Bilal Okour Blog

4 in 1

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 10:53:36 GMT

Did you get the chance to explore the Project server Database, if yes then I am sure that you wonder why there are 4 databases created for each instance of the PWA. I will not answer why but I will till you in brief what is the purpose of each

The Draft database contains tables for saving unpublished projects from Project Professional and other applications. Project Web Access does not show project data in the Draft database.
The Published database contains all of the published projects as well as enterprise resources, the enterprise global template, and other project templates. Published projects are visible in Project Web Access. The Published database also contains tables that are specific to Project Web Access (timesheets, models, views, and so on), and global data tables (outline codes, security, and metadata).
The Archive database saves backup and older versions of projects and other data.
The Reporting database is the staging area for generating reports and OLAP cubes. Data in the Reporting database is comprehensive and is updated nearly in real time. The Reporting tables are optimized for read-only report generation.

For more details please read this article

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms513875.aspx

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

Announcing the Infrastructure Update for Office Servers

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:37:39 GMT

Microsoft announced the latest Infra Structure update and it contains a fixes to the claimed bugs.

For more details please visit MSDN Official blog for Project 2007

To download this infrastructure you can follow this link . Install Infrastructure update for Project Professional

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

Forms Authentication it is amazing but?!!

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:19:13 GMT

I have some implementations of the EPM where I used the Forms authentication to authenticate the EPM users. I have wrote my notes and would like to share it with you regarding this

Why to go for Forms Authentication

Some of the EPM users are not part of the organization domain
There is no Active Directory
The user can not access the organization domain

Why NOT to go for that?

Well, do you want me to speak technically or from implementation prospective?

I guess you said both?

Technically
1. leakage of information for MS Sharepoint Forms Authentication as it is not embedded by default
2. Poor user control functionality.
3. No out of the box tool for editing users online
Implementation
1. Poor approach to design the security Rules for passwords
2. Most of the customer forgot their Forms Passwords but they don't do the same with AD passwords
3. Accordingly getting the users accounts locked, this is not the issue, the issue is the poor approach to get them back.
4. Integration with Outlook is another bad thing, once you open the outlook and entered your AD password you will get asked to enter your forms credential. Most of my users consider it as a double job that they don't like

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

Welcome back!

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:26:45 GMT

I was away from my lovely blog for the last two months, That was something that is not under my control where my movement to my new work got 100% of my time. Now I am going slowly back to track and found some good time to blog.

I will resume by continue writing about according to the best practice that I got through my experience in implementing MS EPM solution.

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

MS Project Server 2007 :: Backup/Restore your server now!

Tue, 27 May 2008 16:49:13 GMT

Another good article about Backup/Restore your EPM Server

http://blogs.msdn.com/project/archive/2006/12/08/backup-and-restore-project-server-2007.aspx

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

The Outlook Add-in for Project Server 2007 no longer loads when you uninstall and then reinstall the add-in

Fri, 23 May 2008 10:50:59 GMT

This link is interesting

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;951648&sd=rss&spid=11388

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

EPM Workshop @ MIC Kuwait is now going on, it is amazing!

Mon, 19 May 2008 12:27:43 GMT

The Workshop for MS EPM titled as "You Road Map To Project Management using MS EPM Solution" has started as scheduled on 18th of May 2008. IT Managers, Project Managers and IT Professionals from big companies like NBK bank, Burgan bank, Diyar United, Alargan Intr. Real Estate, Safat, PACE and some other companies in kuwait

Actually this post is created for those who attend to post their questions, I will try my best to answer them. Besides, you can leave your comments, feedback or share your ideas with the others. to do so you need to click on "Add Comments".

Best regards

Bilal Okour

Microsoft Innovation Center (Kuwait) :: Enterprise Project Management Deep Dive Workshop

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:12:25 GMT

Yes, MS EPM is now hitting hard in Kuwait and a lot wanted to start utilizing the power of it. As a series of increasing the awareness and importance of this solution I have conducted a lot of sessions in different large events in Kuwait

The MS EPM flight is landing in MIC (Microsoft Innovation Center, Kuwait) now and the seats are so limited :)

You can download the invitation letter from my blog (please follow this link to download), fill it and email it back to the email address mentioned in the invitation document itself.

The Workshop title will be :: Your Road Map to Project Management using MS EPM Solution and the workshop will cover the following topics (spanned into 5 days, 3 hours a day, 6-9 PM)

Day 1

Getting Started with Office Project Server 2007

Initiating Projects

Planning Projects—Context and Framework

Day 2

Planning Projects—Scope and Schedule Management

Planning Projects—Staffing Management Plan

Planning Projects—Resource Assignments

Day 3

Planning Projects—Cost, Risk and Other Management Plans

Executing Projects—Processes, Resources, and Deliverables

Executing Projects—Manage Timesheets and Personal Settings

Day 4

Monitoring and Controlling Projects—Context and Framework

Monitoring and Controlling Projects—Tracking Task and Project Progress

Day 5

Monitoring and Controlling Projects—Measuring Performance and Reporting Progress

Closing Projects

Complete Life Cycle case

For more information you can

Call me at +965 7205246

Email me: bilal@arabilla.net

Or post a comment here

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

MS Project Server 2007 Best Practice :: Forms vs Windows Authentication

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 07:32:34 GMT

I guess so many people are happy with the windows authentication features that comes with MS Project Server and found it very easy to setup and to use. But did they know that there is another way of authenticating users, i am sure that they knew but they never think when and how to use it

First let me focus on facts about each and when each one is recommended to be used?

Windows Authentication

It authenticates users against the AD that the Project Server is joint to. So, it can use only one AD. So if all of your users belong to one domain then this will be your right choice.
Roles and groups (or any AD classification) are not used in EPM, remember that the post title is all about Authentication, not authorization. Authorization is run through the security model embedded with the Project server itself.
Project Server users list and the AD users list are not linked or in synch. You need to schedule synch job from within Project Server itself, this means if a user became inactive then this will not be reflected in the Project Server. (needless to say that if the user became inactive or blocked in AD then he/she will not get authenticated to AD but he can be still used as a resource in Project Server)

Forms Authentication

Conceptually, it is very similar to the AD authentication, except that Membership Provider will be used instead of AD
More flexible to contain users regardless of the AD they belongs to and even if they don't belong to.
Difficult (or not straight forward to setup) to setup and maintain the users credentials.
No synch tool is available out of the box except for the "PjFormsAuthUpgrade" tool that comes with Project server

I will be posting more articles about Forms authentication, be tuned

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

MS Project Server 2007 Best Practice :: submit, approve, apply and publish

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:10:35 GMT

The confusion of how to use the EPM in the right way is common everywhere. The main two player in this environment (Project Managers & Team Members) find sometimes difficult to understand why the EPM is not reflecting the progress information for any published project. To understand this you can take it simply like this

PM :: Publish the project to PWA (Using Project Pro)
Team Resource :: Submit the progress update to his PM (using PWA)
PM :: Approve the updates received by his resources (using Project Pro)
PM :: Apply the approved updates to be reflected into the plan (Using Project Pro)
PM :: Adjust (if required) and then Publish the project plan again to PWA (using Project Pro)

The picture below can tell this in a better way

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

Microsoft Technology Day, Don't miss it next year

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:47:49 GMT

Yes, I mean it, 45 sessions that touched the latest related to Microsoft were shown at the biggest event in Kuwait. I hope you did attend your favorites topics and get the maximum benefits.

Now back to my sessions, the two rooms allocated for my sessions were full. I was expecting that due to the extensive registrations on my sessions during the registration time. At a moment I said, thanks God, I did good preparation for such an audience. It would have been a big loss if I did not do so.

The first session were about administrative part of EPM, the 2nd and 3rd were about the best practice for Project Managers and the other main players in EPM environment.

Last one, it was supposed to be about Monitoring and Controlling, but I was able to cover part of it only, the rest inshalla will be conducted in the future in a separate session

I have announced www.pmroad.com as the first community for Project Managers in Kuwait. also I announced the start publishing of a series about the best practice in EPM on my blog

So, my recommendation for you "From now and over, don's miss any event related to the main communities in kuwait (dotNetboom, ProRangers and msexperts) and expect it to be always BIG by default"

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

I will be there @ Microsoft Technology Day

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:17:23 GMT

Dear All,

Please consider this as an invitation to attend the "Microsoft Technology Day" organized by MSExperts.net community in Kuwait. This is considered as one of the largest event for IT people in the Gulf area where 45 session will be running in series and parallel. 20 speakers from Middle east & Africa.

I will be conducting a series of 4 session covering Microsoft EPM under the Title of

Your Road Map To Project Management using Microsoft EPM Solution

The schedule for my session will be like the following

Session 1 Block 1 (10:15 AM - 11:15 AM)
Your Road Map To Project Management : Start Your Project

Session 2 Block 2 (11:30 AM - 12:30 PM)
Your Road Map To Project Management : Planning for your Project ( Part 1 )

Session 3 Block 3 (01:15 PM - 02:15 PM)
Your Road Map To Project Management : Planning for your Project ( Part 2 )

Session 4 Block 4 (02:30 PM - 03:30 PM)
Your Road Map To Project Management : Monitor & Control Your Project

So, I will be waiting for you there on Sunday 30 of March 2008

You can register through http://www.msexperts.net

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

I am leaving the building

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:16:30 GMT

Only today I have took the sharp decision to move to new company, big, challenged and in a role of MIS Manager.

In my new position I will be responsible for designing and implementing Management Information systems based on Microsoft Technologies. I am still new to the new company so I can not till more about it except that I am very optimistic for this movement I made.

For my x-company, I had to admit that I got impressed of the company style and reputation. I met hundreds of professional people there and made good connections. So I would like to say that I feel proud that I worked in Agility.

Note: Needless to mention that the photo in this post is NEITHER my new office NOR my old one, it is just a one I took from the web. enjoy !

Best Regards

Bilal Okour, Kuwait, 4th March 2008

MS Project 2007 ::What are the available reports

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 07:48:51 GMT

Task Usage category
Name	Type	Description
Cash Flow Report	Excel	Use this report to view a bar graph with cost and cumulative cost amounts illustrated over time.
Earned Value Over Time Report	Excel	Use this report to view a chart that plots AC (actual cost of work performed), planned value (budgeted cost of work scheduled), and earned value (budgeted cost of work performed) over time.

Resource Usage category
Name	Type	Description
Cash Flow Report	Visio	Use this report to view a diagram that shows planned and actual costs for your project over time. Costs are broken down by resource type (work, material, and cost). An indicator shows if planned costs exceed baseline costs.
Resource Availability Report	Visio	Use this report to view a diagram that shows the work and remaining availability for your project's resources, broken down by resource type (work, material, and cost). A red flag is displayed next to each resource that is over allocated.
Resource Cost Summary Report	Excel	Use this report to view a pie chart that illustrates the division of resource cost between the three resource types: cost, material, and work.
Resource Work Availability Report	Excel	Use this report to view a bar graph with total capacity, work, and remaining availability for work resources illustrated over time.
Resource Work Summary Report	Excel	Use this report to view a bar graph with total resource capacity, work, remaining availability, and actual work illustrated in work units.

Assignment Usage category
Name	Type	Description
Baseline Cost Report	Excel	Use this report to view a bar graph with baseline cost, planned cost, and actual cost for your project illustrated across tasks.
Baseline Report	Visio	Use this report to view a diagram of your project broken down by quarter, then by task. This report compares planned work and cost to baseline work and cost. Indicators are used to show when planned work exceeds baseline work, and when planned cost exceeds baseline cost.
Baseline Work Report	Excel	Use this report to view a bar graph with baseline work, planned work, and actual work for your project illustrated across tasks.
Budget Cost Report	Excel	Use this report to view a bar graph with budget cost, baseline cost, planned cost, and actual cost illustrated over time.
Budget Work Report	Excel	Use this report to view a bar graph with budget work, baseline work, planned work, and actual work illustrated over time.

Task, Resource, and Assignment Summary categories
Category	Name	Type	Description
Task Summary	Critical Tasks Status Report	Visio	Use this report to view a diagram showing the work and remaining work for both critical and non-critical tasks. The data bar indicates the percent of work complete.
Task Summary	Task Status Report	Visio	Use this report to view a diagram of the work and percent of work complete for tasks in your project, with symbols indicating when baseline work exceeds work, when baseline work equals work, and when work exceeds baseline work. The data bar indicates the percent of work complete.
Resource Summary	Resource Remaining Work Report	Excel	Use this report to view a bar graph with remaining work and actual work for each work resource, illustrated in work units.
Assignment Summary	Resource Status Report	Visio	Use this report to view a diagram of the work and cost values for each of your project's resources. The percent of work complete is indicated by the shading in each of the boxes on the diagram. The shading gets darker as the resource nears completion of the assigned work.

MS Project 2007 :: Timesheet status

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 12:13:01 GMT

The following Status Definitions are available:

In Progress. The Timesheet is built by the team member. Data may be saved. Nothing is submitted.
Rejected. The Timesheet is rejected by a Timesheet Manager.
Submitted. The Timesheet is sent to the first-level Timesheet Manager for review.
Acceptable. The Timesheet is accepted by a Timesheet Manager and is sent to the next approver.
Approved. The Timesheet is approved by a Timesheet Manager at any level.
Error. An error occurred when the Timesheet was processed.

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

Community Open Day :: DotNetBoom & ProRangers

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 09:09:06 GMT

Community Open Day

MS Project 2007 :: installing SP1 result in Stopping Microsoft Office Project Server Events Service

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:55:34 GMT

Yes, this true because it happened with me, after installing WSS 3.0 SP1 I started installing Ms Project Server 2007 SP1, exactly in step 5 it stopped and threw an exception tilling that the Microsoft Office Project Server Events Service was not able to get started !!??

After searching completely the "Whole Internet" I found one post talking about this issue

please check this url

http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?&query=service+stopped&lang=en&cr=US&guid=&sloc=en-us&dg=microsoft.public.project.server&p=1&tid=f733dcea-a6ad-4b0e-8b88-9abe22737e2a&mid=a61247e3-026c-4988-954c-6000c2186305

and what I came to know that this service trying to access the Internet address

http://crl.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/CodeSignPCA.crl

but the network setup did not allow this (this is true and expected for the ideal and secure network). I was sure that this is my issue that stopped me from completing my work in the last 2 days.

So, the only solution suggested by my colleagues in Networks and Systems department is to allow Internet Access in complete during the installation of SP1 then remove it

It work, yes, but for me I consider this a stupid bug regardless of the person who wrote the code unless it is a policy to catch the people who are using the unlicensed copies. Again I considered it as a bug because it did not report this to the event log.

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

MS Project Server 2007 :: How to install it in a single mode

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:56:29 GMT

Hi folks

I found this article good for the people who are going to deploy Project Server 2007 in a stand alone computer

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/c9531164-2705-4233-84d1-78bd728dd7611033.mspx

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

Community Open Day, WOW, It was amazing

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:01:32 GMT

Dear All,

Thanx only to God ...

and our first Community open Day went very successfully with 110 person attend. The initial feedback we received I can summarize it as the following

Those who attend, most of them never left till the last minute, thank you our audience, we promise you that our session quality will be always like this and better
The organization was amazing, thank you both DotNetBoom and ProRanger teams, don't forgot the superman, Bashar lulu
The content was very rich, thank you for those who spoke (Fady, Omar, Ehab, Loay, Alaa, Mustafa, Anton and Myself)
We have been requested to do an extension for this even as most of the audience became more welling to know more.

I have posted a photo album for this community event, please check out my photo album in this blog

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

MS Project 2007 :: Corrupted Tasks

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 04:03:32 GMT

How do you know if your Project has a corrupted tasks, simply the following indicators will till you if so

One ore more of your resource report that his "My Tasks" is showing sharepoint error message
If you know how to query your database (Published DB of your server) and get unfortunately one row at lease

SELECT MSP_PROJECTS.PROJ_NAME, MSP_ASSIGNMENTS_SAVED.TASK_NAME,
MSP_RESOURCES.RES_NAME, MSP_ASSIGNMENTS_SAVED.ASSN_UID,
MSP_ASSIGNMENTS_SAVED.PROJ_UID,
MSP_ASSIGNMENTS_SAVED.TASK_UID, MSP_ASSIGNMENTS_SAVED.RES_UID
FROM MSP_ASSIGNMENTS_SAVED INNER JOIN
MSP_PROJECTS ON MSP_ASSIGNMENTS_SAVED.PROJ_UID =
MSP_PROJECTS.PROJ_UID INNER JOIN
MSP_RESOURCES ON MSP_ASSIGNMENTS_SAVED.RES_UID =
MSP_RESOURCES.RES_UID
WHERE (NOT EXISTS
(SELECT TASK_UID
FROM MSP_TASKS_SAVED
WHERE (TASK_UID =
MSP_ASSIGNMENTS_SAVED.TASK_UID)))

Then to resolve this issue do the following

Open Gantt View, Insert "Publish" column, and select No for the task that you got from the above query
Publish your project
Again Gantt View, For the "Publish" column, and select "Yes" for the task that you got from the above query
Publish you project

Best Regards

Bilal Okour

Photo Album: Microsoft Technology Day 2008

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:38:17 GMT

Microsoft Technology Day 2008

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Photo Album: Community Open Day

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:05:49 GMT

Community Open Day

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Photo Album: USA, Seattle, MVP Global summit 2007

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 07:01:15 GMT

USA, Seattle, MVP Global summit 2007

Bill Gates

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Photo Album: Bil Al

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 07:01:15 GMT

Bil Al

Bill Gates

Greating Cards- Bil Al from Microsoft

Some of Microsoft Employees :) kidding

That is cool

Most Wanted

We found You Gilty :)

MWP: Most Wanted Proffisional

This is the Real WOW

I can't belive myself, finally I am in MS Campaign

Bill Gates

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Photo Album: State Of Art Work

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 06:58:05 GMT

State Of Art Work

A Coffe in LA

Pacific Beach, CA, LA

Pacific Beach, LA, CA

Bee On Rose, I took this photo

One of the magic places in LA

Am I a good photographer

Another photos of LA magic vilas

Am I a good photographer

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Photo Album: Kuwait, MSDN Roadshow 2006

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:56:38 GMT

Kuwait, MSDN Roadshow 2006

Logo

MVP Booth

Fady @ DNB Booth

Our DNB Booth

Fady Again,see our MUG

Amr Garhi, MVP Lead

Amr Garhi, MVP Lead, the one to the right

Ali Rezan from DNB speaking

MVPs in the first line of attack!

Algarhi, MSDN Road show star

More Photos...