Before You Begin - PPM Pro and ProjectPlace

Integration Overview

The PPM Pro - ProjectPlace integration allows you to synchronize work from PPM Pro to ProjectPlace and from ProjectPlace to PPM Pro, enabling collaboration, reducing duplicate entries, and allowing PMOs and teams to work in their system of choice. Status updates can be sent from ProjectPlace to PPM Pro, providing visibility not only into individual projects, but also into the larger context of your organization's portfolios. ProjectPlace cards are visible (read-only) in PPM Pro and time entry is permitted against the cards in PPM Pro as well. 

The integration supports the following capabilities:

• Receive updates in real time (event-based)
• Set which solution is controlling the WBS - PPM Pro or ProjectPlace
• Auto-mapped fields support
• Quickly view ProjectPlace workspace details from within PPM Pro
• New Task category "ProjectPlace Cards"
• View ProjectPlace workspace cards in PPM Pro
• Log time against ProjectPlace cards from PPM Pro
• View PPM Pro project details from with ProjectPlace
• Automatically populate ProjectPlace workspace members from PPM Pro project Staffing screen (provided they exist in ProjectPlace already)
• New standard PPM Pro field to set who controls the WBS "ProjectPlace Integration"
• Incorporate set of standard PPM Pro fields for ProjectPlace cards
• Incorporate set of standard ProjectPlace fields for PPM Pro task information
• Navigate to synced ProjectPlace workspace from PPM Pro Projects list view. 

This integration is available to users with Team Member Plus and Team Member licenses. The ability to access the PPM Pro timesheet from ProjectPlace->Time Reporting will continue to work as it has in the past. 

Things to Keep in Mind

• Once the integration is switched from v1 to v2 it is not possible to revert to v1. Please ensure that you test the new version in your sandbox before requesting to enable in production if you have work already in flight.
• Duration values might not match between synced entities because PPM Pro uses a 5 day calendar and ProjectPlace uses a 7 day calendar. However, the Start and Target Dates will be honored. In other words, the Start/Target dates on synced project/workspaces will always match, even though duration values might not. 
• Card information is read-only in PPM Pro and will display in PPM Pro as long as the Project is syncing (on either direction)
• If a card is associated to an activity in ProjectPlace, the card will show in PPM Pro as a child task of the Summary Task. If the card is not associated to any activity/task, it will show at the bottom of the WBS in PPM Pro. 
• Cards will only map Due Date to the PPM Pro Target Date. Start Date on cards does not map over. 
• Cross-project dependencies are not supported if a project is synced with ProjectPlace. When attempting to create one, a blank Project list will appear. 

When PPM Pro controls the WBS:

• ProjectPlace WBS and any capabilities impacting the plan will be disabled - this means that any updates to the PPM Pro project will be synced to the ProjectPlace plan, but the PPM Pro project will not be able to be modified from the ProjectPlace side.
• ProjectPlace workspace Title and Description fields will be read-only as these fields are being auto-mapped from the solution controlling the WBS
• A PPM Pro project can be synced to a ProjectPlace project, a PPM Pro template project can be synced with a ProjectPlace workspace template. You cannot convert a ProjectPlace workspace to a template or vice versa. 
• Once synced, PPM Pro project templates and ProjectPlace workspace templates cannot be converted to non-templates.
• Data points are pulled from ProjectPlace activities, not cards. All cards within a ProjectPlace workspace will sync back to PPM Pro regardless of whether or not they are linked to an activity. 
• If you add a sub-task in PPM Pro through a parent task that has an associated ProjectPlace card, that card will be disconnected from the activity and will either remain on its current board, or if not on a board will be moved to the Orphaned cards board.
• Once the integration is enabled, a ProjectPlace logo will be displayed in the PPM Pro header. This is a link that opens the current user's My Overview page in ProjectPlace.

When ProjectPlace controls the WBS:

• There is a new field "Activity is Milestone" (read-only) which is synced between PP and PPMP. Note that in PP, a Milestone cannot be converted to an Activity, and an Activity cannot be converted to a Milestone.

• If you disable the integration by de-selecting the Sync with ProjectPlace field in PPM Pro, then make changes to the ProjectPlace plan and re-enable the synchronization with PPM Pro controlling the WBS, you will lose the changes you made in the ProjectPlace plan.

• A PPM Pro project can be synced to a ProjectPlace project, a PPM Pro template project can be synced with a ProjectPlace workspace template. You cannot convert a ProjectPlace workspace to a template or vice versa. 
• Once synced, PPM Pro project templates and ProjectPlace workspace templates cannot be converted to non-templates.
• Data points are pulled from ProjectPlace activities, not cards. All cards within a ProjectPlace workspace will sync back to PPM Pro regardless of whether or not they are linked to an activity. 
• If you add a sub-task in PPM Pro through a parent task that has an associated ProjectPlace card, that card will be disconnected from the activity and will either remain on its current board, or if not on a board will be moved to the Orphaned cards board.
• Duration values might not match between synced entities because PPM Pro uses a 5 day calendar and ProjectPlace uses a 7 day calendar. However, the Start and Target Dates will be honored. In other words, the Start/Target dates on synced project/workspaces will always match, even though duration values might not. 
• Once the integration is enabled, a ProjectPlace logo will be displayed in the PPM Pro header. This is a link that opens the current user's My Overview page in ProjectPlace.

If you are a PPM Pro administrator:

• You'll need to add the "ProjectPlace Integration" field to the Details of any project category that supports the integration with ProjectPlace. There are additional optional fields, see below.
• Determine when the "ProjectPlace Integration" field is enabled - for example: upon new project creation, after creation, by specific personal, and so on.
• If your organization will be submitting time in PPM Pro against "ProjectPlace Card" task category, you will need to update your Timesheet task rule filters to include these under your criteria (Configuring Timesheet Rules and Settings)
• Consider the "Can be template" setting: if it is enabled for a project you plan to sync, then the resulting ProjectPlace workspace will be a template, and you will not be able to convert it to a regular workspace.

If you are a ProjectPlace administrator:

• In the PP Administration tab for the workspace, there will be a "PPM Pro Integration" section with the fields:
  • PPM Pro Template Title 
  • PPM Pro Project ID 
  • PPM Pro Project URL 
  • Currently Syncing (Yes/No)
• In the PPM Pro Integration section there will be an editable option to select which system controls the plan (ProjectPlace/PPM Pro) 
• You can navigate from ProjectPlace to a synced PPM Pro project by clicking the PPM Pro logo in the Overview and Plan sections.
• All account administrators will automatically become administrators of the template upon creation.

PPM Pro Project Owners and ProjectPlace Head Administrators

PPM Pro projects have owners, and ProjectPlace workspaces have head administrators. Each organization in ProjectPlace has configured a default administrator. Every PPM Pro project has a project owner, who in turn may or may not have an email configured with their user record (we recommend they enter an email address, especially if they also have a ProjectPlace account).

Note: The PPM Pro project owner is not required to have a ProjectPlace account to perform the sync or to view the ProjectPlace fields on the project's Details.

When initially syncing a project to a workspace:

• If the PPM Pro project owner has a matching ProjectPlace account (email address of the PPM Pro project owner matches the email address of a user in ProjectPlace), the project owner will be the resulting workspace's Head Administrator.
• If the PPM Pro project owner does not have a ProjectPlace account (no matching email addresses), the default Head Administrator will be the account owner or a designated workspace creator. If and when the PPM Pro project owner creates an account, they can ask their administrator to make them the workspace's Head Administrator. 

When initially syncing a template:

• If the PPMP project owner does not have a ProjectPlace account, the template will be created with the default Head Administrator

When changing owner of a currently synced PPM Pro project:

• If the PPM Pro project owner changes on a project that is currently synced with ProjectPlace and the new project owner has a ProjectPlace account, the new project owner will become the workspace head administrator. The PPM Pro project owner will receive an email invitation to log into the workspace.
• If the PPM Pro project owner changes on a project that is currently synced with ProjectPlace and the project owner does not have a ProjectPlace account, the ProjectPlace head administrator will NOT be changed. The PPM Pro project owner will receive an email invitation to sign up for a ProjectPlace account. Once they have signed up they will become a member of the linked ProjectPlace workspace (but will not automatically become the head administrator).

PPM Pro Staffing Allocations and ProjectPlace Workspace Members

After syncing a PPM Pro project to a ProjectPlace workspace or viceversa, the workspace's Members tab will display any resources from the PPM Pro project Staffing page who have accounts in ProjectPlace. Anyone without a matching record will not be send an invite contrary to what happened in v1. As you create additional allocations in PPM Pro, they will be synced automatically (and in real-time) with ProjectPlace. Removing a member from a ProjectPlace workspace does not affect the PPM Pro Staffing screen.

Dependency Handling

PPM Pro Fields for Tracking ProjectPlace Activity Data

There is a set of standard PPM Pro fields that you can use to view ProjectPlace workspace, activity, and card data. You can aggregate this data at the task- or project-level. Contact your PPM Pro administrator if you want to add/delete fields. These fields can be used as "trend fields" in PPM Pro. See How to Set Up KPI Trend Fields for Data Collection.