 EPPM also includes a “P6 Professional for EPPM” component that is essentially identical to P6 Professional. If you are planning to use the desktop component of EPPM you should register for our P6 Professional class.

Both versions of P6 are worth learning but unless your employer is using P6 EPPM we highly recommend P6 Professional. The professional version is intended for people who build and update schedules whereas P6 Web is better suited for monitoring project data. P6 Web has more graphical tools that are quite useful but due to the software being web-based it operates much slower. There are many other important differences, but in most cases the correct answer is to learn P6 Professional first.

Q: Do you offer certification?

A: Yes, as an Oracle Gold Partner we offer training and certification for all versions of P6 Professional, P6 Web, and Primavera Contractor.

Q: Are you certified by Oracle?

A: Yes, we are an Oracle Gold Partner.

Q: Are you an authorized Oracle Reseller?

A: Yes, Besides being an Oracle Gold Partner we are also an authorized Oracle Reseller. If you are interested in a product not listed on our website please call us for a quote.

Q: Can I still get certified if I take the online training?

A: Yes, our online course materials are exactly the same as what we use for our in-person classes. Your certificate will not mention whether the class was online or in-person.

Q: How do I know which version of P6 is being taught and when?

A: Our course list indicate whether the class is for P6 Professional or P6 Web. The course number is also indicative of which program is being taught. Classes for P6 Web start with a “2” (P6 201 and P6 202). P6 Professional is appropriate for “P6 Professional for EPPM” users. Register your interest in a specific course and we will contact you to talk through your requirements and schedule a date that suites.

Q: Do you offer one-on-one training? What does it cost?

A: We offer private training sessions online or at our office in Hull. We have schedules courses in Aberdeen and London too. We can also deliver this training at your offices. These classes are customized to suit your training needs. Please refer to our P6 301 page for pricing.

Q: Most of your online classes start at 9:00 am GMT. Are other start times available?

A: Yes. We can adjust start times for classes if everyone registered in the class agrees. We also offer evening and weekend classes for 20% premium over normal course prices. “Evening” is defined by GMT. If the class starts and finishes during normal working hours in the UK (8:00 am – 5:00 pm) there are no additional charges.

Q: Do I need anything else for online training?

A: We strongly recommend a headset if you are planning to use VOIP rather than a telephone during the live web conferences. Computer speakers create an echo that is distracting to the instructor and other students. An external monitor is also recommended, but not required, so that you can watch the instructor and practice each exercise at the same time.

Q: What if I need more help after the training?

A: We provide thirty (30) days of support after your training session, included in the cost of your training. If you continue to need support or would like additional training we also offer custom training sessions (minimum of two hours). These are private sessions that allow more targeted training. We can address any issue or subject matter. Keep in mind, we are also master schedulers and can mentor you on the fine points of scheduling. We are not just software experts!

Q: We plan to host our project data on a remote server. Do we need the web-enabled software?

A: Not necessarily. All versions of P6 can be used remotely. The web-enabled version of P6 (EPPM) is a user interface for people who mostly report progress rather than build schedules. Setting up remote users with P6 Professional is actually easier for most companies and organizations. As professional schedulers, we prefer P6 Professional and P6 Optional Client. The latter program is part of EPPM but is nearly identical to P6 Professional.

Q: We want to buy Primavera software. What do you mean by a “perpetual” license?

A: Oracle’s Primavera software licenses expire after one or more years unless you purchase a perpetual license. As you can imagine, an expiring “term” license is cheaper than a perpetual license. The latter is good for as long as you want to use the software. If you are seeing much cheaper prices for Primavera software on the Internet it is possible that the licenses are term licenses and not perpetual.

Q: What does the software license upgrade and support agreement cover?

A: While a perpetual license never expires, the upgrade and support agreement does expire after a certain period of time. Typically, a buyer chooses a one-year software upgrade and support agreement (although longer agreements can be purchased upfront) which gives the buyer access to any software upgrades and technical support during that period. Technical support is provided directly by Oracle and not by an Oracle partner. This support covers both installation and application issues.

Q: How do I make a Payment?

A: If you are making payment for training we can accept a bank transfer paid into our account 5 working days before the training is scheduled. (Details will be on the invoice issued). We do not accept card payments.

Oscar Wilde said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” Thanks! But perhaps we should add another Question and Answer to our FAQ page:

Q: Is it okay if we steal your material?

A: NO!!!!!!!!!

Mar

Auditing Changes to a P6 Schedule

Categories: Audit, P6 Optional Client, P6 Professional, Primavera P6, Primavera Training

Tags: P6 Audit Trail, P6 Professional, Primavera P6, Primavera P6 Training

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by Bill Pepoon

One of the advantages of Primavera P6 and its use of a database structure is the ability for multiple users to share files. This can also be a disadvantage, however. P6 administrators can restrict users in many ways, but once a user to given permission to do something, well, the hope is that he or she does not make a total mess of things. As a professional Primavera P6 trainer it always baffles me that someone might expect to master the art of scheduling without any formal instruction. There are not too many self-taught painters to my knowledge. Carpenters, bricklayers, mechanics, etc. all go through a training or apprenticeship program to learn their skills.

When Malcolm Gladwell described “The 10,000 Hour Rule” in his best-selling novel, Outliers, he could have very well been talking about scheduling. After I had been scheduling projects full-time for about five years – or roughly 10,000 hours – I felt like I had finally mastered the art of scheduling. And keep in mind, I was working on schedules every single working day. Many Primavera users only touch their schedules once a month during the update process. As a consultant, I was working on several projects simultaneously. In a typical month I would create two baseline schedules and update ten or more schedules.

But I digress. Today I want to talk about “Carl” and his dilemma. Carl attended one of my Primavera P6 classes in Oklahoma after pulling a 12-hour shift at a refinery. So you can imagine that by the end of an 8-hour class he was pretty beat. But he stuck around after class to talk about a specific problem he was having. You see, Carl was one of about a dozen schedulers working on the same project. Refinery shutdowns are very difficult to schedule. Durations are measured in minutes, not days. A six-month shutdown might require 25,000 activities to schedule. No single person could possibly handle this workload.

One particular problem that Carl was having is that he would calculate the schedule (i.e. F9) and there would be loops in the logic. And then everyone would yell at him for fouling up the schedule. Except that Carl was pretty sure he was not the culprit. He was simply the person running the schedule at the end of the day after everyone else had been inputting changes. This was your basic “shoot the messenger” situation. Carl was taking all the blame because he did not know how to figure out who was causing the problem.

While there is no perfect solution to Carl’s dilemma I was able to show him the audit columns in Primavera P6. These columns, available in the Activities Window, provide the following information regarding an activity:

Who added the activity (“Added By”)
When the activity was added (“Added Date”)
The last person to make a change (“Last Modified By”)
The date the most recent change was made (“Last Modified Date”)

These columns can be seen in the screenshot below:

Activity ID E2045 was originally added on February 27, 2015 by user “admin” and then modified about a month later, on March 25, 2015. Obviously we do not know the exact nature of the modification, but we now know where to start looking.

Unfortunately, there are some limitations. Changing the relationships between activities is not considered a modification. So Carl would not be able to identify who made the logic changes that resulted in loops. Still, adding new activities is often the source of a loop in a schedule because of the corresponding new relationships.

Changing an activity duration, on the other hand, is considered to be a modification. Other examples of recognized modifications are:

Assigning a new resource
Deleting an existing resource
Changing a resource’s budget
Changing the Activity Name
Assigning a new calendar

Note that if you are displaying time in the date columns (Edit > User Preferences > Dates) then it is possible to track who made the last changes on a given day.

Claim Digger can of course identify changes to relationships, but can not tell you who made the changes. The audit columns are still the best alternative within P6 for identifying the source of changes.

Keep in mind that only the most recent modification date and time is stored in the audit column so there is no way to see whether more than one user has been making changes to the same activity.

Copying a schedule results in the Added Date and Last Modified Date resetting to the day the schedule was copied, so the audit columns are only useful in the original version of the schedule.

Feb

What “Delete This Row” Really Means in a P6 Spreadsheet

Categories: P6 EPPM, P6 Optional Client, P6 Professional, P6 Web, Primavera Training

Tags: P6, P6 Update, Primavera P6, Primavera Templates, Primavera update

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by Bill Pepoon

During a private Primavera P6 training session last week I was showing my client how to import changes into a P6 schedule using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. As you probably know, there are basically four steps involved: (1) create a spreadsheet template inside P6, (2) export the spreadsheet, (3) make changes to the spreadsheet, and (4) import the spreadsheet back into P6. There are a few basic rules to follow, such as not changing the order of the columns in the spreadsheet after it has been exported, but otherwise it is an easy way to share Primavera P6 data with individuals who may not have access to (or understand how to use) P6.

As a consultant, I use spreadsheets all the time for schedule updates. I send spreadsheets to my clients and ask them to provide the status of each activity that has been started or completed since the previous update. I rarely have to input this information manually. This process saves a lot of time and I can focus on more important tasks such as checking the critical path, and looking for open ends and out-of-sequence progress.

Anyone who has used a spreadsheet exported from Primavera P6 has probably noticed the mysterious column that P6 adds at the end. This column is not part of the template created in P6 but always appears in the exported file. While both rows 1 and 2 are column headers, it is the second row that most people notice because of its somewhat cryptic message:

“Delete This Row”

My client understood this instruction to mean that the second row should be deleted prior to importing the spreadsheet back into Primavera P6. And where did they get this crazy idea? From the in-house P6 expert. Granted, it does appear that P6 is telling you to delete the second row. And the real meaning of this instruction does involve deleting a row.

Here’s the deal. Deleting rows in the spreadsheet does not delete the activities when the spreadsheet is imported back into Primavera P6. I sometimes forget to use a filter in my spreadsheet template and when I realize there are more activities in the spreadsheet than I intended, it is often faster just to delete the rows rather than re-export the spreadsheet. And for this reason I also warn my clients that deleting a row in the spreadsheet is not the proper way to get rid of activities that are no longer needed.

The purpose of “Delete This Row” is in fact to delete one or more rows. You type “d” in this column next to any activity that should be deleted from the schedule. When the spreadsheet is imported back into Primavera P6 the activities with “d” next to them will be deleted. It is actually a great way for someone to communicate to me that certain activities should be deleted. In the graphic below, Activity ID 21 has been designated for deletion:

Keep in mind, that when activities are deleted there is a chance that it creates open ends in the logic network, so it is very important to check for missing predecessors and/or successors before publishing the schedule. Otherwise, “Delete This Row” is a very convenient way to get rid of unwanted activities.

Dec

2014 in Review

Categories: Disney, Orion, P6 EPPM, P6 Professional, Primavera P6, Primavera Training, SPAWAR, Wrigley Field

Tags: Contractor, Disney, Orion, P6 EPPM, P6 Professional, Primavera Training, SPAWAR

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by Bill Pepoon

2014 was the best year ever for Primavera Scheduling and our parent company, Construction Science. But while higher revenues are always welcome it was really the range of clients and training experiences that made 2014 very special. Here are just a few of the highlights:

We provided Primavera P6 training to a NASA contractor working on the Orion space program. Orion is the first deep-space program initiated by NASA since Apollo. As someone who well remembers landing on the moon – I was 11 years old when it happened – the idea of going back to deep space is very exciting. No decision has been made by NASA on a destination, but Mars or an asteroid seem like distinct possibilities.
We provided Primavera P6 training to Disney’s Creative Costuming at Disneyland. Yes, Disney uses Primavera P6 to schedule the making of costumes for all of their major theme-park characters. We spent one day at Disney University (!) teaching class and another day teaching at the actual location where the costumes are made. The effort that goes into making these costumes is quite extraordinary.
We provided Primavera P6 training to the U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in San Diego. One of the interesting tidbits that came out of this training is that the Admiral of the Navy does not like red bars on the Gantt charts. He apparently believes that “red” means the project is behind schedule. And you definitely do not want to make the guy in charge of the Navy’s weaponry mad. So we showed the SPAWAR team how to make the critical path bars another color.
We provided Primavera P6 training to a general contractor in Chicago who is renovating Wrigley Field. This $575M project represents the most extensive renovations ever made to Wrigley Field, one of America’s oldest ballparks. This will be an incredibly difficult project due to the historic status of Wrigley Field – even the ivy that covers the outfield walls is a protected landmark. ESPN has posted some great high-resolution photos of what the renovated ballpark will look like.
I was selected by Lorman Seminars to be a presenter and moderator of its “Tricks, Traps and Ploys Used in Construction Scheduling” seminar in Sacramento, CA. After 31 years as a professional scheduler it was fun to talk about all the sneaky stuff that is sometimes part of CPM scheduling. An audio recording of the seminar and the training manual can be obtained at a 50% discount by using this link.
Our Primavera software sales nearly doubled compared to 2013. We have always offered very competitive pricing but we firmly believe that our personal attention to clients is really the deciding factor. With the various versions of Primavera software that are available (Contractor, P6 Professional and P6 EPPM) we try very hard to steer our clients to the right product for their needs.

On a more personal note, the partners in our firm attended Game 4 of the 2014 World Series in San Francisco. What an amazing experience! Attending a World Series game is, in my opinion, a “bucket-list” item. Winning the World Series? Priceless! Actually, this was a very special World Series for me as my first baseball love was the Kansas City Royals and now I root for the San Francisco Giants. Given how I feel about both teams maybe this should count as two bucket-list items!

To all of our clients we send our heartfelt thanks and gratitude. And we wish all of you a great 2015.

Jan

We are Moving (But Keeping the Golf Course)

Categories: Construction Science, Northern California, Primavera Training, Rocklin Professional Building

Tags: Construction Science, Golf Course, Northern California, Primavera Scheduling, Primavera Training

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by Bill Pepoon

Starting February 1st our two companies (Primavera Scheduling and Construction Science) will be moving to a new suite in the Rocklin Professional Building. We have been adding more and more Primavera training classes and Suite No. 319 will give us two dedicated training rooms. The street address and phone number are the same as before:

5701 Lonetree Boulevard

Rocklin, CA 95765

(916) 779-4145

Leaving the Rocklin Professional Building was not an option. We love this facility! A private 9-hole golf course in the courtyard is something that our clients will never forget, although we are pretty sure they will retain a lot of Primavera knowledge as well. This professionally-designed and landscaped putting course is a great way to relax during a training break. Leave your clubs at home; we provide the putters and balls!

And if our very intensive and personalized Primavera training programs are not enough incentive for you, we have a standing offer of $50 to any student who makes a hole in one. Trust me – those greens are fast! Below are some pictures:

Jan

Websites Down on New Year’s Eve

Categories: Primavera software, Primavera Training

Tags: Primavera software, Primavera Training

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by Bill Pepoon

This is not how we wanted to ring in the New Year, but yesterday our websites (www.primaverascheduling.com and www.constructionscience.com) were down for several hours due to some sort of event at our hosting provider. We don’t know if this was a cyber attack, but it affected thousands of websites. My personal belief, and I am certainly not an IT expert, is that it had something to do with Miley Cyrus. She has never really liked us since we criticized her incorrect usage of “Total Float”. Miley thought it was a Brooklyn line dance.

In any case, if you were trying to purchase Primavera software or book training yesterday we do apologize. This problem was not of our making but we are nevertheless offering a $50 rebate on any software or training purchase starting today through January 8, 2014. You don’t have to do anything to receive the rebate; it will be refunded automatically via PayPal to whatever credit card you used for payment. Unless of course your name is Miley Cyrus.