web certainly continues to improve, as does the infrastructure required to keep it running – as organisations look to lower costs of ownership, having a tool that doesn’t require a localised install (or large citrix estate) is an easier sell.

two bits of functionality that are great in web:

1 – filtering. just type it in, web filters it down as you type and searches across all fields.

2 – dcma schedule checker

plus, with no java in latest versions, it’s one less concern

keep up the great work michael and team

david

hi ronald,
inspire does require p6 eppm as eppm has the api and webhooks required. i do have experience with sap to p6 integrations and i’m not a huge fan of them. they are very expensive to implement and very difficult to update and maintain as products on both ends change. they also create a very rigid environment for users. here’s a talk i gave on the topic: //www.deco-dalles.com/10-must-tactics-help-companies-rollout-primavera-p6-integrations/

best regards,

that sounds frustrating faye.
perhaps your it department can beef-up the server or something. glad you’re bringing it to light, mind you.

best regard

using the latest version currently in eppm…i hate i have to constantly save…when it is status week and hundreds of pc are in the data base it is slow…i literally have to save after every change, because if it locks up/freezes, it looses your work when it finally comes alive again.

can i have pmp highway project sample to get idea about activities and wbs

head over to the oracle documentation libraries for all of that technical spec stuff: https://docs.oracle.com/en/industries/construction-engineering/primavera-p6-professional/index.html

i am currently a consultant in a construction company. is there any reference where we can setup p6 professional ppm on a multi-user environment. what are the hardware specifications needed? can i use one of the stand alone pcs as the database server. please advise.

actually the ppm client works on both implementations.
the only difference is the database. you can connect to an eppm database but the admin functions are disabled while you are connected to that database. if you log out then log into an ppm database the admin functions are enabled.

hi mohsen,
no, i’m not really saying that. there is no way to sync 2 databases easily. you could manually export and import .xer or .xml files moving data from 1 db to the other.

mohamed,
eppm can only import in xml format. the only work around is to use your ppm to export those schedule files to xml format instead of xer.
thanks

hi michael;

great responses. thanks. i work for a government agency in the project controls group. our project managers who update their schedules currently have only a few days each month to do so, because project controls needs the rest of the days to perform qa/qc of the data and run reports. i was thinking of having a 2-db arrangement and then synchronizing them. with what you are saying, is there another way to make that happen i.e., allowing project managers more time to work with their schedules without impacting the integrity of the data for reporting and program management purposes?

it seems that the file ext. for ppm is xer while that eppm is xml.
is there any help on how to fix such issue?

regrads

this is likely not due to the version, but due to the industry that is selected under admin->admin preferences->industry tab. pick engineering & construction to see the switch from planned duration to original duration.
the est weight field is related to the top-down estimation tool in p6 pro that was never migrated to p6 web.

i feel you brook, we are on the same boat. probably it is due to syncing of data to server then back to other user machines including yours. hard core planners prefer not to work on web client.

com.primavera.integration.network.networkexception: communication exception
at com.primavera.integration.client.distributedsession.a(distributedsession.java:441)
at com.primavera.integration.client.b.a(bobase.java:356)
at com.primavera.integration.client.b.a(bobase.java:345)
at com.primavera.integration.client.bo.object.activity.create(activity.java:5408)

for now i am processing them in smaller sets, any idea why above issue is happening, is there any limit on max activities we can create through api? if yes how to increase it.

hi. the eppm is so complex that i don’t share the steps. there are simply too many pieces and too many things can go wrong. i’m happy to help in a consulting capacity if need be.

justin, p6 v8 has some improvements over v7 – read this post for the details: p6 professional r8’s new user interface : a game changer

migration to other pc is still a problem as you cannot have the layouts, reports and excel export customized outputs exported in one time along with the files. i wish this feature will introduce later on.

unfortunately, there is no migration tool and no easy way to migrate from p6 professional to p6 eppm. sorry.

you will have to recreate the eps / obs and import your projects and layouts. yes, you’ll have to unlink baselines and relink them.

but, i do have an idea. you could upgrade your p6 professional to version 15.2 (latest) to take advantage of the new xml features. now when you export to xml, baselines are included as well. and you can export multiple projects to the same xml file. so this will save you lots of time.

now this is new functionality and i make no guarantees that it will work 100% if you are exporting lots of projects to a single xml file. but you could certainly try this approach and if there are no bugs, it might be a fairly painless process.

really well written article. i have a question for you. presently i am having p6 8.3 profesional verion standalone version, i have almost 2000 odd flies and and each file has its own eps. my company is planning to go to p6 cloud version to integrate p6 and unifier. based on what i have read the version which allows integration of unifier is eppm version, is it possible to transfer my entire databse from standalone professional to eppm database. if yes can you send me some readng materials.

regards
som

i need all baseline dates as per revised schedule. how to get revised planned percentage.

hi
1) eppm has both the windows (ppm client ) and the web-client that uses a browser (eppm), as long as it has been set up that way at the organization. some will just use ppm, some will use one tool, others will use both.
2) in this recent article, i’m suggesting planners stick to ppm.
3) not 100% sure, but i believe it’s a license per user, regardless of what tool they use.
hope that helps.

hi, i don’t work for oracle, but my understanding is that each user should have a license.

great article.

i got to know a bit about eppm for the first time. i have some confusions, will be grateful for you explaining these for me please:

1. when eppm is used in an organization, the client users (planners etc) use ppm to work on project, or do they also get some sort of web interface in their browser from eppm software?

2. or is it that client users (planners etc) have option to use either ppm or eppm interface?

3. in any of the case, how licensing works? if say eppm is installed, the each client user will need to have his own license of ppm/eppm client interface?

please help understand above things.

thanks a lot

john,
i’m sort of on the fence wrt eppm. i agree with the frustrating aspects you mention – and that’s the short list. but i do admit as well that there are some nice features in eppm that don’t exist in p6 pro.
the point here though is that eppm is not a replacement for p6 professional. p6 pro users won’t adopt it. p6 pro legacy users should keep using p6 pro and adopt eppm for the nice features it has to offer.
but eppm also allows additional roles in the company to use a scheduling tool, for non-scheduling tasks – viewing resource allocations, dashboard updates, updating documentation, the whole portfolio management engine.
if companies believe that eppm is the new p6 pro, then they will be in for a shock. eppm is complimentary, not a replacement.
michael

1) eppm runs differently on different web browsers. in fact it doesn’t run on google chrome. it appears that eppm was developed with an older version of java while all my web browsers have the latest java version. ie and firefox would let me override the error but google chrome wont. does anyone have recommendation(s)?

2) eppm is very slow especially when navigating pages. this is due to the time it takes to load java. does this have anything to do with old java version vs new java version saga?

3) printing in the eppm is a huge disappointment. eppm doesn’t print legends when i print my schedules. all i get is the gantt chart plus activity table. has anyone figured a printing method equivalent to that of p6 pro?

4) currently my company uses a layout in p6 pro where we combine gantt chart on top and resource spreadsheet at the bottom and print the combined layout. i have yet to found a way to do this in eppm.

5) i miss the “schedule automatically when a change affects dates” function in p6 pro.

6) eppm doesn’t give you detail when an error message pop up.

7) why in the world do we have to buy a new application (bi publisher) in order to generate reports in eppm while it was free in p6 pro?

it appears that i would still need to use p6 pro to accomplish some of the tasks i couldn’t complete in eppm. the completely defeat the purpose of the eppm migration. i don’t see myself switching back and forth between p6 pro and p6 eppm just because oracle rolled out half-assed software.

no, it is not that.

there is a red hand besides 世界杯时间比赛时间 which are not loaded at all.

hi, i’m pretty sure that means the resource is overallocated.

thanks,

the main purpose is to use eppm for portfolios/programs, so the limitation of working with large number of activities is really a big problem.

thanks!

in p6 8.4 ppm (not eppm) is possible to do a update process via project / maintain baselines … oops : where’s the update button ???

can anyone help me ?

regards !!!

hi,

i too have the same problem. the integration api setup file is not there in the media pack of primavera eppm r7. i contacted oracle also. they are saying that the api setup file is not free component and it needs to be purchased separately which i doubt.

can you please indicate me where can i get the the installer? btw, in the oracle website, the older installer i can download is v8.2

thanks in advance!

eppm is actually tied with ppm database. only fact to be considered is there two version of p6 desktop, p6 professional(it is standalone), p6 client. if u want to work on same database using p6 ppm and eppm u should install p6 client but draw back is that then too u can do admin functions in eppm only

hi, it would be better to you using ppm as workgroup (with centerlized db and windows base) and using sharepoint for dashboard. you can use sql server reporting service (ssrs) as reporting tool that create report from data in db and show that in sharepoint page. i have this experience.

thanks.

hi hoang. sorry, we’re not well versed in project server here at plannertuts.

sahim,
having a centralized p6 database is the way to go. often companies use citrix if planners are dispersed and need good access. if you go eppm, you can still use the windows-based primavera – they connect to the same database. there would be some migration work to make it all happen. we can help if you like – email me directly – michael@plannertuts.com.
michael

my company is using standalone p6 versions in our construction projects. we would like to migrate to one corporate planning solution for all projects but our planners/projects are in different locations. what is the best way for a corporate solution? stand alone installations or to set up one centralized server? also what is the better solution for us, ppm or eppm? if we install eppm, can the planners continue to work as windows based on their computers?

regards,

sahin

leelo,
if you are using professional to connect to an eppm database, then no – all of the administration is done in eppm. if you are using the professional product with no eppm, then yes you can perform the administration in professional. it depends what version you are using. if you’re using eppm, all of the admin is in ppm.
michael

evan,
eppm can be tied into ppm. actually it’s the other way around. but yes it is possible.
m

why can’t they simply tie the eppm into the same database as the ppm? i would love to have eppm simplicity for my field staff to do their updates but it would be torture to build a schedule within a web interface.

hi michael,

thanks for the quick answer.

1) so, there is no way to get what we have today in ppm db and have it migrated/upgraded to be used by the web users ?

2) thanks for the advise. could i export from ppm and import in eppm db (for the web users)

regards,
fabiano breves

hi soons_br,
1) tricky – there is no easy way to keep user’s layouts and user settings for a ppm to eppm upgrade. the databases are quite different in their structure. i recommend each user export their layouts to files (can be done from the open layouts screen). then they can be reimported to eppm (for windows user, not web users). but some preferences, access, filters, etc will likely have to be rebuilt after the migration.

2) supposedly you can. look at the oracle documentation. but i’ve had no luck getting it to work. there were some db migration scripts provided, but they were laden with errors. easier to export projects, setup a new db, and reimport. use the sdk to migrate global data. it’s more manual work, but should yield more reliable results in the end.

hope that helps,
michael

nice article there. i would like to ask you a question.

we have oracle ppm 8.2 installed and are migrating to eppm (8.3.2). is there a way to migrate (or even share) the data/configuration the users already have in ppm. we use a centralized sql server for all the ppm clients.

also can data be migrated from sql server to oracle db ?

best regards

1-can eppm do everything ppm do and more? in other words, is ppm a subset of eppm?

2-if i buy eppm, can i still do the good old windows based scheduling without involving the web, with exact same functionality of ppm desktop? in other words, eppm is the same as ppm for windows but it also has web, or, the scheduling and eveyrthing is only on the web?

thanks & regards
dharmendra

cheers !

regards
ahmed maher

is there a way to transfer activity code fields from one project to another? i can’t find a reference to this process in the help screens in p6. we are using version 7.0, sp 4. (see why i still like p3? :)).

thanks.

gv

i would definately like to go ahead,i have sent you a mail.

awaiting your reply,

regards,

om

thanks for reading our blog.
a p6 implementator is a software consultant who helps organizations design, install, and configure their p6 software installation. i’ve done this for many years. this role is mainly for those who have technical software and database skills. is this what you are interested in? i don’t have any 世界杯时间比赛时间 to share, but perhaps we could discuss it offline if you are truly interested. michael@plannertuts.com
m

i am into project controls. your article has helped me a lot to understand the basic differences in the two versions ppm & eppm.it has answered many of my questions.

further i would like to know what does it meant by ,”implementation of primavera”, i am working currently working on p6 v7 , scheduling projects and updating the progress periodically.

kindly guide me, what all needs to be learnt more to be an p6 implementor in an organisation.if you could any 世界杯时间比赛时间 it will be very helpful.

with regards,

omprakash

i have a one doubt about of primavera versions.which one is the better one p6 8.3 client application or web application..
please suggest me

i tried using performance % complete. but when am adding the resource to one of the activity ,wbs its turning 100 % compete at wbs level and 100 % complete at project level. please advise how to over come this problem. i do not have cost involved to my project.

regards,
shoeb ahmed khan.

question two: assuming i can’t view changes in ppm, then how do i make changes to the eps in ppm, since all admin functions need to be done in the web-tool – adding users, creating eps, managing global activity codes – all of it happens in the web now as stated by you in your narrative above.

thank you so much for for your help.

i’ll be lurking around here a lot.

thanking you in advance.

if you have more than 5,000 activities to manage on a daily basis, spend 70% of your time on the professional client, the last 30% on the web.

one thing is for certain, the web interface will soon be the portal of choice, everything is leaning that way. that’s why web service is preferred to api, because it can be used as a multi thread process, like p6 web.

thanks for your value able advise, i am creating a project n using physical % complete to track the progress ,but am unable to see progress % on wbs level & project level. please advise.

thanks,
shoeb

the graphs in the eppm dashboards are frustrating
there does not seem to be a way to group by week or month
am i missing something

dennis

regards,
shoeb khan.

i’m providing integration between our system and ppm, and i think that i already have the document that you want to share.

btw, i have a another question. according to the replies on the article, i recofirmed that i regret choosing the eppm because of the web service. the seller told if you want more users to use the eppm with more cheap price, you have to use webservice. so i chose that. but, i can’t find the better side of eppm compared with the ppm.

and the web client of eppm and the client of eppm have different ui..
besides, some abilities can be done in the web client. among them, deleting project can’t be found in the web cleint.

please let me know the document of using the web client?

regards,
shoeb ahmed khan.

however, all p6 api’s are java-based and require a java-application server like weblogic. so i believe they’ve packaged it in with p6 eppm.

you can get some info here http://docs.oracle.com/cd/e29618_01/english/integration_documentation/integration_api/doc/index.htm – look in the “what’s new”

i also found an oracle support doc that shows how to patch the api to run on a p6 profession 8.1 or 8.2 db. i can forward it on if you’re interested – reply with your email.
michael

i need to produce a report; number of 世界杯时间比赛时间 per day. using p6 r8.3 i can produce a resource report but only by the dates in the plan.

what i require is a resource usage report which tells me the following:-
1. if a systems tech activity = 20.07.2013 to 23.07.2013 – then i need the report to show him for days 21,22 and 23.
2. if 2 x systems techs are required – i have entered 6 hours as original duration and 12 hours as budget time/units. i need the report to show 2 technicians required.

how is this possible?

new in the game, coming from sap pm, i have been tasked to bring up a shutdown plan for a fpso, away from msp to p6. the key driver is dashboards for management.

in this debate, no one really touched on the standard available dashboards, but eppm being web based would be the better of the two, right?

it is a small plan. it has two fpsos.

your advise/comment mike?

http://www.haironfirepm.com/2013/01/02/primavera-help-how-to-add-eps-nodes-in-primavera-p6-v8-1/

terry, p6 is not perfect but it’s pretty darn good. i would get my hands on a copy of p6 from a local reseller. then you might consider our recently launched online training portal at https://premium.plannertuts.com for your training needs. we’ve got discounts running for the next few days.
regards,
pt

neda, it’s pretty clear in the article that primavera p6 professional is the windows-based tool. licenses of p6 can be purchased online at oracle.com.
pt

there are a few nice features – as i’ve highlighted above, the ppm interface is completely overhauled allowing much more customization and easy of use. support for msp 2010 importing as well, and new a line-numbering feature. then more enhancements to time-scaled logic diagrams – a feature i personally don’t find very exciting. that’s it, not much else. the main thing is the interface.

so what headaches are you dodging? from an application perspective, i don’t see any. i’ve run the tool myself for quite some time and find it as robust as p6 v7.x. of course, there’s always the headache of rolling out new software to your users.

the only other headache might be dealing with oracle’s licensing. if you purchased p6 long ago, they may ask you to “convert” you licenses to their new licensing model and sometimes there’s a cost to that, but oracle’s also good at discounting.
hope that helps,
michael

nice article. good reasons to stay away from eppm. speed and ease of use is absolutely essential in my business. we currently use v7 sp4. i’ve seen that the upgrade to 8.2 (ppm) is available. your chart showed that v7 sp4 is the most stable.

what features are missing out on by not upgrading to v8.2? conversely what headaches are we dodging by staying where we are?

thanks for your response.

gv

hi tariq,
i’m pretty sure you have more than 1 project open. close all projects and open the one that you are trying to update.
hope that helps,
pt

you really have an amazing way in sequencing information and write simple yet informative articles.

many thanks

br
omer

hi sm,
p6 eppm (web) version 8.x has some extended security where you can in fact limit a user’s ability to edit fields inside a project. you create something called a user interface view where you can pick specifically what fields can be edited (or not). here’s oracle faq http://bit.ly/12uttqv . unfortunately, that feaures only exists in p6 web, not in the windows client.
hope that helps,
michael

our client uses p6 ver 7 and doesn’t use the web module at all at this point. but the pmo is keen on digging in for some access control features (esp resource fields). besides fixing up a dashboard for each resource manager and freezing his controls in other areas in it, is there any other way a resource manager can access only the resource fields in a project and just nothing else?

also, this would mean that he still can access all the other fields in the client version anyway. i’m looking for options for access control on activity details like this one here.

thanks.

your earlier response in this regards is highly appreciated.

in terms of the “perfect usage” of eppm…. it all depends on your organization, it’s goals, needs and abilities. eppm has good features for the organization that does portfolio management – wants track 世界杯时间比赛时间 across a portfolio, wants stats and costs on groups of projects. it is a strong tool, but many companies need to grow into. many companies are not ready for portfolio management or cross-project analysis.

i wish i could point you to some good documentation, but i’m not a fan of any oracle literature – their docs are just mumbo-jumbo and don’t speak to specifics. you might look at some of oracle case studies on eppm over at http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/primavera/p6-enterprise-project-portfolio-management/世界杯时间比赛时间 /index.html .

ifyour company has eppm, i wouldn’t recommend pulling it out. there’s a good investment there, but perhaps there needs to be some help in understanding how a company’s pm processes map to the tool. feel free to email me directly to discuss specifics (or use our contact us page).

i hope that helps somewhat. m

i have been through all the comments. we use p6 eppm in our organisation here in middle east.

i would like to know more about the admin functions and the prefect usage of eppm, can you guide me to some information available for this purpose. i need to use it professionally so the higher management is convinced to keep it in the company.

thanks

hi suhas,

ok, firstly, it’s definitely a move in the right direction to migrate to a single central db. without a central db, there’s little power in having a database at all and sharing information, or analyzing trends across multiple projects.

secondly, it’s a difficult transition for any user to move to a new application, even if it’s microsoft excel 2003 to excel 2010 – a lot of things are different and it will take time for any user to adapt. i used to be a pm in call centers and rolling out a new application to 100+ users was always painful at first. but over time, everyone adapts. users just want to get their work done and they usually think any new application is wasting their time and fixing what wasn’t broken.

in the case of p6 specifically, i tend to recommend to companies that build large schedules (construction / oil&gas) to have their planners stick with the p6 windows-client when they roll out p6 eppm. the windows client handles large schedules much better. if you’ve got projects in progress, rolling out the web client to those planners will be very disruptive and may affect their work (and thus the project).

the web client has the tools that managers and management like. take a slow, modular approach and start by giving them access dashboards. the give them portfolios, resource management, etc.

another approach is to target a pilot group. find a few users who are savvy and give them the web-client as a pilot. let them explore it on a small project for a few weeks. teach them some cool things they can’t do in the windows-client. this group then becomes your model to show off to other groups / users / project team what you can do with the new technology. this is a common approach in it rollouts of new software. pick a pilot group, work with them to get feedback – what works, what doesn’t, how is this going be adopted when we roll out to everyone? the idea is really to let users have a voice and be heard. most users will revolt if you try to shove new software down their throats, so you have to ease it in and convince them that it will help them.
hope that helps shed some light on rollouts of p6 eppm. let me know what you decide to do.
michael

thanks and really appreciated your article. i need your views on following business case..

in our company , we installed primavera p6 v 8.2 eppm and we are in process of moving all user (which are now using different versions of standalone primavera client )to centralizes enterprise p6 eppm.

we are planning to give access of p6 eppm web base client to all users.

but as rightly suggested by brooks , user might find it different as well as difficult to operate.

what do you suggest , which interface should be given to end users / planner ?

for top management and managers , web interface seems to best but for planner , we still discussing pros and cons of client access vs web based access.

can you please throw some light on this?

brooks,
i would agree that i’d like to see better performance as well – and there are lots of factors, some of which are not related to the software itself. but it’s a difficult transition for anyone who has used the ppm to move to web. it’s much easier if you haven’t seen ppm before.
what version of ppm are you using? some of the flackiness / crashes can be avoided by moving to a more stable version (version 7 sp4 seems to hit the mark) or by applying service packs. many users aren’t aware of the service packs and the bugs that they fix.

on the other hand, ppm is a notoriously flaky and fickle application. i’d hoped that with the oracle acquisition that the product would become more stable, but that hasn’t been the case so far. we haven’t spent enough time with eppm to determine if it’s more stable than ppm, but i *hope* it’s less crash-prone.

brooks,
thanks for the comments. you are not the first to find fault with eppm.

let me ask you – if eppm were faster, would you use it? is it strictly a matter of speed and screen refreshes? or are there other factors that turn you off?

hi roshan. great question. i attended a conference in april this year where similar concerns were voiced at oracle directly.
my opinion:
1) oracle is definitely pushing eppm (the primary reason it’s priced similarly to p6 ppm). eppm and the web opens up more opportunities for oracle to improve the product. for example, eppm now integrates with many other existing oracle products – that’s because the web infrastructure makes integration easier. we all have smartphones and tablets now – eppm opens up huge possibilities for mobile apps that pull and update p6 data. this is where the glory is.
2) will the windows-client (ppm) go away in the next 2-3 years? will microsoft word? probably not. at the conference, oracle was pretty clear that there are no plans to ditch ppm anytime soon. it would suicide to do so if you ask me. i see many many users still plodding away on p3 or p6.2.1 which are old and out-dated, but still get the job done. for those who are still managing large schedules, the windows tool is a no-brainer – it handles big data well, it’s more reliable and in some ways simpler.

my two cents on the matter.

so what do you think. would you rather use a windows-tool or a web-tool to manage the type of schedules you work with (even if you could have cool mobile apps along with the web-tool)?

thank you samuel!

i am curious if you think p6 is slowly migrating to the web based environment and plans to phase out the windows based software. i do not see thing happening any time soon but that appears to be the trend as they moved all admin functionality to what was p6 web.

i think primavera/oracle either needs to completely re-write the web client or ditch it because our schedulers will *never* use it. if i wasn’t required to have it installed to do administrative functions, we wouldn’t install it at all.