Project Versions

You have been working on a project to develop a new product for six months. Your portfolio manager asks you for the status of the project. The portfolio manager is particularly interested in reconciliation with the original planning. For this reason, you require the following knowledge:

• How to create a version
• How to configure project versions
• How to create a snapshot of a project
• How to create a simulation of a project
• How to compare simulations and projects

Project Versions

Project versions are copies of operational projects at a particular time. They are used for reporting or to simulate an operational project. In both cases, project data is copied to the project version. Project versions that are created for later, reconciling reporting are known as snapshots. You cannot change snapshots. Project versions in which you want to simulate the operational projects are known as simulations. You can change simulations and use them for a later comparison with the operational project.

Project versions must have a unique name. To identify a project version, you need the name of the project and the version number. You must define valid versions before you can create the first project version. The preceding figure shows how you can edit versions. To manage a version in SAP Project Management, choose Versions on the initial screen, then choose the type of the version, and choose Version Management. The system then displays the screen as shown in the figure.

Separate versions are created for snapshots and simulations. In addition, a distinction is made between local versions and global versions. Any project administrator can use local versions. Only users with extensive authorizations can edit or, in particular, create global versions.

You can use versions for project versions only when they are released and when the current date is inside the validity area of the version. In Customizing, you define input templates for permitted version numbers.

You need to make two settings in Customizing for PPM to configure versions. One setting affects the project type and the other affects a profile for defining the version numbers. In the project type, the Versions checkbox must be selected. This checkbox determines if you are able to create versions for projects of the current project type.

The checkbox affects snapshots and simulations in the same way. The profile Define Permitted Version Numbers defines permitted version numbers and their properties. The figure, Configuration of Versions in SAP Project Management, shows the path in Customizing for SAP Project Management and the affected profile.

In the example, the version number VER* is defined. This means that versions can start with the characters VER. The placeholder * can be any character string. A valid name can be VER007b. The placeholder + can be used for a single random character. The version number and its properties are defined in the same profile.

You can specify the following indicators when configuring versions:

• Version Number determines whether the version number can be used for snapshots or simulations. A version number can only be used for one type of version at a time.
• Usage has the attributes local and global. A project administrator can create local versions and use them for evaluations. For global versions, you need the authorization object CPRO_VSHDR.
• Archiving ensures that when a project is archived, the respective project versions are also archived.
• Extraction to BW determines if the project version can be extracted to SAP Business Intelligence.

A snapshot is a representation of an operational project. You can use this representation to display the project status later on and to reconcile it with the project status of the operational project. You cannot change snapshots.

Snapshots can be created in the following ways:

• You can create them manually when you are editing an operational project.
• You can create them manually by copying an operational project using the Project Versions menu.
• The system can create them automatically during background processing.

In general, when you create a snapshot, all the data of an operational project is transferred to the snapshot version. However, there are a few special cases with respect to cost planning and multi-project management.

For cost planning, the following differences occur depending on whether the operational project has been transferred:

• If the project is not yet transferred, the costing is copied to the snapshot.
• If the project is transferred, the system displays the accounting data of the operational project.

When you create a snapshot of a project that is linked to other projects for multi-project management, the links are copied. The snapshot does not include snapshots of the linked projects. However, snapshots of a subordinate operational project do not contain links to the superior operational project. A snapshot of a program contains links to assigned operative projects. A snapshot of a main project contains links to assigned subprojects.

Unlike snapshots, you can change simulations. Simulations allow you to carry out tests, for example, the effects that certain changes have on an operational project. You can save simulations and edit them later. If your changes produce the required result, you can compare the simulation with another simulation, or with the operational project.

A simulation can be created in the following ways:

• As a copy of an operational project
• As a copy of a project template
• Without using any template

When you have created a simulation, you can edit it in the same way as you edit an operational project. You can change data in a simulation. As an exception, statuses cannot be changed. You can perform a costing for project roles and resources for simulations. When you do so, note if the respective project has been transferred or not. The actual costs of an operational project are not transferred to a simulation.

The restrictions that apply for snapshots of linked projects, also apply for simulations of linked operational projects. If you create a simulation of a program, the simulation also receives the operational project that belongs to the program. However, if you create a simulation for a project that is the target of a project link, the system does not copy the link.

During reconciliation and comparison, the following data is considered:

• Data for the project element
• Statuses
• Documents
• Collaborations
• Object links
• Authorizations

The system uses traffic lights to indicate differences or similarities in the data. When you double-click a traffic light, the system displays a detailed description of which data contains differences or similarities. You can choose to see everything, only the differences, or only the similarities. When you expand the structure on one page, the system automatically expands the corresponding structure on the other page.

A reconciliation works similar to a comparison. However, during a reconciliation, you can transfer data. You can use a reconciliation to update a simulation or an operational project. In this case, you can decide which project elements are transferred. The reconciliation is not carried out automatically. However, you cannot compare all the differences. For example, the status of an object may prevent the comparison. The system uses yellow traffic lights to indicate differences that you cannot change using a comparison.

SAP Project Management enables you to reconcile snapshots, simulations, and operational projects. You can only perform reconciliation if the projects are based on the same templates, or if the project versions are for the same project. During reconciliation, two projects or versions are displayed in parallel and no data is changed. The preceding figure shows the corresponding screenshot.

This lesson provides you with an overview of how milestones are used to manage projects and how to use milestone trend analysis (MTA) to provide you with an overview of your project.

Milestones are used to specify certain dates along the project lifecycle, for example, start and end dates. You can use them to identify major steps, and to ensure quality or completion of the project.

If a task corresponds to a milestone in a project, you can select the corresponding checkbox. In the navigation area, milestone task symbols differ from standard tasks by an additional small circle. In the graphical display, a milestone tasks is displayed as a rhombus, without time bars.