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When: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 9:00 AM – Friday, March 2, 2012 at 6:00 PM (GMT) Where: Central London Hosted By: Technology Associates Technology Associates International Limited is one of the leading global project management consultancies specialising in Microsoft Office Project and Enterprise Project Management Solutions. Since 1990, Technology Associates have provided deployment, consultancy, development and training services to more than 500 organisations including some of the world’s leading companies, and we have an international presence throughout the world.   Technology Associates is proud to partner with RMC Project Management Inc . Technology Associates brings the highly acclaimed courses developed by Rita Mulcahy and her organisation to the UK. Courses are run using the same structure and RMC materials as used on the RMC courses in the USA and utilise experienced RMC PMP Exam Prep instructors so that delegates get the full benefit of these courses without having to travel to the USA! Register for this event now at: https://taipmp4day280212-rss.eventbrite.com Event Details: Accelerated PMP® Exam Prep Course (4 days) This intensive four day course is designed to completely prepare you for the PMP ® exam in a fun and effective manner. We offer unique activities and exercises designed specifically to increase learning and knowledge retention, everything you need to pass the exam in only four days—without rote memorization. Widely recognised as the best courses in the world for PMP ® Exam Prep, you can now take advantage of these courses in the UK. The course materials include Rita Mulcahy’s entire PMP ® Exam Prep System (retail value $399). Please contact us if you would like information on in-company courses. Course Learning Objectives: At the end of this course you will be able to: Pass the PMP ® Exam offered by the Project Management Institute, with full confidence Identify gaps in your knowledge that may hurt you on the exam Be more comfortable with the types of questions you will see on the exam Use tips to pass the exam that have been used successfully by thousands of people Design your personalized test taking strategy Why Take This Course? There is no study required after this class. Students are ready to sit for the exam on the very next day. Whereas others spend days walking you through the inputs and outputs of the PMBOK ® Guide, we will show you how to understand them in only minutes. You will take computerized exam simulations in class, SO YOU WILL KNOW you are ready to sit the exam—and you will have evidence to prove it. You will utilize the best-selling materials available to pass the PMP ® exam—including Rita’s book, PMP ® Exam Prep . You will also gain access to study materials not otherwise available to the general public. You will understand how to analyze and answer the most difficult questions on the exam, and quickly tackle situational questions that seemingly have more than one correct answer. On completion, you will be awarded 35 contact hours (35 PDU’s). Course Outline Overview of the exam: How to study and create a study plan Tricks for memorizing formulas Tricks to help you understand how the PMP ® questions are written Tricks for shortening your study time Tricks for taking the exam Tricks for finding holes in your project management knowledge Reasons people fail the exam and how to make sure you do not do the same Exercises to help you understand, memorize and conceptualize the information you need to know Understanding PMI ® -isms Detailed coverage of: The process of project management The framework of project management Integration management Scope management Time management Cost management Quality management Human resources management Communications management Risk management Procurement management Professional responsibilities PMP ® Exam Simulations Identify gaps in your knowledge and develop a personalised Study Plan Work with our PMP ® exam simulation software, PM FASTrack ® Course Materials You will receive the following exceptional training products which were developed by Rita Mulcahy, p ublished by RMC Publications, Inc: ·          JumpStart ~ E-learning course (pre-course work up to four hours) ·          PMP ® Exam Prep Book ·          Hot Topics PMP® Exam Flashcards ·          PM FASTrack® PMP® Exam Simulation Software   Created with the assistance of a psychometrician (just like the actual exam) PM FASTrack ® is designed to simulate the actual exam in every detail. The program’s database of 1,500+ questions allows you to take exams by knowledge area, process group or keyword/concept.

When: Monday, May 21, 2012 at 9:00 AM – Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 6:00 PM (GMT) Where: Central London Hosted By: Technology Associates Technology Associates International Limited is one of the leading global project management consultancies specialising in Microsoft Office Project and Enterprise Project Management Solutions. Since 1990, Technology Associates have provided deployment, consultancy, development and training services to more than 500 organisations including some of the world’s leading companies, and we have an international presence throughout the world.   Technology Associates is proud to partner with RMC Project Management Inc . Technology Associates brings the highly acclaimed courses developed by Rita Mulcahy and her organisation to the UK. Courses are run using the same structure and RMC materials as used on the RMC courses in the USA and utilise experienced RMC PMP Exam Prep instructors so that delegates get the full benefit of these courses without having to travel to the USA! Register for this event now at: https://taipmp4day210512-rss.eventbrite.com Event Details: Accelerated PMP® Exam Prep Course (4 days) This intensive four day course is designed to completely prepare you for the PMP ® exam in a fun and effective manner. We offer unique activities and exercises designed specifically to increase learning and knowledge retention, everything you need to pass the exam in only four days—without rote memorization. Widely recognised as the best courses in the world for PMP ® Exam Prep, you can now take advantage of these courses in the UK. The course materials include Rita Mulcahy’s entire PMP ® Exam Prep System (retail value $399). Please contact us if you would like information on in-company courses. Course Learning Objectives: At the end of this course you will be able to: Pass the PMP ® Exam offered by the Project Management Institute, with full confidence Identify gaps in your knowledge that may hurt you on the exam Be more comfortable with the types of questions you will see on the exam Use tips to pass the exam that have been used successfully by thousands of people Design your personalized test taking strategy Why Take This Course? There is no study required after this class. Students are ready to sit for the exam on the very next day. Whereas others spend days walking you through the inputs and outputs of the PMBOK ® Guide, we will show you how to understand them in only minutes. You will take computerized exam simulations in class, SO YOU WILL KNOW you are ready to sit the exam—and you will have evidence to prove it. You will utilize the best-selling materials available to pass the PMP ® exam—including Rita’s book, PMP ® Exam Prep . You will also gain access to study materials not otherwise available to the general public. You will understand how to analyze and answer the most difficult questions on the exam, and quickly tackle situational questions that seemingly have more than one correct answer. On completion, you will be awarded 35 contact hours (35 PDU’s). Course Outline Overview of the exam: How to study and create a study plan Tricks for memorizing formulas Tricks to help you understand how the PMP ® questions are written Tricks for shortening your study time Tricks for taking the exam Tricks for finding holes in your project management knowledge Reasons people fail the exam and how to make sure you do not do the same Exercises to help you understand, memorize and conceptualize the information you need to know Understanding PMI ® -isms Detailed coverage of: The process of project management The framework of project management Integration management Scope management Time management Cost management Quality management Human resources management Communications management Risk management Procurement management Professional responsibilities PMP ® Exam Simulations Identify gaps in your knowledge and develop a personalised Study Plan Work with our PMP ® exam simulation software, PM FASTrack ® Course Materials You will receive the following exceptional training products which were developed by Rita Mulcahy, p ublished by RMC Publications, Inc: ·          JumpStart ~ E-learning course (pre-course work up to four hours) ·          PMP ® Exam Prep Book ·          Hot Topics PMP® Exam Flashcards ·          PM FASTrack® PMP® Exam Simulation Software   Created with the assistance of a psychometrician (just like the actual exam) PM FASTrack ® is designed to simulate the actual exam in every detail. The program’s database of 1,500+ questions allows you to take exams by knowledge area, process group or keyword/concept.

When: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 9:00 AM – Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 5:30 PM (GMT) Where: Central London Hosted By: Technology Associates Technology Associates International Limited is one of the leading global project management consultancies specialising in Microsoft Office Project and Enterprise Project Management Solutions. Since 1990, Technology Associates have provided deployment, consultancy, development and training services to more than 500 organisations including some of the world’s leading companies, and we have an international presence throughout the world.   Technology Associates is proud to partner with RMC Project Management Inc . Technology Associates brings the highly acclaimed courses developed by Rita Mulcahy and her organisation to the UK. Courses are run using the same structure and RMC materials as used on the RMC courses in the USA and utilise experienced RMC PMP Exam Prep instructors so that delegates get the full benefit of these courses without having to travel to the USA! Register for this event now at: https://taipmp2day280212-rss.eventbrite.com Event Details: PMP® Exam Prep Course (2 days) This accelerated learning course is designed to help you prepare for the PMP ® Exam—and gain the most understanding   with the least amount of study. Developed by Rita Mulcahy, this course is designed to decrease your after-class study time from hundreds of hours to less than forty. We offer unique activities and exercises designed specifically to increase learning and knowledge retention—without rote memorization. The course materials include Rita Mulcahy’s entire PMP ® Exam Prep System (retail value $399). Please contact us if you would like information on in-company courses. Course Learning Objectives This course will also assist you in finding and documenting the gaps in your knowledge, so you can leave the class knowing exactly what you know, and exactly what you need to work on prior to sitting for the exam. By the end of this course you will: Have focused training on areas where students have the most difficulty with the current exam. Have the latest information from over 19 years of experience helping thousands of project managers pass the exam. Be ready to take the exam – this is a preparation and review course. Have learned “what you don’t know”. Develop a personalised study plan to help reduce your follow on study time to less than forty hours. Why Take This Course? Study Time Only 40 hours of study or less needed after this course. That is 70% less study than is usually necessary with other courses. Retention Students recently scored an incredible average 83.25% on a sample PMP ® exam after taking this course, before they even began studying. Passing level is 61% for the PMP ® exam. Materials and Extras A comprehensive education system. These materials include the best-selling book PMP ® Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy, PM FASTrack ® Exam Simulation Software, and Hot Topics flashcards. Also included in this course are materials not available to the general public. Instruction This course uses accelerated learning techniques . Project managers who are also expert trainers teach our courses! We hear, “This was the best class I have EVER attended on ANY topic!” On completion of the course, you will be awarded 16 contact hours (16 PDU’s). Course Outline Overview of the exam: How to study and create a study plan Tricks for memorizing formulas Tricks to help you understand how the PMP ® questions are written Tricks for shortening your study time Tricks for taking the exam Tricks for finding holes in your project management knowledge Reasons people fail the exam and how to make sure you do not do the same Exercises to help you understand, memorize and conceptualize the information you need to know Understanding PMI ® -isms Detailed coverage of: The process of project management The framework of project management Integration management Scope management Time management Cost management Quality management Human resources management Communications management Risk management Procurement management Professional responsibilities Develop a personalised Study Plan Course Materials You will receive the following exceptional training products which were developed by Rita Mulcahy, p ublished by RMC Publications, Inc: ·          JumpStart ~ E-learning course (pre-course work up to four hours) ·          PMP ® Exam Prep Book ·          Hot Topics PMP® Exam Flashcards ·          PM FASTrack® PMP® Exam Simulation Software   Created with the assistance of a psychometrician (just like the actual exam) PM FASTrack ® is designed to simulate the actual exam in every detail. The program’s database of 1,500+ questions allows you to take exams by knowledge area, process group or keyword/concept.

Today – we launched the Sponsors & Exhibitors portal for the Microsoft Project Conference 2012 (#PC12). Microsoft Project Conference 2012 is the premiere Microsoft-led event to showcase Project and Portfolio Management best practices and connect with your peers from around the globe – the registration is open now ! We are proud to introduce three Premier sponsors for the conference – PCU3ED ,  TPG and UMT . These top level sponsors are all Microsoft Gold Partners, trusted advisors and leaders in the world-wide Microsoft Project community. Here they share their thoughts and plans for the conference: PCU3ED are proud to be selected as the platinum sponsor of the Microsoft Project Conference in 2012. PCU3ED is the preeminent, global leader dedicated to Project and Program Management (PPM) delivery and measurement.  From 16 local offices, PCU3ED builds long term relationships with customers by providing the best available mix of project management practices integrated with leading technologies, such as Microsoft Project Server® to ensure programs and projects are delivered on time and within budget. With a vast portfolio of experience and data gained from over three thousand (3,000) successful engagements, Pcubed practitioners provide the heavy lifting to ensure critical work gets done. Adrian Balfour – PCU3ED Chairman After an extremely positive experience of being the platinum sponsor at the Project Conference in 2009 there is no question that we will go for it again! This event is by far the most excellent forum for project and portfolio management based on Microsoft technologies. It attracts customers and partners from all over the globe and provides a unique learning and networking opportunity for everyone in this ecosystem. TPG is a global company with a worldwide partner network and a broad portfolio of products and services. Sponsoring this event is absolutely important to us in order to meet customers and partners and create joint opportunities. We are very pleased about our upcoming sponsoring commitment and look forward to see this tremendous outcome happening again. Stavros Georgantzis – TPG Global CEO The opportunity to connect with Microsoft Project customers and partners from around the world makes the Project Conference a premier event for UMT. Our experience as a solution provider developing Project Financial Server 2010 and Workflow Developer working with many partners globally and our experience as a service provider integrating state of the art MS solutions at the enterprise level with key customers have highlighted the importance of interacting with both customers and partners at this key event. It’s a powerful forum that generates a proven return-on-investment for UMT through reinforcing brand awareness, driving new business and onboarding global Project partners to deploy our software solutions as well as a fantastic learning environment. We are delighted to be a Platinum Sponsor at this important event. Gil Makleff – UMT CEO Are you a Microsoft Project Partner? Looking for sponsoring or exhibiting opportunities? We have designed wide portfolio of options that fit your business needs and deliver remarkable value for your investment! Please send us your enquiry for more details to projconf@microsoft.com . Are you a Microsoft Project User? Excited to learn about Project and Portfolio Management and connect with your peers from around the globe? Explore more details at https://msprojectconference.com/ and register today ! Looking forward to see you all in Phoenix! In the meantime you can Search for Project and Portfolio Management Partners , Project 2010 Solutions and Project 2010 Trainings ! Jan Kalis https://blogs.msdn.com/jkalis/

When: Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 9:00 AM – Friday, January 13, 2012 at 5:30 PM (GMT) Where: Technology House Shottery Brook Office Park Timothy’s Bridge Road CV37 9NR Stratford Upon Avon United Kingdom Hosted By: Technology Associates Technology Associates International Limited is one of the leading global project management consultancies specialising in Microsoft Office Project and Enterprise Project Management Solutions. Since 1990, Technology Associates have provided deployment, consultancy, development and training services to more than 500 organisations including some of the world’s leading companies, and we have an international presence throughout the world.   Technology Associates is proud to partner with RMC Project Management Inc . Technology Associates brings the highly acclaimed courses developed by Rita Mulcahy and her organisation to the UK. Courses are run using the same structure and RMC materials as used on the RMC courses in the USA and utilise experienced RMC PMP Exam Prep instructors so that delegates get the full benefit of these courses without having to travel to the USA! Register for this event now at: https://pmpexamprep2day120112-rss.eventbrite.com Event Details: PMP® Exam Prep Course (2 days) This accelerated learning course is designed to help you prepare for the PMP ® Exam—and gain the most understanding   with the least amount of study. Developed by Rita Mulcahy, this course is designed to decrease your after-class study time from hundreds of hours to less than forty. We offer unique activities and exercises designed specifically to increase learning and knowledge retention—without rote memorization. The course materials include Rita Mulcahy’s entire PMP ® Exam Prep System (retail value $399). Please contact us if you would like information on in-company courses. Course Learning Objectives This course will also assist you in finding and documenting the gaps in your knowledge, so you can leave the class knowing exactly what you know, and exactly what you need to work on prior to sitting for the exam. By the end of this course you will: Have focused training on areas where students have the most difficulty with the current exam. Have the latest information from over 19 years of experience helping thousands of project managers pass the exam. Be ready to take the exam – this is a preparation and review course. Have learned “what you don’t know”. Develop a personalised study plan to help reduce your follow on study time to less than forty hours. Why Take This Course? Study Time Only 40 hours of study or less needed after this course. That is 70% less study than is usually necessary with other courses. Retention Students recently scored an incredible average 83.25% on a sample PMP ® exam after taking this course, before they even began studying. Passing level is 61% for the PMP ® exam. Materials and Extras A comprehensive education system. These materials include the best-selling book PMP ® Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy, PM FASTrack ® Exam Simulation Software, and Hot Topics flashcards. Also included in this course are materials not available to the general public. Instruction This course uses accelerated learning techniques . Project managers who are also expert trainers teach our courses! We hear, “This was the best class I have EVER attended on ANY topic!” On completion of the course, you will be awarded 16 contact hours (16 PDU’s). Course Outline Overview of the exam: How to study and create a study plan Tricks for memorizing formulas Tricks to help you understand how the PMP ® questions are written Tricks for shortening your study time Tricks for taking the exam Tricks for finding holes in your project management knowledge Reasons people fail the exam and how to make sure you do not do the same Exercises to help you understand, memorize and conceptualize the information you need to know Understanding PMI ® -isms Detailed coverage of: The process of project management The framework of project management Integration management Scope management Time management Cost management Quality management Human resources management Communications management Risk management Procurement management Professional responsibilities Develop a personalised Study Plan Course Materials You will receive the following exceptional training products which were developed by Rita Mulcahy, p ublished by RMC Publications, Inc: ·          JumpStart ~ E-learning course (pre-course work up to four hours) ·          PMP ® Exam Prep Book ·          Hot Topics PMP® Exam Flashcards ·          PM FASTrack® PMP® Exam Simulation Software   Created with the assistance of a psychometrician (just like the actual exam) PM FASTrack ® is designed to simulate the actual exam in every detail. The program’s database of 1,500+ questions allows you to take exams by knowledge area, process group or keyword/concept.

Following a session I delivered at SharePoint Conference 2011 in October, as well as few emails received recently, and following the very strong momentum Microsoft Project Server 2010 has, a common topic “du jour” customers are asking: does Project Server 2010 supports multi-tenancy? Hence, the goal of this post is to answer this question. What is multi-tenancy? First before I go any further I think it’s important to define multi tenancy since people have different expectations to its meaning and implications. Wikipedia’s definition of Multitenancy is: Multitenancy refers to a principle in software architecture where a single instance of the software runs on a server, serving multiple client organizations (tenants). In this SharePoint 2010 document on TechNet: Model: Hosting architectures for SharePoint Server 2010 it says: Multitenancy refers to the ability to partition data of otherwise shared services or software in order to accommodate multiple tenants. This is in contrast to setting up separate hardware or even running multiple instances of a service. Spencer Harbar in this post Rational Guide to Multi Tenancy with SharePoint 2010 does a great job defining multi-tenancy in the SharePoint 2010 world, and in particular mentions: “ Multi-Tenancy in SharePoint 2010 isn’t a “feature” that lights up. It’s a combination of many things which all together enable the scenario we are interested in.” Project Server 2010 and multi-tenancy Can you have multiple customers/business units/departments on the same SharePoint and Project Server farm and infrastructure? YES you can! But please remember these Project Server considerations for multi-tenancy: Project Server 2010 does not support multi-tenant environments (like SharePoint 2010 does) Requires SQL Server Analysis Services for reporting (OLAP cubes) Queue Services: introduced in Project Server 2007 to handle spikes in transactions like users submitting their timesheets on Friday for instance Resource Pool a key capability of PS which enables to model your capacity and demand and hence figure out shortages or surplus Authorization/Permission Model: while authentication is handled by SharePoint, authorization is specific to Project Server and has a lot more granularity that the out of the box SharePoint’s Cross-farm services not supported Must be installed on each application server and front-end Web in the farm On-Demand Hosting Services for Project Server 2010 With the above factors in mind, yes again you can have multiples customers and instances on the same infrastructure and farm, and just because we do not support multi-tenant like SharePoint does in 2010, it does not mean you need multiple farms to serve your customers. Clear examples of multi-tenancy today are on-demand hosting companies like Project Hosts and BeMo (more listed here ) that offers shared online environment for their customers. We also have customers that have been providing Project Server to internal business unit since the 2007 version (internal multi-tenancy). Please note that I wrote this post last year on the topic of should you have a dedicated farm for Project Server or leverage a central SharePoint farm and infrastructure: Project Server 2010 and SharePoint 2010: one farm or multiple? Please find below an example of multi-tenancy following feedback from the hosting companies mentioned above: In summary yes you can have multiple tenant on the same Project Server 2010 farm and infrastructure but it cannot be achieved using the SharePoint 2010 multi-tenancy features. For any additional questions/feedback about this topic feel free to contact me via this blog. Useful resources: Plan for performance and capacity (Project Server 2010) Model: Hosting architectures for SharePoint Server 2010 White paper: SharePoint 2010 for hosters (SharePoint Server 2010) Rational Guide to Multi Tenancy with SharePoint 2010

The Cumulative updates for October 2011 for both the 2007 and 2010 versions have now been released.  Full details over on the admin blog at https://blogs.technet.com/b/projectadministration/archive/2011/11/02/microsoft-project-server-and-sharepoint-2007-and-2010-october-cu-2011-announcement.aspx I’ve also included the usual details on the 2007 CU which was released last week (The packages containing SharePoint Foundation were withdrawn and re-released earlier this week). Enjoy!

Following the recent release of the Team Foundation Server 2010 and Project Server Integration Feature Pack ( Team Foundation Server 2010 and Project Server Integration Feature Pack has released! )  I’m happy to announce this third case study showcasing the integration of TFS and Project Server 2010: IT Department of Global Cosmetics Company Cuts Time in Meetings by up to 30 Percent Key quotes First and foremost, with the Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 and Project Server Integration Feature Pack we have reduced the number of project planning and status meetings. The feature pack allows people to raise flags more quickly and in a more comfortable setting—which means we make fewer mistakes. With the feature pack, the team leads can take more responsibility for exactly what they are doing and be more accountable to the other members of their team. Benefits Up to 30 percent less meeting time needed Productivity gains of 2–5 percent Improved risk management Improved time-recording procedures Increased responsibility Other Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) case studies: TechResult Microsoft IT Other case studies can be found here: Microsoft Project & Project Server customer successes .

I’ve posted over on the admin blog – https://blogs.technet.com/b/projectadministration/archive/2011/10/28/project-server-2007-service-pack-3-and-the-october-2011-cu-announced.aspx so go there for more details. There is a slight delay on the release of the 2010 October 2011 Cumulative Updates – more details when I have them. Don’t miss the next Cumulative Update webcast where we (or more correctly, Adrian) will also talk about SP3 (briefly – as there isn’t much to say) Here’s the URL for the 11/8/2011 8:00:00 AM – Information about Microsoft Project and Project Server October 2011 Software Update https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032493962&Culture=en-US

I get questions on templates fairly often so I wanted to do a quick post pointing to a previous post we did on this topic. Essentially, if you are new to Project or starting a project and want to see a generic plan for how others broke down the work, check out a Project template . To access templates in Project 2010, go to File – New – Office.com Templates section. In Project 2007, go to File – New and in the New Project pane either select On Computer or Templates on Office Online. Now here’s where you come in… We are always looking to add more templates and wanted to get feedback from you. What templates should we add? You can either post comments directly to this blog (note they won’t show up right away) or you can send me your thoughts by emailing projrep@microsoft.com And here’s some template trivia for you: Our most popular template is the Project Management Plan My personal favorite template is the Wine Tasting Fundraiser since two tasks actually involve drinking wine. Sounds like a great time to use a recurring task.