Pinnacle Insights

This article is part of a series on the roles and responsibilities involved in performing Integrated Program Management. Other articles included in this series are:

• Master Scheduler Roles & Responsibilities
• Earned Value (EV) Analyst Roles & Responsibilities

The Control Account Manager, or CAM, plays a critical role in an Earned Value Management System (EVMS). 

With two new enhancements released in the most recent update to Oracle's PPM software, I am sure many of you are asking if you should update your system. Below we will discuss these new features and the benefits they can provide you if you do decide to update. 

As most of you probably are aware, Deltek MPM, currently in the Maintenance Support phase will be moving into Sustaining Support as of December 31, 2018. There will be no further updates or fixes to the software offered by Deltek after that. The state of MPM that it is currently in, will remain.

Recently Pinnacle was offered a sneak peek at the features of the upcoming version 4 upgrade of DCMA Schedule Analyzer forProject™ which is planned for release this October, 2017.

DCMA Schedule Analyzer forProject™ has long offered a simple yet powerful way to assess the health of the schedule based on the DCMA 14-Point Assessment methodology as an add-in to Microsoft Project.  The new version adds significant new capabilities for schedule analysis.

Often these two terms are used interchangeably, but they mean very different things to those of us who have been implementing project management and project controls systems.  

In Part 2 of this series, Schedule Analysis, Part 2: Why Should I Do It?, it was stated that schedule analysis increases confidence in the schedule and its results. It provides information as to where the schedule needs to be improved and how it needs to be improved. 

In Part 1 of this series, Schedule Analysis, Part 1: What Is It?, provided a brief introduction to schedule analysis. This article discusses why a schedule analysis should be performed. But first, a point of clarification. Schedule analysis and Schedule Risk Analysis (SRA) are two different things. 

A schedule is a time-model of how you as the supplier or manager plan on executing your project. It represents the project scope, resources, assumptions and constraints of the project. Like a cost model, the time model or schedule should respond to changes.