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Auto-calculation logic

In this article, we will review the auto-calculation logic of Project/Program/Portfolio statuses. 

Auto-calculation of Project/Program/Portfolio statuses is available for users with Product Management and Enterprise license type only.

 

Auto-calculation of Project/Program/Portfolio statuses is activated by your request. To activate it, please send the corresponding request to us at sales@ppm.express

To access auto-calculation settings, open the gear button and select Insights Settings

Please note: The Insights Settings are available for users with Administrate app permissions only. 

Auto-calculation of Project/Program/Portfolio statuses is disabled by default, it should be enabled by the PPM Express administrator.

Also, the manual modification of auto-calculated statuses is allowed by default. If you would like to have the statuses calculated automatically only, toggle the Modify Statuses Manually setting to Off. 

Please note: Auto-calculation is performed for active Projects/Programs/Portfolios only. 'Not started' and 'On hold' Projects/Programs/Portfolios are not included in auto-calculation. 

If the Project/Program/Portfolio is completed, all statuses will be set to 'Done'. 

Also, only active Project/Program/Portfolio items are taken into account for auto-calculation. If the key date/task/issue/risk/etc. is completed, it is not taken into account for auto-calculation. 

If the Modify Statuses Manually setting is on, users can override the automatically calculated status and set the required status manually, and select the period of time for which the status set manually will be set. After this period of time (3, 5, 7, 10 days) the status set manually will be overridden by the status calculated automatically. 

To override the status within your Project/Program/Portfolio for a certain period of time perform the following: 

1. Open the required project/program/portfolio.

2. Click on the status you need to set manually and override auto-calculation for a certain period of time. 

3. Select the required status and the Override duration (3,5,7,10 days).

4. Click the Update Status button. 

Project Status Calculation, Program Status Calculation, and Portfolios Status Calculation PPM Insights settings are used to set the threshold maximum and minimum values to measure the degree that will accept a certain risk or not, during the auto-calculation of Project/Portfolio/Program Statuses.

 

Default values are set for the sections taking into account the following: 

  • If the ratio of late/overdue/overrun items to the total number is less than the minimum threshold, then your project/program/portfolio is on track;
  • If the ratio of late/overdue/overrun items to the total number is between the minimum and minimum threshold, then your project/program/portfolio is at risk;
  • If the ratio of late/overdue/overrun items to the total number is more than the maximum threshold, then your project/program/portfolio is critical. 

You can reset the minimum and maximum thresholds according to your needs. 

If the Thresholds are changed for auto-calculation of Project/Program/Portfolio Statuses on the Insights settings page, the statuses will be recalculated automatically at midnight according to the Tenant timezone setting.

Efforts and Duration settings are set for the Projects imported from or linked to Project Online. 

Overall Project Status is calculated taking into account all other project statuses. 

Risks Status is calculated taking into account active risks (from the Risks project section) that have a due date set up. Overdue Risks are divided by the total number of all active risks. After that, the status is populated according to the threshold settings (Overdue Risks Thresholds). 

Issues Status is calculated taking into account active issues (from the Issues project section) that have a due date set up. Overdue Issues are divided by the total number of all active issues. After that, the status is populated according to the threshold settings (Overdue Issues Thresholds). 

Resources Status is calculated considering all active tasks with assignments (internal and imported from external systems) from the Schedule and Team project sections. Overdue tasks with assignments are divided by the total number of all active tasks with assignments. After that, the status is populated according to the threshold settings (Resources with Late Tasks Thresholds). 

Cost Status is calculated considering the numbers from the grid of the Budget project section. The formula is the following: (Planned Cost- Baseline Cost) / Baseline Cost and/or (Actual Cost - Planned Cost) / Planned Cost. After that, the status is populated according to the threshold settings (Cost Overrun Thresholds). Please note that the Planned Cost stands for the Forecast budget field. 

Schedule Status is calculated considering all active Tasks and Key Dates (internal and imported from external systems). Overdue Tasks and Key Dates are divided by the total number of all active Tasks and Key Dates. After that, the status is populated according to the threshold settings (Late Tasks, Late Key Dates Thresholds). 

Please note: It is possible to select issue types for auto calculation of the Resources and Schedule statuses for Azure DevOps, Monday.com, and Jira connections.  

We will review the example of Azure DevOps connection, but the steps are the same for Monday.com and Jira. 

To select the issue types for auto-calculation, perform the following: 

1. Open any project where the Azure DevOps connection is added. 

2. Open the Connection button and select Azure DevOps connections. 

3. Click on the Configure Connection button. 

4. Under the Project Status Auto-calculation, select the required issue types that will be considered when calculating Resources and Schedule project statuses. 

Project/Program and Portfolio statuses are updated automatically every time when the project/portfolio information changes, plus daily at midnight according to the Tenant timezone settings. 

Schedule Project Status and Overall Project Status will be updated automatically as soon as a new Key Date is added or the status of the Key Date is changed (either manually or synchronized from external systems). 

Schedule Project Status and Resources Status will be updated automatically at once when a new Task with an assignment is created, or an existing task is updated. 

Issues and Risks Project Statuses will be updated as soon as new risks and issues are created or existing ones are updated (either manually or synchronized from external systems). 

The cost Project Status will be updated as soon as the Budget Project section changes. 

Information on the Insights page is also updated automatically once users make project changes.

If the auto-calculation of Project Statuses is on, each Project/Program/Portfolio Manager can still decide to disable this feature per project/portfolio and set the statuses manually. 

To turn the auto-calculation of statuses per project/program/portfolio, perform the following: 

1. Open the required project/program/portfolio. Click on the ellipsis button in the upper left corner of the Project Dashboard.

2. Navigate to the Calculated Automatically option and deselect the statuses you do not need to calculate automatically. 

Please note: To disable the auto-calculation option, a user should have permission to edit the selected project/program/portfolio. 

 

 

 

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