Portfolio Server…The Beginning

By: Tanya Foster

Welcome to another installment in our Portfolio Server Series.  I thought about starting at the very beginning with these Portfolio Server blogs, which would be all of the settings, but then I decided, well… there may be a lot of people out there who just want to know how this thing works.  So… we’re going to start there instead.  We’ll get to the settings, but that will be later in the series. 

Let’s start with the default main page.  Once you log in, Portfolio Server opens up to the Builder module.  Portfolio Server has three modules, the Builder module, the Optimizer module, and the Dashboard module.  You will spend most of your time in the Builder module.  That’s where you will input most of the data.  You will also notice that we have another default in this screenshot.  It’s the My Scorecard view.  This is the main view for the Builder module.  The My Scorecard view is set up by the Portfolio Server Administrator so you have someplace to start from when you first log in.  Now the nice thing about the My Scorecard view is that the rows and columns are completely customizable for each individual user.  You can store several Scorecard views if you want to.  To create your own Scorecard view, simply go to Preferences and choose the appropriate link. 

On the left hand side of the screen, you see a “Name” column with names listed underneath it.  This is the Portfolio Server hierarchy.  This helps to organize the information and also helps to roll up cost and resource data.  There are five types of entities: organizations, programs, projects, applications and custom portfolios.  Project information can be rolled up to the program or to the application level.  Programs and applications can be rolled up to the custom portfolio or organization level.  The Administrator can configure multiple levels of organizations, but keep in mind the more organizations there are, the more complex the configuration will be.  You can click on the plus sign (+) and it will expand the list to show the different levels of the hierarchy. 

The top top level of the hierarchy is the Organization level.  You’ll know it’s the Organization level by this icon:

Here are the other four levels denoted by their respective icons:

Each level can be sorted in ascending or descending order.  To change the sorting order, just click the correct up or down button located in the Name column.  You’ll also notice another icon on this page.  This icon shows whether something is checked in or out.  If the little padlock is open, then the project is checked in, if the little padlock is closed, the project is checked out. The last topic for this blog will be the “tabs” at the top of the screen.  This tab structure shows you roll up information on your Project or Program.  The tabs shown here are default to Portfolio Server.  Your Administrator can customize this based on the needs of your organization. 

Please stay tuned for more upcoming blogs on Microsoft Project Portfolio Server 2007!

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