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Using PPM Pro and AgilePlace Integration (v2)

Note: Before you can work with the PPM Pro -  AgilePlace ntegration, your PPM Pro administrator and Planview Customer Care need to set up the integration. Please check with your administrator to be sure that everything is in place. If you do not see a field called "Sync with AgilePlace" in your project Details or Settings, then your system setup may not be complete, please submit a Support Case with Customer Care.

Users of the integrated projects will continue to use PPM Pro and/or AgilePlace as they normally would. This document calls out any caveats, gotchas, and subtleties to be aware of when using the integrated tool of choice.

See also the FAQ later in this topic.

Agile Management with AgilePlace and PPM Pro

The relationship between PPM Pro and AgilePlace allows you to create work in PPM Pro or AgilePlace, bi-directionally synchronize and manage that work, and report out on that work in PPM Pro. Key to successful agile management is using the right tools for the right job - tools that are flexible and can evolve as you hone your processes. For example, a common division of labor is to use PPM Pro for project planning phase and to use AgilePlace for the project execution phase. In this scenario, developers are provided with one place to look for work (AgilePlace), whose cards link back to the PPM Pro project that is driving the work. As your developers get comfortable and creative with AgilePlace, they can evolve the original lanes, or boards, or workflow to better suit their needs, all while keeping the flow of information back to the project.

Overview

           

NOTE

All descriptions of how the integration works are predicated on the integration being active, and appropriate and correct configuration of both AgilePlace and PPM Pro, as described in Setting up the PPM Pro - AgilePlace Integration (v2)

           

PPM Pro and AgilePlace work together at the project/task/issue and card levels; for example, the creation of a new project in PPM Pro can result in the creation of a corresponding AgilePlace card on a specified AgilePlace board. Any configured project tasks and/or issues result in corresponding AgilePlace cards, with appropriate connections to designate parent relationships (hierarchy). If tasks are repositioned in the synced work breakdown structure (WBS), AgilePlace cards are automatically "re-parented".

Conversely, you can drop a AgilePlace card in a "work-creation-enabled" lane to automatically create a PPM Pro project based on an associated template; any tasks/issues included in the template will be created in PPM Pro, which results in the creation of tasks/issues cards back in AgilePlace. Note that PPM Pro project templates themselves cannot by synced. Your admin can set up project categories to include standard and custom fields that can be mapped to AgilePlace fields of the same type. For example, you can include the project Start Date on your project detail, and map it to AgilePlace's Planned Start Date field. Data flows between mapped field fields in both directions, meaning that if you edit a field in one tool, it will update the other. 

Once a card is created AgilePlace, it's business as usual: you can manage it as you would any other card (change priority, enter description, add child cards, change lanes, move to another board, and so on). Same for PPM Pro projects - once a project is created in PPM Pro, you can manage as you would any other project. Same for tasks and issues. 

The key thing to remember about working in an integrated PPM Pro -> AgilePlace environment is that you DO NOT talk about the INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENT...oh wait, that's Fight Club :) Actually the thing to remember about working in an integrated environment is not to be surprised if you see changes to field data, or card positions, or card titles, and so on. You might see changes to resource assignments or project ownership, or the task WBS. Do not be alarmed.

The rest of this topic includes information we thought might useful to end users, and includes a FAQ section.

Work Creation 

Projects

  • From AgilePlace, drop a card into an enabled AgilePlace lane to create a project in PPM Pro). If the AgilePlace resource who dropped a project card in the work creation lane is not found in PPM Pro (email not in both systems), then the project template owner will be the project owner (project templates are required for work creation). If the email exists in PPM Pro, then that user becomes the project Owner.

  • From AgilePlace, click on the "lane-enabled" icon to popup a modal that tells you what kind of project will be created as a result of dropping the specific card type in the enabled lane. Example shown below:

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  • From PPM Pro, when creating a synced project in PPM Pro (resulting in a card in AgilePlace), the system requires an owner, so no mapping is necessary; AgilePlace does not require a card owner.
  • Project owners must be users; task and issue owners can be resources.
  • From PPM Pro, if you don't want a project to sync, don't enable the "Sync with AgilePlace" setting.
  • PPM Pro project templates cannot be synced.

Tasks

  • Tasks - if you want task cards to appear as tasks in PPM Pro, the card must have a parent card that is a synced task or the synced project card, and the card type must be synced to a task category. In PPM Pro, a child task will not sync unless the parent task is also set to sync.
  • If you don't want a task card to be synced, do not make it the child of a synced element, or do not use a card type that is synced.
  • If you have a task in PPM Pro that you don't want synced, use a task category that is not synced to a card type.
  • NOTE: The Task elements within a AgilePlace Card cannot be synced to tasks in PPM Pro; only AgilePlace cards can be synced to tasks in PPM Pro.

Project Logs

  • Project log parent must be the synced project card and the card type must be synced to a project log category.
  • If you don't want an issue card to be synced, do not make it the child of a synced element, or do not use a card type that is synced.
  • If you have a project log in PPM Pro that you don't want synced, use a task category that is not synced to a card type.

Syncing Assigned Resources/Users

Resources can be tasks/issues owners. If you plan to sync resources between AgilePlace and PPM Pro, best practice is to make sure your PPM Pro resources match your AgilePlace resources (exist in both systems, with same email address).

Project owner has to be a user, tasks and issues owners can be resources.

 

Deleting Synced Elements

If a project is deleted, its associated cards will remain on their AgilePlace board(s) (will not be deleted).

If you delete synced AgilePlace tasks, they will be recreated the next time the project syncs.

Random Bits

For AgilePlace cards, the URL to the corresponding PPM Pro element is displayed in the External Link field

New AgilePlace cards always appear in the drop lane, you can move them around as you  need to

When you create a card in AgilePlace without parent, will put at end of wbs.

Use the connections of the cards to inform the outline of the work breakdown structure. Example - Task status field is required, but will be in an error state (won't accept changes) until you give a value.

If using the spreadsheet editor while syncing with AgilePlace, remove the LK Priority field from the task grid. 

FAQs

Q1. How do I know if the integration is available?

A: From PPM Pro, look for the "Sync with AgilePlace" setting - either on project Details, Settings, or Additional Details sections. 

From AgilePlace, go to Board Settings and look for the Planview Sync section.

PPM Pro

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LeanKit

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   Q2. How do I know if a lane is enabled?

A: Look for the "enabled" icon shown below. This icon appears on any enabled lane. Further, you can click on the icon to see what card triggers the creation of PPM Pro project based on the specified project template.

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Q3. Why does my assigned resource go away in AgilePlace or PPMP?

A: With synced entities, assigned resource emails need to appear in both PPM Pro and AgilePlace. If a resource is a user in AgilePlace, but is not a resource in PPM Pro, the AgilePlace user will be removed whenever that card is next synced.

Q4: Why did my card Title get truncated?

A: AgilePlace card titles are limited to 64 characters; PPM Pro entity titles are 80 characters.  If a synced project is created in PPM Pro with a title greater than 64 characters, then the AgilePlace card that is created will truncated title (64 characters and an ellipsis). Note that the card will immediately sync back to PPM Pro, where the truncated title will update the project title with the truncated version.

Q5: When I create work from AgilePlace, how is the project owner determined?

A: The project owner is either the resource who last modified the card (either by creating it in the enabled lane or moving it into the enabled lane), and if that resource's email does not exist in PPM Pro, then the Owner of the project template will be the Owner of the project.

Q6: My AgilePlace fields are not updating.

A: Check that your AgilePlace default board still exists. If this board is deleted, the integration will be interrupted and PPM Pro will no longer be updated. If you are suspicious the board is deleted, check and see if Sync with AgilePlace is still enabled - it becomes disabled if the default board is deleted.

Q7: All my AgilePlace fields disappeared.

A: Ask your admin to check that the integration has not been disabled.

Q8: I have a custom field and it has no value (it did previously)?

A: If you move a card from one board to another, custom field data does not transfer with it (and won't be synced because effectively it is a different field).

Q9: have an ongoing maintenance project (no real end date), and I really only want to work with the cards linked to the project, but not the project itself. For example, we have a sustaining board that we use to process defects and enhancements.

A: We put the project itself in a "Placeholder" or "Ongoing" lane and just deal with the child cards.

Q10. I deleted a card from my AgilePlace board, but it keeps reappearing.

If you delete a card type that is synced to a task category, the card will be recreated (the next time the task is synced). Workaround is to contact PM and ask them to delete the task from PPM Pro.

Q11. I have an existing project that I created before the AgilePlace V2 integration existed. How do I integrate it?

If you have existing projects that you want to use with AgilePlace, simply change the project's category to use one configured for the integration. Add the Sync with AgilePlace field to the project's Details, enable it and click Save